Obama delivered his pearls of wisdom in Peru, to a conference for the doomed Trans-Pacific Partnership.  Great choice of venue, sir.

As for how Trump should dispose of his companies, "Obama says his assets were significantly smaller than those of previous presidents and presidents-elect, including Donald Trump."  My, how modest the man is.  Next I suppose he'll channel Hillary ("we came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt").

Oh, wait – the Obamas have already bought "an 8,200-square-foot home in the Kalorama neighborhood in Washington, D.C. ... [a] 9-bedroom mansion with 8.5 baths."  No one is saying how much they paid, but the last time it changed hands, the asking price was $5.3 million.  Just a fixer-upper.  I wonder if the Kalorama neighborhood is in an Urban Enterprise Zone.  How's Obama going to stay close to the "community" if he's living among a lot of – ahem, if he's living in a non-diverse neighborhood?

The Obamas still have their bungalow in Chicago, now valued at $2 million.  And it looks as though they're buying another house in Rancho Mirage, California.  So they'll have shelter over their heads.  And he'll be pulling down $200,000 plus expenses per year, walk-around money 'til his cash flow improves with book contracts and speaking engagements.

In a wonderful coincidence, last May, Obama asked for and received an 18% increase in funding to be spent on retired presidents.  Helping others while helping yourself – makes you feel tingly all over.

"He says he told Trump that he would be well-served by a strong White House counsel who could set rules."  Obama actually had an ethics lawyer?  Who knew?  Yes, here are two former chief White House ethics lawyers giving Trump advice on how to set up his blind trust.  The post of ethics lawyer in the Obama administration must have been one of the easiest gigs going, because he surely gave no counsel on setting up Fast and Furious, emailing Hillary from Obama's private Gmail account, prosecuting the New Black Panthers for voter intimidation, loosing the IRS on Tea Party groups, ruling with pen and phone...  Well, strictly speaking, the last was a question of not ethics, but constitutionality, and Obama would have had no need for advice on that, being a constitutional scholar himself.

"In bringing up his successor Donald Trump, Obama reminded the summit that he hasn't had any scandals."  Why is he telling this to foreign heads of state?  Wouldn't a meeting to flog the Trans-Pacific Partnership be about trade, not his virtues?  But it's always and only about Obama.  Besides, the claim is risible on its face.  The abbreviated list above does not constitute scandals?  Why, because there was no special prosecutor to deem them such?

"But he decided that to avoid questions about conflict of interest, it was best not to just meet the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law."  When did Obama ever care about the letter of the law, much less its spirit?  See ruling with phone and pen above.

In case you were wondering, we haven't seen the last of him:

As an American citizen who cares deeply about our country, if there are issues that have less to do with the specifics of some legislative proposal or battle or go to core questions about our values and ideals, and if I think that it's necessary or helpful for me to defend those ideals, I'll examine it when it comes.

1. "As an American citizen": say what?
2. "Who cares deeply about our country": snort, chuckle, guffaw.
3. "Values and ideals": as in belittling anyone who does not cling to his values?  As in ruling with phone and pen, justified because his ideals are oh, so superior?  In short, he'll be in our face 24/7.

Please, Obama, just go live in your mansions – when you're not giving speeches for half a million a pop.  At least then we won't have to listen to what you say, as I'm sure your private speeches will be carefully guarded secrets (see Hillary's speeches to Wall Street).

Henry Percy is the nom de guerre of a writer in Arizona. He may be reached at saler.50d[at]gmail.com.