Last night, great expectations were abound. With his job approval in free fall and congressional supermajority now belonging to the ages, many pundits expected the president to use the State of the Union address as an opportunity to take a "hard-pivot" to the center of the political spectrum. But rather than walking away from what has thus far been nothing but a losing table, Obama dug in his heels, ordered another vodka martini, and doubled down on radical liberalism.

The American people watched as he placed his usual cards on the table: cap-and-trade, health-care reform, handouts for various factions of our society, populist demagoguery, etc. Regrettably, he hasn't learned that those cards aren't winners, and perhaps we now have to finally admit to ourselves that our president has a problem.

Who we should have seen last night was not the gambler we've become accustomed to, but a realist born from the seed of the gambler. Now that he's played those losing cards for the past year, shouldn't have reality sunk in?

Shouldn't he have learned that the economy won't prosper as long as government's intervention and further regulation confine it to a state of uncertainty?

Shouldn't he have learned that that willful ignorance and malfeasance from our government and military will cost American lives, here and abroad?

Shouldn't he have learned that acceptance of health-care reform won't become a reality until the goals of the legislation match the will of the people, not just the will of the legislators?

Shouldn't he have learned that "smart power" and diplomacy doesn't mean groveling at the feet of our adversaries and getting nothing in return?

Shouldn't he have learned that the people of this nation want to control their own resources so that they can decide what is it that they ultimately want out of life as opposed to having government tell them what they want?

Shouldn't he have learned by now that his actions count for more than his words, and he's accountable for those words?

The realist would have acknowledged how fortunate he was to learn so much over the last year and cognizant of the reality that there would be much to learn in the future. Going through that learning process would have resulted in the formation of a better leader. But Obama won't be that realist, nor ultimately, that better leader. Unfortunately, last night served as a reminder to this nation that it will continue to be led by the gambler who uncontrollably picks up the dice, convinced that he's just one roll away from regaining all of his chips. But if Obama keeps gambling, we'll be the ones who lose everything.

J.C. Arenas is a frequent contributor to American Thinker and welcomes your comments at jcarenas.com