I have to say, being a Republican who has been around politics from a small child yet earns income not too high over the poverty line, that any/all "Liberals" out there who thought when we voted for Obama and elected him to the White House that Barack was going to ride in on a White Stallion of Freedom and Democracy - holding Free Universal Health Care in one hand & the Cliff-Notes to Paradise in the other - were woefully self-illusioned; and are only "better" than those joining the KKK because they haven't gone off the deep-end into self-perpetuated bigotry aimed at genocide. 

He hasn't morphed, or changed, or done any sort of transformation from the man we elected to office. We didn't elect him because he was the best man in the country to do the job - whom could never actually be elected to any office for the same reasons Ghandi, M. L. King, Jr., and all the other true leaders of the poor and down-trodden never could. We elected him because he was the best man who had the best chance of both winning AND at providing the country with the best leadership for the time being (2009 ~ 2012). And if he is elected for a second term than it will be for the same reasons.

I'd hate to say it but many of those commenting on this topic seem to have a terrible case of the "It's not fair" disease. And in turn, all I can say is: Life is not fair, never will be fair, and if someone has told you otherwise, they are either a liar or a fool of the highest caliber. 

In regards to the Pres. I don't know. I hope he is in the back planning this whole political landscape for years; even after he can't be in office. That he is laying the necessary groundwork for the Change he promised. So that whoever comes after, and there will be someone, can do nothing to either stop or reverse the accomplishments he makes in office, or the long-term projects that (as with every president) will continue long after his term(s) end. 

To the person who wrote about "our money" and "keeping his hands off of it", who seems rather "Conservative" at first glance, I ask you to please create your own country and move there as soon as possible; for both our and your own benefit. Provide for yourself, educate yourself (and your family if you have one), create your own Health Care System, and take care of yourself in every way you seem to take for granted right now. The whole, `I am an island. I need nothing but me an mine.` type of mentality is both aggravating and a huge indication of ignorance. There is a system - imperfect (yes), complicated (yes), disturbing (absolutely) - and there are reasons for the system existing that those on either extreme tend to forget.  If any in those camps would like to move, I would help pay for it; particularly for the camera's that would pick up the anarchy they would live in, in their own countries. 

And that leads me to my conclusion: there is no unified front. On any side. Most times it seems as if Conservatism is this way and Liberalism is that way, while the Progressives are caught somewhere in the middle trying to squeeze out a few words. This is true on the surface. But as the current Dem. landscape shows, the idea that the Lib. Dem's are somehow this unified force for anything, and that they are being led by either a Platinum Jedi Knight or a charlatan with every religious symbol known to man carved down into deadly weapons, is simply ridiculous. To expect that is ridiculous. And even worse, to think that the Rep's are the complete opposite (a cold, calculative legion of well-informed demons) is beyond insanity.

To borrow a phrase of Cenk, the whole lot of you out there that think so are coo coo for cocoa puffs. Cenk. The Conservative-base just tends to be more unified on the task-at-hand, then the Liberal-base does. And unfortunately for the Utopia people are always foolishly seeking today, rather than setting up for tomorrow, the only thing we all have to work with is what we have right now. What we were set up with, not just by the last Pres. (who I personally admire for his fortitude, if not his decision making capabilities or his intelligence) but by every leader (political or non) that have served the American people; including themselves. 

My advice is to wake up and smell the reality. You want things to change, go start the process. Organize, protest, and fight for what you want, knowing full-well that it will take years (much like the current HC Bills roaming the halls of Congress) for things to truly come to fruition and that it may turn out not to be the best thing for you Or for the country. Once you do that, maybe then you will understand all that a man (or woman) can AND cannot do; regardless of how hard they try or what position they hold.

I apologize for my first post being so lengthy. Being a writer, I tend to let the words take me where they will. Nice comments, by the way.