Legacies

There's been no shortage of chatter on the subject lately, and while the administration's various domestic and foreign-policy initiatives may qualify for "legacy" status if successfully pursued, one begins to suspect that for many (if not most) Americans, the legacy item that's going to be the most vividly recalled---and the most acutely felt over time---will be the one that comes phrased in the form of a question: Are you better off now than you were eight years ago? Things could change between now and 2017, but for most people now, the answer would be resoundingly "No." That's really too bad because things didn't have to turn out that way, and frankly, they still don't now.

---Baron V