We’re in for three and a half years of this guy doing nothing but “subtweeting” Trump in his public appearances, huh?

For cripes sake, if he’s going to take shots at the president, let him do it explicitly. Not a single person in the audience last night showed up because they’re worried about the perils of nationalism in France or Hungary. They were there for some POTUS-on-POTUS action. And Obama delivered, sort of.

“In periods like this, people looking for control and certainty — it’s inevitable,” Obama told the Canadian audience. “But it is important to remember that the world has gone through similar moments. … Our history also shows there is a better way.”

He said people should overcome fear and not listen to those who “call for isolation or nationalism” and those who “suggest rolling back the rights of others.”…

“We’re also bound by the institutions that we built to keep the peace,” Obama said, referring to the UN, NATO and NAFTA…

“I am convinced that the future does not belong to strongmen,” Obama said.

Nobody combines left-populist bromides with anti-populist condescension about why people have the foolish preferences that they do quite like O. We’re lucky to have another 30 years of him mournfully reminding us periodically that we’ve disappointed him by having succumbed to fear and made the wrong political choice again.

After the speech, he and Justin Trudeau totally bro’d out in a not-at-all contrived regular-guy photo op at an unassuming local restaurant.