Written by Valerie Leventhal   

I've been doing alot of talking down my friends this year about what Obama is doing, and I've arrived at a couple of models which I think may help explain his position, and why things seem to be taking so long sometimes.

First of all, we must have patience. Consider the mountain of trouble that was piled on his desk on day 1 of entering the White House. Then consider the following concepts.

1) Triage. In a busy emergency room, the medical personnel have to learn to prioritize. First they have to care for immediately life-threatening issues, then potentially life-threatening issues, then less serious injury and illness. At any given moment, there will be people still sick, still bleeding - things will not be perfect and orderly; but eventually, everyone will be seen and cared for. Some things will inevitably fall through the cracks - you can't do everything at once, but serious people will be making serious decisions and doing their level best (sometimes at the expense of their own health and well-being) to help everyone. So...let's all calm down and look at Obama's job rationally. In his first year, in spite of half a dozen emergencies (including 2 wars, an imploding economy, and a couple of environmental disasters), and agencies and departments staffed with hold-overs from the Bush era whose agendas may not be on track with the current administration, and a congress mostly bought off by big corporate money, among other things, he has accomplished major, historic healthcare reform legislation on behalf of the American People. No, it's not perfect - what bill ever was? No, it's not enough - but it's a start, something no one could do in the last 50 years.

2) Deficit spending. In my house, when we have a choice between keeping the lights on and a roof over our head, or paying off credit card bills, we let the cards go. We have to. And so does the government. In my house, when we have a choice between re-investing in our future business and our personal ability to earn income (purchasing needed equipment and/or making repairs to car, computer, etc.) or paying off the debt, we let the debt go. We have to. It's not that we don't want to pay it, or don't intend to pay it in the future, but if you need glasses, or shoes, or tires - that has to come first. At the moment, the country needs schools, hospitals, roads and bridges, better energy policy - all things that cost money. We have to choose to spend money sometimes to get going again and generate more. We do this at our house. I'm sure you do it at yours.

So, let's have some patience, remember the guy we elected, remember the scope of these problems, look how grey his hair has gotten in just 2 years. He's working hard at doing the job we elected him to do (yes, he was actually elected - and by a larger margin than most people realize). Let's understand that Obama is not perfect, but he's on our side, and even with all that we don't like, could we have a better person in this position at this time in our history? I don't think so.