Back on June 20 of this year I wrote these words in a column entitled "Spectacularly Unprepared for Office:"

We're learning the hard way: Barack Obama was spectacularly unprepared for this office.

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The man who now occupies the White House is overmatched, overwhelmed and overcome by the responsibilities of an office he was not equipped to assume.  An office that is now - much to the chagrin of an embarrassed nation - utterly dwarfing him.

It took awhile, but it appears that at least some in the mainstream media (who have known for some time that such an assessment was accurate) are willingly acknowledging the truth of those statements publicly.

Take Time Magazine's Mark Halperin.  In a recent column, Halperin pointed out the obvious:

With the exception of core Obama Administration loyalists, most politically engaged elites have reached the same conclusions: the White House is in over its head, isolated, insular, arrogant and clueless about how to get along with or persuade members of Congress, the media, the business community or working-class voters. This view is held by Fox News pundits, executives and anchors at the major old-media outlets, reporters who cover the White House, Democratic and Republican congressional leaders and governors, many Democratic business people and lawyers who raised big money for Obama in 2008, and even some members of the Administration just beyond the inner circle. [...]

 

[T]here is a growing perception that Obama's decisions are causing harm ? that businesses are being hurt by the Administration's legislation and that economic recovery is stalling because of the uncertainty surrounding energy policy, health care, deficits, housing, immigration and spending.  And that sentiment is spreading.

Indeed it is...like wildfire among those intellectually honest enough to acknowledge it.  Hats off to Halperin for being one who is.  The entire column is a good read as he goes on to explain how Obama's penchant for not taking blame is wearing thin on a lot of folks:

But Obama has exacerbated his political problems not just by failing to enact policies that would have actually turned the economy around, but also by authorizing a series of tactical moves intended to demonize Republicans and distract from the problems at hand. He has wasted time lambasting his foes when he should have been putting forth his agenda in a clear, optimistic fashion, defending the benefits of his key decisions during the past two years (health care and the Troubled Asset Relief Program, for example) and explaining what he would do with a re-elected Democratic majority to spur growth.

 

Throughout the year, we have been treated to Obama-led attacks on George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, Congressman Joe Barton (for his odd apology to BP), John Boehner (for seeking the speakership ? or was it something about an ant?) and Fox News (for everything). Suitable Democratic targets in some cases, perhaps, but not worth the time of a busy Commander in Chief.

Halerpin also takes on this whole Chamber of Commerce smear that Obama and the Democrats have unwisely engaged in:

In the past few days, we have witnessed the spectacle of the President himself and his top advisers wading into allegations that Republicans are attempting to buy the election using foreign money laundered through the Chamber of Commerce, combining with Karl Rove and his wealthy backers to fund a flood of negative television commercials. Not only is this issue convoluted and far-fetched, but it also distracts from the issues voters care about, frustrating political insiders and alienating struggling citizens (not that many are following such an offbeat story line).

You know things are bad when Time Magazine runs such an honest assessment.