Because he sure does sound like one here.

President Obama told Oprah Winfrey on Sunday night he gives himself a "good, solid B-plus" for his first 11 months in the Oval Office.

On what was billed as Oprah's "White House Christmas Special," Obama credited his administration with getting the economy on track, winding down the Iraq war and making the right call for a temporary surge in Afghanistan.

He also said America has "reset" its prestige in the world and made progress toward halting development of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea.
Passage of health care reform would boost his grade to an A-, he said. Until Americans get back to work, he said, "I can't give myself the grade I'd like."

Excuse me?

The economy is not back on track – otherwise we would not be hearing talk of another stimulus package.

The only reason the Iraq war is winding down is because of policies put in place by the Bush Administration – policies Obama opposed when he was in the Senate. He certainly cannot take credit for them now.

Obama dithered on Afghanistan for months, after calling it the war we must fight. He certainly can’t expect full credit for an assignment completed so late – especially when he included what amounts to a surrender date in the proposal.

Stopping the development of nukes in Iran and North Korea? Not done – especially with regards to Iran.

And given that Obama is on his way to becoming as big a joke internationally as he has become at home, I have some serious doubts about the idea of his having “reset” any sort of US prestige.

On the other hand, we’ve seen US unemployment soar through the roof, and a failure on his signature health care initiative caused by Obama’s failed strategy of letting the Democrat Congressional leadership write the legislation and attempt to ramrod it through over the objections of the American people.

So back to my suggestion that Barack Obama is a ninth grader. His assessment of the grade he deserves sounds just like what I hear from the segment of students who have failed tests, neglected to complete assignments, and turned others in weeks late – kids who then argue that they deserve at least a B “because I was in class every day.” He seems to think he gets a high B just for showing up, even though his actual average is perhaps a D.

What next? Is he going to ask for a crossword puzzle or word search to raise the grade to an A before the first anniversary of his inauguration on January 20?