When Barack Obama was elected in 2008 the general consensus was that the new president was brilliant -- with nothing but hearsay to back up the claim.  The Obama myth was that America’s 44^th president was the “smartest man in the room,” a brainiac  too “intelligent for Republicans to understand.”

Then, as weeks turned into months and months into almost two terms, Obama’s questionable decisions, obvious lack of economic prowess, faux healthcare expertise, and total lack of foreign policy and national security know-how called into question whether the Obama-is-a-genius assertion might have been a bit hasty.

Nothing the president has done or continues to do seems to make much sense.  If anything, the only consistent success Barack Obama has had is managing to make worse everything he’s attempted to fix.

But then again, according to his apologists, for people of average brainpower the president’s blueprint for remedying unemployment, calming turmoil in the Middle East, and soothing racial unrest may just be too conceptually complex for mere mortals to grasp.

For instance, this Earth Day, in an effort to instruct Americans on the deteriorating condition of the environment, Obama’s superior intellect convinced him it was wise to burn 9,000 gallons of jet fuel flying aboard Air Force One to the 1.5 million-acre Everglades National Park in Florida to talk about climate change.

The president spoke directly to a crowd that included community leaders, Park Service employees, and tree-hugging sycophants, all of whom had gathered to hear what world citizen Barack Obama had to say about the future of the planet.

Thankfully, with swampland as his backdrop, the president did successfully avoid being eaten alive by high-jumping alligators looking for high-powered delicacies for lunch. 

Meanwhile, sounding as if he were referring to his magical self and not the Everglades, Obama said, “You can see what makes this unique landscape so magical.”

“Climate change is threatening this treasure and the communities that depend on it,” said the treasured one, “and if we don’t act, there may not be an Everglades as we know it.”

The “as we know it” warning was a bit odd coming from a guy who is single-handedly destabilizing the world’s precarious nuclear balance.  Obama, who is all but placing a nuclear bomb into the hands of a terrorist state, probably should be less concerned about the Everglades and more concerned about the disappearance of Israel “as we know it.”

But he’s not.

Instead he’s focusing on the pressing issue of climate change and global warming. And while the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran is terrifying to some, based on his previously established level of intellectual acumen, there may actually be a method to what appears to be another example of Obama’s madness. 

Surely the president is well aware that U.S. government computer models predict that even a small nuclear war anywhere on the planet could trigger “unprecedented” global cooling.  With global warming the culprit, cooling, however it’s accomplished, would provide a quick fix for the guy in need of a boost in the polls.

Sure, a small-scale nuclear war would cause global cooling, further reduction of the ozone layer, and harmful ultraviolet radiation.  That, in turn, would usher in death, disease, and drought due to things like lack of rainfall. 

But ultimately mass starvation and plague could deliver positive results, particularly for the growing problem of overpopulation.  Then, in due time, as millions die off, the president’s credibility would be greatly improved among organizations concerned with controlling world population, like the U.N., and his legacy as a transformative leader would be secured.

If Iran lobbed a nuke at Israel, smoky, dusty, ashy high-carbon clouds would block the warmth of the sun.  That, coupled with radioactive fallout, would usher in a “nuclear winter” capable of instantly stopping the destructive heating trend Obama so passionately believes is wreaking havoc in places like the Florida Everglades. 

But most importantly, thanks to superb forethought and unprecedented planning, global warming would cease, and global cooling would commence.

Either way, for many -- including the entire nation of Israel -- the perplexing question for a long time has been: why is a U.S. president helping the Iranians acquire an atomic bomb? The thought of it didn’t seem to make much sense. 

But now, the idea of a small-scale nuclear war being environmentally friendly could actually be a stroke of genius.

On Earth Day, at the edge of the swamplands, the motivation behind the former president of the Harvard Law Review negotiating with the Ayatollah may be falling into place. Could it be that Barack Obama’s long-term goal is to help Iran acquire the nukes necessary to finally put an end to global warming?

If it is, at least for him, it could be a win/win!

By shifting America’s attention from Iran acquiring a nuclear bomb to helping Americans accept the much loftier goal of a small nuclear blast to remedy global warming, Barack Obama can cure the climate crisis and officially reclaim his reputation as America’s brainiest president.

Jeannie also hosts a blog at www.jeannie-ology.com