The wound-tight, travel-light Obama has a distaste for the adversarial and the random. But if you stick too rigidly to a 'No Drama' rule in the White House, you risk keeping reality at bay. Presidencies are always about crisis management.

The Obamas, especially Michelle, have radiated the sense that Americans do not appreciate what they sacrifice by living in a gilded cage. They've forgotten Rule No. 1 of politics: No one sheds tears for anyone lucky enough to live at the White House.

The White House should always be a friend to American freedom.

The race for the White House is normally an event suffused with drama, sucking eyeballs to the page all over the globe.

The White House is the finest prison in the world.

The White House has a secular, humanistic agenda.