I guess what really gets to me is that I know a lot of intelligent people--really bright people--who are absolutely convinced that Obama is the greatest thing since the previous messiah (sorry, but couldn't resist a bit of sarcasm there), and I just don't see it.
I don't see anything that he has done, or that he is proposing to do, that has any potential to make my life better.
And none of those friends who did support Obama seem to be able to tell me anything he is going to do that they think will make my life--or theirs--better.
I find that very strange--and very disconcerting.

I have accepted the fact that I am going to have to succeed in spite of my government rather than with the assistance of my government.
The last time I felt this way was the Carter administration, and that provoked me to do some things that I probably needed to do anyway, and I'd have to say the result was probably the best 2-3 years of my life.
I'm at about the same point again, and starting to do the same sorts of things, and hoping for the same sort of results.