I have read a litany of articles, including Stephen L. Carter’s piece in Sunday’s CDT about how dysfunctional our two-party system has become in Washington.

Carter says this is causing a national psychological depression akin to post-traumatic stress syndrome suffered by our military. Although I can accept this premise, Carter’s column, as most in the media, fails to point one obvious reason for this situation.

Through all the political noise that emanates in the media, there is one person who has the “bully pulpit” to set the tone in Washington and the nation, and that person is the president of the United States.

Throughout the history of this nation, presidents have had to work with Congress, controlled by the opposition, and have had varying degrees of success. The only success that the current resident of the White House has had is when his party briefly controlled Congress with a “super majority.”

Since then, based on the partisan tone he set, Congress has been deadlocked and the nation’s pressing problems await the outcome of another election. For his inability to lead Congress and the nation without a super majority, which is a historic rarity, President Barack Obama does not deserve a second chance.

Suren Rao Boalsburg