>>And I think something else rather awesome happened today as well....at the moment I can't recall, but I'm sure I'll remember it tomorrow morning.
>>It's a Beautiful Day

The most beautiful in more than 60 years if I understand correctly.

AFAICS you Northamericanos like a President to appear decisive and interested in/emotionally connected to the populace. Not easy if both houses of Congress are hostile. Clinton faced the same and he managed to turn himself into a post-presidency figure of respect with certain gaffes forgotten or forgiven. Wonder how Obama will turn out. At least he managed to get healthcare reform started unlike Hillary, another historic event that seems to be forgotten in some quarters.

Regarding healthcare reform: the status quo had at most a decade before failure IMHO. Reform was overdue and just like any other infrastructure, the longer you leave it the more it costs. Which is why Eisenhower deserves more credit for US prosperity in the second half of last century: the freeways transformed the nation and are of a scale whose cost would be unimaginable if started today. Same with healthcare- though behind the scenes I see changes that inevitably lead toward a more standard funding model no matter what politicians do. It'll be interesting to see whether the Republicans get stuck into Medicare or other massive societal risks, rather than self-importantly rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic... and it will be interesting to see how often Obama wields his veto pen.