Official scorers of the roster of disappointments of the Obama presidency have added nuclear arms control to the tally that has frustrated so many of his most ardent supporters.

obamaThey sadly point to promises on immigration reform, taxes, economic equality, jobs, global warming and end of U.S. military involvement in the Iraq quagmire as cave-ins by the man who inspired millions with his uplifting rhetoric and then dashed their dreams.

The latest blow: The New York Times reported today that the US is involved in a massive build-up of its nuclear capacity that will carry a price tag of a trillion dollars over the next three decades, a far cry from candidate Obama's vision of a nuclear-free world.

Former Georgia Senator and nuclear arms expert Sam Nunn is quoted as saying the nuclear arms build-up preserves the status quo, which counters Obama's original vision. Obama claims to have been influenced by Nunn's writing on arms control.

The president's "betrayed" supporters need to get a grip. At the risk of sounding like an apologist, the president's lofty promises were nothing more than pipe dreams isolated from the real world.

Things happen.

Obama's promises were derailed by developments such as the collapse that moved the world's financial system to the brink, a recalcitrant Republican Congress that worked to discredit him from his first day in office, China's growing military threat, stagnant/sinking European military budgets, Putinism and the rise of ISIS.

His retreat provides a teachable moment for Americans, nicely summed up by The Who's 1971 hit, "Won't Get Fooled Again."

A big part of Obama's legacy: Voters will be much more skeptical the next time they are wooed by a political candidate offering pie in the sky. That dessert is always beyond reach.

Thank you, Mr. President.