President Obama Stumbles, But Catches Himself

Our expectations were unrealistically high for the new President, so when we hear of failed cabinet appointments - failing because of issues that should have been caught in the vetting - we being to see a little tarnish on the crown.

Yet, looking back to other great presidents often compared to Mr. Obama, we see that Kennedy and Lincoln made many major mistakes and false starts as well. We remember them mostly for the good things they did, with only a footnote to the errors. Presidents are human and mistakes will be made.

Of course, one man cannot do it all so President Obama's team deserves some "credit" for these missteps. But it is refreshing to see the man himself take the blame. He realizes, after all, that the final decision is always his and therefore he gets to take the credit or the blame as appropriate.

I don't know whether it is off putting or endearing to hear this President say "I screwed up" but for now I'll smile and see him as a normal human being treading on the very thin ice of a new presidency. Unfortunately there are still those who cannot accept that he won the election, fairly and by a wide margin, and who will gleefully rub their hands when he makes a misstep. As Rush Limbaugh once said after Bush took the White House in 2000 in a contested race with Al Gore, "Get over it, Bush won, he is the President". So too I say to those who natter today about Obama's election. Get over it, and come together to make America work.