“The President cannot expect to pass meaningful legislation without getting down in the trenches and fighting for many of his previously expressed beliefs and goals.”

[staring] He's been doing this? His continued campaign appearances and manipulation of public opinion have this as the goal! He's stronger than you think he is, and there's no reason for him to be especially loathsome in his successes.

“America and President Obama do not have the luxury of time.”

Yes, we do. There is no intelligent reason why we should rush and take on too much too soon, or rush and do things more badly than they're likely to be done already. (The takeover of GM is inexcusable; the health care initiative has been started far too quickly and the pending legislation is a nightmare and a true disaster; the “financial reforms,” which this Web site negligently has not featured one thread about, as it is often concerned with trivial matters instead, have some features that are ominous and sinister*)

* And here we go with more rushing ahead of “schedule” — I had warned you about “harmonization” not only within the EU but between the EU and the USA on financial (and tax) matters, in addition to attacks on offshore tax havens, and what do we see in the financial reforms but a vow to improve and (if not the word's actually being used) harmonize regulations of various kinds between the USA and other nations. It made sense to me for governments to do this in about 10-20 years when finances become desperate; Obama has managed to rush things, perhaps because he's made federal finances more desperate than we've ever seen before.