(l NP ) great speech Mr Obama

[Robert Mahnke]

I've been disappointed by him, and can go on about it, but I also
think he deserves a lot of credit for what he's accomplished, starting
with health care and financial reforms.  The prime constraint on him
is Congress.  That's reality, not an excuse.  I think he is a
pragmatist who will take what he can get from Congress and move on.
This frustrates me, because the Congress's disfunction is a huge
problem and Obama doesn't seem to want to tackle it.  But to reduce
everything to Obama's personal failings or successes, and to ignore
the role of Congress, seems myopic to me.

There are also areas where he hasn't pushed enough, like in nominating
judges or people to the FRB.  And then there's Afghanistan (re which,
this is truly excellent and depressing:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/08/impressions-of-afghanistan/62236/1/).
 So I don't mean to absolve him.

On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 12:44 AM, Carvill, John <john.carvill at sap.com> wrote:
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> > If the economy were in better shape, he would be able to do more, but it isn't.
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> There is always some excuse. I remember people telling me - in *total* seriousness - "just wait until Clinton's Second Term, then you'll see. He has to be careful now, so he can secure a Second Term. Then he'll get really radical". Whereas of course, people like Bush and Cheney get really radical from the get go.
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