Pay attention to small issues

It's time for the President to pay attention to "smaller" issues, such as gay rights in the military, where he can make progressive change almost unilaterally. Because it now looks like he will lose the big issues. If health care reform doesn't have a public option, it's a sell out to the insurance companies. And more and more it's beginning to look like Afghanistan will be Obama's Vietnam. I am no longer optimistic about meaningful change in this country, despite Obama's skills. His own party is caving, and he's caving with it rather than taking a stance of difficult leadership and changing minds. We need an LBJ at a time like this, a ruthless politician who can twist arms and change minds. Obama may be too nice and fair to be an effective president. The "new way of doing things" looks like a bust to me. It amounts to caving in.