A recent letter to the editor described the perfidy of Joe Lieberman. I agreed, up until the last sentence which said, "President Obama has yet to demonstrate the backbone he needs to lead the Democrat Party and the country."

I believe the writer is off target perhaps it is President Obama's calm style that confuses him.

Let's talk about the people who are really, really against President Obama. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell and Rep. John Boehner say Obama is promoting a health reform bill that is "socialist."

"Socialist" to them means "Stalin." Let's remind ourselves that we depend on government programs such as Medicaid, Social Security, education, Centers for Disease Control, Environmental Protection Agency, Veterans Administration, Food and Drug Administration, Small Business Administration, Postal Service, Security Exchange Commission ... . And, if the (government) program doesn't work, "Let's fix it or get rid of it. That goes for health care too," says President Obama.

What about Progressives on the left? They say Obama isn't sufficiently forceful. Maybe he should take some Teddy Roosevelt potion. That will stiffen his spine.

OK, impatient grasshoppers do you remember when the Clinton administration tried for health reform? They ran it like a fast train and the load tipped off at the first curve. Then the Republicans took the House in the off-year election.

Speaking of spine, President Obama has an extremely strong and well-aligned spine. In Montana he put his arm around the shoulder of Sen. Max Baucus, squeezed hard, looked into the senator's eyes, then looked back at the audience and said, "Now you can be sure people, your good senator will do his very best to get you decent health care." The senator (deep in the pockets of insurance companies) was rattled. He did, it is said, climb (somewhat) out of the corporate pocket.

President Obama is of the Party of "Yes" and if not "Yes," then how about "Maybe" and if not "Maybe," then "let's listen to one another and work something out. Let's keep this train moving."

James Donally