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Spending his final days lashing out at Israel and Russia, 55-year-old President Barack Obama likes to tout his legacy, driving U.S.-Russian relations to the lowest point since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Obama often points to his greatest legacy, the Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare, signed into law March 23, 2010 without any Republican support. Once forced down GOP throats, Obama ended any bipartisanship in Congress for the remainder of his two terms. Finally getting bipartisan legislation on his desk enabling Sept. 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia, Obama vetoed the bill Sept. 28, claiming it invited tit-for-tat lawsuits from other countries. Obama’s real legacy is one of legislative failure, choosing early on to push for Obamacare at all costs, especially working with Congress. Once taking the oath of office Jan. 20, 2009, Obama broke his promise as a post-partisan president.

Barack’s decision Dec. 30 to expel Russian diplomats and push for more economic sanctions for alleged hacking during the 2016 election prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to promise eventual retaliation. Saying he would not react in-kind, Putin made Obama look bad, prompting President-elect Donald Trump to call Putin “smart” for not walking into Obama’s trap. “Great move on delay [by V. Putin] Trump tweeted Friday. “I always knew he was very smart,” Trump said, showing equanimity heading to the inauguration. Trump’s been reticent to buy into more economic sanctions for alleged hacking incidents. Expelling 35 Russian diplomats in D.C. and Maryland, Obama lashed out at Russia less than three weeks before leaving office. Causing headaches for Trump, Obama’s not concerned about fallout on U.S. foreign policy after he leaves office.

Hoping for a new beginning, Putin looks to the Trump administration to reset U.S.-Russian relations. “Based on the policies that will be carried out by the administration of President D. Trump,” Putin decided to hold off on reacting to Obama’s latest missive. “At this point, they’re trolling Obama,” said Olga Oliver, director of the Russian program at the Center for Strategic and International studies, realizing Obama’s out-the-door Jan. 20, 2017. Obama can only appeal to what’s left of “Never Trump” crowd in the Senate like Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pushing for harsher sanctions against Moscow. Trump already signaled that he wants the Russian hacking controversy behind him, ignoring calls by McCain and Graham to impose more punitive sanctions than Obama. Elected to reset relations with Russia, Trump wants to end U.S. sanctions.

Visiting the Baltic States and Ukraine, McCain and Graham portray Putin as the aggressor, annexing Crimea March 1, 2024 and backing Alexander Zackharchenko’s Peoples’ Republic of Donetsk. Pandering to anti-Putin sentiment, McCain and Graham fan the Cold War, going in the exact opposite direction as Trump. Trump wants to work with Russia on a host of cooperative ventures, especially teaming up to obliterate the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS]. Already bogged down in Mosul, the Iraqi military needs all the help it can get to evict ISIS from strongholds in Iraq and Syria. Getting Putin on board is a pivotal strategy for Trump, not rattling off more economic sanctions before Election Day. McCain and Graham can find many of Putin’s detractors in the Baltic States and Poland, where former citizens of the USSR fear a Russian takeover in the region.

Accused by Democratic nominee former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as a Russian Puppet in the last debate, Democrats said Trump couldn’t be trusted with U.S. nuclear codes. Yet, only days after Hillary proposed setting up a no-fly zone in Syria, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeir warned of WWIII. When you look at Trump’s attempt to reset U.S.-Russian relations, it follows every president since WWII, except Obama. Obama’s the first president since WWII to work actively to wreck U.S.-Russian relations. Announcing new sanctions Dec. 29 without offering the public proof of Russian tampering in the 2016 election, Obama continues to lash out at Putin. Blamed on the Russian invasion of Crimea, Obama’s poor relations with Putin started the day he took office in 2008. Barack simply couldn’t match Putin’s foreign global stature and savvy.

When the 115th Congress convenes Jan. 3, 2016, Trump has his work cut out containing Cold War hawks in both parties. Fresh off a trip to the Baltics and Ukraine, Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will do their utmost to block Trump’s reset with Russia. “We intend to lead the effort in the new Congress to impose stronger sanctions on Russia,” said McCain and Graham. Whether they have the support is anyone’s guess. Judging by the muted response to Obama’s new sanctions, it’s possible key member of the House and Senate Foreign Relations Armed Services Committees aren’t interested in fanning the Cold War. Elected as commander-in-chief Nov. 8 with 304 Electoral Votes, Trump’s entitled to run his own foreign policy without interference from Congress. Hopefully McCain and Graham can accept their backseat role in U.S. foreign policy.