No, I don't believe there has ever been a true consensus on the left. And it's psychology, not anything as abstract as principles. People who gravitate to the right tend to be more dogmatic, and inclined to project their problems outward. The left is defined by those who are more flexible in their thinking, and able to search themselves as well as others for problems and solutions. Left more verbal; right more heavy-handed. The issues find these people, not the other way around.

The strongest alliances on the left tend to be about wrongs to be redressed. But the methods of redress are argued infinitely. Any comments section on Salon shows this more clearly than I can say - the conservative trolls speak with one dull thudding voice; the left is a chorus of fractious opinions.

I don't think this is bad at all - the solutions the left comes up with, accordingly, are more nuanced and thoughtful. But also less lock-step.

The danger now is that we actually have a guy in the white house who is trying to redress multiple wrongs, from Bush back to Reagan. There's a time for putting aside the picayune and focusing on the essential. I can't imagine a more important time for that than now.

An article on the BBC yesterday reiterated that Obama (and we) have a window of 4 years to do something meaningful to prevent runaway climate change. There's no left or right in environmental degradation - everyone feels it equally (although the poor feel it most). But the left is the only entity uniquely qualified, by DNA, to deal with it. And so on, with compassionate health care, fair distribution of wealth, etc.

We have a lot to do. Even an imperfect union can be effective sometimes.

No more unchallenged Republican lies. No more media-floated memes about "Obama's economy" 55 days in. No more rumors of Republican competence in the last 8 years, or benign neglect. No more "fair and balanced" con jobs. Jobs are failing right and left, and it's the Republicans' doing. They did it with massive deregulation, unwarranted tax cuts for the wealthy and a 3 Trillion dollar fabricated war. They gutted us. No more equivocation.

Thank you for pushing back. Thank you.

Ever.

on a great performance. President Obama is the real deal - the best and sharpest leader we've had for decades. Right man, right tone, right communication. And speaking of decades, our press is a shambles of what it used to be. Maybe they can take heart in watching a grown-up show how to take the high road. It couldn't hurt.

Even if the MSM needs to harp on race, it has NOTHING to do with this president's performance. And I mean wow. Nothing.

Thanks Mr. Leonard for this - and many - clear, cogent analyses. I know a lot more now, thanks to you, and that's sorely needed and appreciated. This is exactly why I come to Salon every day, editors please take note. One of the absolute best journals/columns around.

Anybody who seriously thinks that the Foley scandal was the deciding factor in Republicans' 2006 losses needs to get out more.

And any one who imagines that McCain was sunk by a whispered indiscretion does not own a tv.

DeLay, Santorum, Bush and Cheney - screeching hyprocrisy, incompetent governance and corporate looting and bloodshed. 8 years of it, and then you parade a mean, schizoid dodderer as your agent of "change".

And the media drove you from power? What about the rest of us?

to have that puppy give the economic speech. The recession would be OVER. No lie.

are there?

This gets pinned up, right next to my own armchair. I want to watch the print fade with the rhetoric.

Being seriously fed-up about paying taxes so that the government can reward people who misbehave is a legitimate and easily understandable feeling. I think the whole country can get behind that one.

Of course that pretty much describes the entire last 8 years, but I digress........

Not knowing a tax cut when it bites you in the ass is harder to grok.

This is major. In some areas Mr. Obama said he would proceed cautiously, and he is. In some areas he said he'd move quickly, and just so. He's doing what he said he'd do, what we hired him for. No equivocating to appease on climate - rolling up sleeves. No excuses. He's acting like a clear-headed man with young children who will be directly affected by inaction.

No spin, no triangulation. That alone makes him one of the best presidents we've had in decades. Bravo.

Thanks to Mr. Leonard for being the first on Salon to report this. Your postings are some of the fairest and most cogent on this site. Given the implications Climate Change can have for peace, plenty and cultural transformation, this item should be on every column on Salon. But I expect it most from you. You're the best.

Re:

"Over two millennia society has concluded that the best way to do that is a sanctioned relationship between a man and a woman."

Until 1967 that relationship could not be racially mixed in the US. Care to explain why that was important at the time, especially since January 20 of this year?

Re:

"They're afraid that a change in the civil code will force a change in religious institutions. What happens if gay marriage becomes legal, and a particular creed or denomination, because of its own precepts, wants to opt out of performing gay marriages?"

Your example is King Henry VIII and his problem with the Pope. And divorce becoming religiously acceptable has damaged the Catholic Church exactly how?