I guess that now, a little more than two years after I wrote the post and just over a year since Obama took office, is a pretty good time for me to comment on how things are going with it.

Overall, I’m not terribly disappointed. I try to be pragmatic and I never expected Obama to be a miracle worker. I’m not sure how to feel about the situation with the health care debate. I have mixed feelings about the issue in general, but I’m frustrated by the fact that Congress is more interested in political gamesmanship and obstructionism than helping to provide any kind of improvement. I’m sure the president is frustrated too, but it might have been a little naive of him to expect otherwise. In the end, I think it may be an unnecessary and ultimately meaningless distraction at a time when we don’t need one.

Other than that, though, I think Obama’s judgement has been reasonable and that the country is in a pretty steady place, which is better than I can say for the last administration. Maybe I’m just getting cynical, but after the Bush years, all I really want out of a politician is someone who doesn’t massively screw things up. Making things better is hard work that takes a long time and requires overcoming a lot of obstacles in your way. Making things worse is easy—entropy is on your side.

Thanks for commenting, Mike! Sorry to hear that you’re frustrated with the outcome of the 2008 Democratic primaries. I’m not sure that the economy would have improved much faster with Hillary in office, but maybe she will get her chance in 2016.