More Waffles Than A House of Pancakes

It began with John Kerry, and seems to be an epidemic- Democrats not doing anything! Should inertia on such a wide scale spread, it could very well throw the Earth off course! It was a bit of a disappointment, and a little confusing. Obama got some flack from one Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who was pissed at Obama for saying that it's "time to deliver" on healthcare reform. This is confusing because Obama largely left the details of working out a bipartisan compromise to the Senate. This prompts the question for me- did the President act rightly, and did he need to be involved every step of the way? The one answer is, if this is his kind of pet project, yes. On the other hand, if the Senate can't come to any conclusions on this without constant guidance and hand-holding, what is it exactly that they do on Capitol Hill other than argue and waste billions of taxpayer dollars? I'm not sure Obama acted incorrectly in allowing the Senate to hash something out, as this sounds a bit to me like asking them to do their jobs for a change.
The Prez also was called on being in France while all this was going on. Accused of "sightseeing" by Sen. Grassley, the statement portrayed the Senate as working hard while Obama goofed off. What was Obama doing in France? Actually, commemorating the anniversary of D-Day. Again, this seems to be kind of a gray area for me- this is a pretty noble thing to be doing, and the fact that the Senate seems unable to get it together when the President is there tells me it may not actually matter where he is. I'm reminded also of Bush the Second, who spent more than a little time home on the range down in Texas trimming brush while the Senate presumably argued about the ramifications of the Twin Tower attacks. Was Bush also guilty of "sightseeing?" I would say he was, and remains, guilty of far worse than that.
In a best-case scenario, I would say Obama remains the idealist we voted for, but got bogged down in the quicksand that is American politics. Remember the old joke- if pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of progress? Congress. In a worst-case scenario, it would seem Obama promised voters the moon, and once the office was secured, things just went back to politics as usual. Personally, I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt- we can't expect sweeping changes to start in an old political system-but with time, all things change. Hopefully for the better.