President Barack Obama’s second inaugural speech was not intellectual development or social maturing, but his feeling that it now politically safe to be honest and forthright about his purposes and goals. The extreme liberalism that he expressed more forthrightly than ever previously and the yet more liberal agenda at which he but hinted with his usual fudging has been his stance and purpose since prior to entering his very brief career in public service.

It seems to be the consensus of political pundits (those who are paid to say something whatever) is that he has learned from four years in office and has grown in his thinking to a radically new perspective and resolve. His supporters and promoters go further. They would have us believe he has reached the apotheosis of presidential wisdom and competency.

I don’t think so.

I want to dismiss some popular concerns about Obama, nonetheless. Reason calls us to accept it that he is native-born and, therefore, fully eligible for the presidency on this score. The birthers have raised some intriguing questions and I have not yet heard convincing replies, but neither they nor officials have produced any actual evidence he is foreign-born. Though he attended an Islamic school as a boy, there is no evidence he was ever a practicing Muslim. Even if he were, Christians very much believe in conversion, and this should settle that doubt. Yet, I do not understand his apparent favoring of Muslims and unwillingness to acknowledge terrorism has been driven by Islamic idealism, however misapplied are its teachings.

Yet, I am not certain he is a Christian in anything more than the most general or broad sense in which almost anyone in this country who does not declare his- or herself to be not a Christian is considered a Christian. I am not dissuaded by his having distanced himself from his chosen Chicago pastor of many years as evidence he harbors no black elitism. He was quite satisfied and pleased with Jeremiah Wright until the pastor’s anti-white bias became known beyond the south side of Chicago and embarrassed Obama politically.

Obama is not yet transparent and revealing, and he is still playing his political cards close to his presidential chest. He’s smart. He knows what he is doing, and he does it very well.

Less than a year ago, on March 26, Obama met with outgoing Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in Seoul, South Korea. The Russian urged Obama to yield to Russia on missile defense. Obama reassured him, and we learned this, not by Obama’s announcement or even admission but, because the microphone was open unknown to the two presidents. Obama said: “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.” The Russian understood this political code: “I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir [Putin, who was soon to become president and since has].”

Obama is now past his final election and now he feels at liberty to be “more flexible.” What he said during the election, what he promised during the election, was no matter to him. He said what he felt he needed to say to get elected. Now re-elected, he will do what he always wanted to do. I do not know he will so yield to the Russians to the extent it satisfies them and endangers our country. I suspect this is not going to happen. But this is not the point. What is the point is Barack Obama has — and will — say and promise almost anything to suit his own political purposes. This is what got him re-elected.

In some ways Beyonce’s lip syncing the national anthem at the president’s inauguration ceremony is funny and the outrage over it is silly. But it might just be a metaphor for the whole show — and a show it was indeed. The singer was pretending to be doing something she was not. One side of the official mouth says this is standard procedure, but the other side of the mouth is still pretending. They even got the whole United States Marine Corps band to fake it. The band is under orders, just as all the armed forces are under orders from the commander-in-chief on every matter.

Despite all that was finally acknowledged in the speech, I wonder who else on the platform that day was pretending.