Who in their right mind would want to be president of the US? Having begun with vaulting hopes, President Barack Obama’s tenure serves as a cautionary reminder – be careful what you wish for, you might actually get it. At home, Mr Obama’s prospects of pulling off anything big are slim to none after last week’s thunderbolt from the Tea Party.

Meanwhile, US-trained units in Iraq are dropping their weapons and fleeing far inferior al-Qaeda forces at first contact. Even Baghdad looks vulnerable. Talk about being mugged by reality. On paper the job of US commander-in-chief is the most powerful in the world. In practice, your power to change things is waning yet there is no limit on your ability to take the blame. To repeat: what sane person could want the job?

The answer, of course, is lots of people, Hillary Clinton included. Perhaps they should reconsider. With still more than a third of his term to run, Mr Obama has retreated at home to a “pen and phone” strategy in which he will use his executive powers to nudge change. These include worthy initiatives, such as the latest rules limiting carbon emissions from power plants. After last week’s Tea Party defenestration of Eric Cantor, the conservative Republican leader, Mr Obama is also likely to order a reduction in the deportation of illegal immigrants. It was Mr Obama who stepped up deportations in a vain attempt to persuade people such as Mr Cantor to support immigration reform. That is now a dead prospect.