Whenever I might think it won't be so bad what a Republican can do (any of them), I look at the 8 years of Bush or the 2010 election of Republican governors. What damage can they do? Everything and especially where it comes to adding another Alito or Roberts to the Supreme Court. It will mean overturning any civil rights of Americans that are possible to overturn and whether they talk moderate or not, they all will appoint those kind of Justices.

Lawrence O'Donnell made a good point last night that has been the largest disappointment of Obama-- that we haven't really tried progressive political principles as Obama governed to the middle, not the left. Liberal philosophies will be blamed for all of this but they were never really attempted partly because of not enough solid liberals in House or Senate when many were Democrats but not liberal or progressive.

Partly however it was Obama letting the business community tell him what to do. This happens out of fear that if the government goes against what they want the money supply for their campaigns will dry up but also lack of real understanding of economics and what really built this country into what it is.

To say it's a frustrating time as a leftie is to put it mildly as every time I turn on the news I want to groan.

Only centrists say "...hard to choose.." when they are offered good candidates as true representatives of their respective parties. Unless the voters are offered two of the same persuasion and then we all have a problem.

I too am disappointed in Obama. His efforts to create bipartisan cooperation were naive at best and squandered the moment when his party had the votes to create real reform.

The Republicans have admitted that their prime goal is not to address the issues we citizens are facing, but to be sure Obama doesn't get reelected. Their concern is not solving the problems of the country - most of which were created by their own policies in the Bush years - but making the problems bigger and blaming the President for them.

I am a registered Republican voter, but I am ashamed to admit it these days. And I voted for Obama.

It's really getting harder to maintain any semblance of hope for this country.

The populace put these posturing ignorant idiots in office. People complain that the legislators are not listening to the people, yet it was the people who made this debacle possible.

When our government was formed I am sure none of the wise men involved could envision a time when a handful of stupid dolts could destroy our democracy so effectively. They have already won everything they asked for and they are not satisfied yet. We do not have a strong president like Harry Truman to tell them to "go to hell."

Until we get back to the concept of our forefathers we are doomed. I fear it's already too late. This is one of the lowest times for our country that I can remember. I just can't bear to watch this charade we call 'government in action' much longer. It's beginning to feel like watching a dear friend die.

It is sad, but you made me laugh with your comment, "When is the last time you said, gee, I don't know how to choose, they are both so good. How about never.

As for Obama. I didn't vote for him, and don't like him. We worked in Hillary's campaign and then voted for McCain when the time came. McCain used to be a moderate, which I am, but lately he has been sounding as if he has heat stroke.

My Senator is Mark Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Gang of Six, and he is wonderful, I think. We will have to make changes to the way the US spends money, and it will require both cuts to entitlement programs and new revenue. The Gang of Six has the right answers. My 2 cents.

I'm not disappointed in Obama, just disgusted at the Republicans who have brought the workings of this government to a standstill. I can't ever remember a president being treated with such viciousness, by people who exhibit no regard for civility or the general good.

By the way, Mitt Romney is a smart, sane candidate but no political non-entity. On his last day in office as governor of Massachusetts, newspapers around the state ran good-riddance editorials. He slashed the state budget so deep, some small towns had to decide between police or snow plowing, then he wanted to cut taxes even more. He doesn't deserve credit for the health plan, which had been kicking around the legislature for 20 years before Mitt ever moved to Massachusetts. His contribution to what became law was to veto the universal health care plan passed by the legislature then resubmit with weaker penalties to non-compliant employers. As it turned out, all but a handful of employers went along with the program, even though it would have been cheaper for them to not do so, thanks to Mitt. Also, did I mention he was out of the state more than 1/2 of the time during his governorship, and frequently trashed the state and those who elected him at speaking engagements in other states? Believe me, Mitt's an entity.

Thank you so much for the pep talk, Ronni! I'm going to breathe into this brown paper bag for a few minutes and write ONE MORE TIME to my senators and my representative and the White House.

While I wish Obama had stayed with his progressive values including universal single payer health care, he has been stuck with a congress that votes no on everything he tries. Remember the filibusters in the Senate? Until we can elect a filibuster-proof senate, and take back a strong majority in the house again, he will not be able to do much for us. Let us pray that he is reelected with those strong supporting majorities. THEN, as a lame duck president, if he can't get things moving I will be extremely disappointed. For now, I give him the benefit of the doubt. He has tried too hard to appease the Republicans, for sure, but in dealing with their intransigence it's hard to see what more he could have accomplished.

There have been advantages to having shared political power in Washington in past years. By and large our nation has moved forward though not always smoothly. Often extremists at either end of the political spectrum were prevented from irrational actions. Not so presently. Amazingly a small minority group within one major political party is dictating policy to the majority of their members. The way I've written about it is to say "in the Republican Party, the tail wags the dog."