I've been somewhat detached this political season, what with my commitment to stay away from the crazy for a while, but I have been reading the post-election blogs at Dag with interest. I have the same feeling now that I had in January 2008--Obama is going to be fine. Of course, I don't have a crystal ball and a lot is going to happen between now and then, including a sure-to-be nauseating 112th Congress.

The President has been rather candid this week about taking responsibility for the huge Democratic losses. Some think he should be more defiant but the guy is nothing if not reflective. But, for all of the criticism level against him regarding his lack of message and lack of leadership, he's come out with a pretty masterful response. It's short, it's sweet, and just like when the Pope said he was sorry that people felt he was being offensive when he insulted Islam (rather than actually apologizing for the insult in the first place), Obama doesn't actually say he's sorry:

"You know, I think that over the course of two years we were so busy and so focused on getting a bunch of stuff done that we stopped paying attention to the fact that leadership isn't just legislation."

And just like like, the President signals 1) that he might be ready to get in the game; and 2) that the critics can basically suck it because he's been busy actually doing stuff. 

Now, I know that there are a million and one opinions out there about the job that he is or isn't doing, what he could have done better, how he's a sell-out or a shill for corporate interests or whatever. I'm not overly thrilled with his job performance over the last two years but I certainly don't think he's been a total disaster and I'm ready to vote for him again, qualm free. But I do hope, as Dan K suggested the other day, that he's got his veto pen ready.