I could learn from Obama...

David Pacini a Philosopher over at Emory has always pushed me to look long term and be more stoic, in fact he turned me on to the Stoics when we first met. Epictitus' The Art of Living is one of the most influential works I have ever read.

Pacini has pointed to how smart Obama is at navigating politics, and I have to agree, bumps in the road not withstanding the guy is shrewed, elegant, and restrained. I guess you'd call him a leader?

Thought Bob Herbert had some good points this morning in the Times:

While Lindsey Graham was behaving like a 6-year-old on the Senate floor and Pete Sessions was studying passages in his Taliban handbook, Mr. Obama and his aides were assessing what's achievable in terms of stimulus legislation and how best to get there.

I'd personally like to see a more robust stimulus package, with increased infrastructure spending and fewer tax cuts. But the reality is that Mr. Obama needs at least a handful of Republican votes in the Senate to get anything at all done, and he can't afford to lose this first crucial legislative fight of his presidency.

The Democrats may succeed in bolstering their package somewhat in conference, but I think Mr. Obama would have been satisfied all along to start his presidency off with an $800 billion-plus stimulus program.

The leadership is refreshing because I think it leads to good government, which will help end some of the apathy and frustration of nonvoters... which is vital to have in a healthy democracy--which for better or worse is something to desire.