It may be a trifle audacious to label Obama a lame duck this early in his administration but he has certainly earned another ornithological epithet, albatross.

There's an old joke about the scariest words a citizen can hear, "Hello. I'm from the government and I'm here to help." After the debacle in Massachusetts and the Republican victories in Virginia and New Jersey last year, where Obama personally campaigned for the Democrat candidates, it is probably safe to say that the scariest words a Democrat running for office can hear now are:

"I'm the President and I'm here to help."

One has to wonder, how many Democrat candidates do you suppose will want this bird hanging around their necks at election time?