Pragmatic govt. vs. bold govt.

From reading the threads here at DU and thinking about the seemingly increasing hostility between those who express disappointment with President Obama and those who support or at least provide excuses for him, I think one can say DU is divided into two camps. The former group wants President Obama to take bold actions on a number of issues such as prosecuting members of the Bush Administration for war crimes and to suspend or vigorously work to repeal DOMA and DADT. The latter group argues that Rome wasn't built in single day, that there are priorities and one has to deal with political realities.

Thinking about past presidents, I don't believe they were that many one could consider to be bold. Reagan and JFK appeared bold but that was more because of style and perception then in what they actually did. LBJ I would argue was bold for getting the Great Society programs thru Congress and for the escalation of the Vietnam War. Bush Jr. could be considered bold for Iraq, Afghanistan, wireless tapping, Gitmo and other things. Bush Sr., Clinton, Carter, Ford, Ike and even Nixon were more of the pragmatic types.

If that's bold government, so be it.

FDR seized government and did the right thing, and is fondly remembered for saving our country (although he did compromise on a few things - but they were the exceptions).