Obama pretending to be handcuffed in 09 and 10 was definitely lame. He should have used the nuclear option and rammed through a huge stimulus package, rich people tax increase and an ACA bill with a public option. Heck, if he was clever enough a lot of that probably could have been through budget reconciliation.
Now I'm not sure what's lame about it. McConnell has weaponized his ability to stop stuff from going to the floor more than any majority leader before him, there's nothing the Dems can do about that when the only reason McConnell is majority leader is because Wyoming gets as many senators as California.