Pretending to be Great

Both Progressives and Republicans had plenty of reasons to be disappointed with Barack Obama's first term. For Republicans, Obama was a socialist hawking big government. For Progressives, Obama was afraid to push for single payer health care and let Wall Street off the hook for the financial crisis.
Now Obama is refusing to compromise on a debt deal, or offer reasonable cuts to entitlements like medicare and social security. This of course gives moderates like myself a reason to really dislike the President.
Obama will continue to pretend to take the high road. He wants to look like the adult in the room. But he would rather let the Republicans take the blame for sequestration than work with them to avoid it.
No one can argue that Obama's presidency will be anything but historic. He's an inspirational figure to all Americans and he does not deserve the criticism and hatred he receives from the right. But he will not be a great President until he learns how to work with Republicans to address the important issues, like debt, unemployment and immigration that face this country.

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