The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.

Out on a Limb
“Analysis: Budget Constraints Limit Obama’s Second-Term Agenda”–headline, Reuters, Jan. 19

Two Countries in One!

  • “Australia Has Plenty of Arts and Culture”–headline, Daily Telegraph (London), Jan. 22
  • “Violence, Booze a Nation’s Shame as Police Prepare for Australia Day Assaults”–headline, Herald Sun (Melbourne), Jan. 23

Questions Nobody Is Asking
“At noon Sunday, after taking a private oath, Barack Obama begins his second term as the most visible public figure in the world. His face has appeared on more than 12,000 national nightly newscasts. Google his name, and up pop 952 million results. His Facebook page has nearly 35 million ‘likes.’ His tweets have 26 million followers, and on election night his electronic utterance–‘Four more years’–was the most retweeted of the year. He was Time’s 2012 Person of the Year, and Gallup found him to be the ‘most admired’ man in the world–for the fifth year in a row. Yet even now, on Day 1,460 of his presidency, the question persists: Who is he, really?”–David Maraniss, Washington Post, Jan. 20

Bottom Stories of the Day

  • “No News on the Search for a Hockey Team to Play in New Seattle Arena”–headline, Seattle Times, Jan. 22
  • “Big Controversy in Canada: New Banknotes Have the Wrong Maple Leaf”–headline, Washington Post website, Jan. 21

For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”