Obama's Had Year We Can Believe In

There's been plenty to quibble about over the last year, but a look at the big picture shows that President Obama has been changing the world just as he was elected to do, writes Eugene Robinson. Obama's biggest accomplishment has been averting another Great Depression, Robinson notes in the Washington Post. The president has also made historic strides in many other areas, from appointing the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice to embracing multi-lateralism and accepting scientific consensus on climate change, Robinson writes.

Obama hasn't been bold enough in many areas, but much of that can be blamed on the nature of getting things done in Washington, especially in the face of Republican obstructionism, notes Robinson. On health care, the president has "brought us to the brink of truly meaningful reform much faster than anyone could have imagined a year ago," and the Democrats' dream of health insurance for all now looks set to become law, Robinson concludes. "Quite a record for 287 days: All that, and a Nobel Peace Prize, too." (More Eugene Robinson stories.)