"The Great Irony of the Moment"

"Obama rejected Wright's vision with a speech that saved his campaign and made him president. Given our present circumstances, it's clear he could have used a little of Wright's insight. Obama saw his candidacy and ultimately his presidency as part of the story of American progress. But governments change, the pastor said. Things can and will get worse, our ever-perfecting union be damned."

Jamelle Bouie in Slate argues that "The optimism that helped Obama reach this office—the same faith in our ever-perfecting union—is wholly inadequate in the face of the revanchist rage that gave us President Trump."

But Jonathan Chait at New York contends that "the specific changes Obama wrought may prove far more durable than either his gloating enemies or his despairing supporters believe."