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CHRIS MATTHEWS: Sometimes the best advisers are not sycophants, they don't depend on you for emotional response. They're willing to say: I'm only here for six months, to help you, I'm a pro. But sometimes, a professional or elected president says: I got elected, not you. I'm the boss. You know, it's hard to get the boss to come down from his ladder and say, you know, I need some help.

JONATHAN ALTER: [President Obama] in some ways kind of infantilizes the people around him. A lot of them are young. Some of them are very smart and talented. But they're all in awe of the president. They have an unhealthy love for him. Yes, they do sometimes tell him the bad news, which he says he wants. They're not all sycophants. But he has not figured out how to get some other people in. And, you know, we can go over a list of names. I think there are some very talented people who could help him with more creative ideas for getting on top of it.

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It's a cult following, and nothing less.

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