[stuartcr]

Perhaps that’s the way he wanted it, to see what would be done.

No one said anything about it be commendable or not. I don’t think virtue has anything to do with the desirable side affect. Besides, when is anything a government does, virtuous?

[Vanders9]

I think it's highly unlikely that BO was trying to force a result in that manner. As the saying goes, it's rarely wise to attribute to design what can be explained by stupidity.

It's not a question of the government being "virtuous", it's a question of them adequately discharging their duties and responsibilities. You're implying that it's a good thing that they muddled through a situation, abdicated their authority, refused to use power because of sloth and/or fear, and then get lauded for the one happy outcome (that they didn't plan for) out of the many failures caused by their indecision.

I think we can legitimately assert more is expected of elected representatives. Or it should be.