Economist March 19, 2011

Has Barack Obama ever been brave? Perhaps more pertinently, will he ever be?        He has clung to the middle ground, cutting deals and side-stepping fights he judges he can’t win. He campaigned as a “Transformational” president, the “We can” president. Political courage may be hard to define, but we know it when we see it. Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act and lost the South in the next election.                                                                                                                      The younger George Bush showed true grit when he defied everyone and refused to leave Iraq in chaos.                                                                 Maybe Mr. Obama will step forward and show similar courage, while Libya and Bahrain burn.