When everyone across the political spectrum is this cynical about our politicians, the problem probably isn’t just our current batch of elected officials, but that design of the system itself.

Welcome to a brand new age of political cynicism in America! According to a new poll from Pew, the American people have become dramatically more cynical about the chances of bipartisanship over the past two years.

It has become fashionable on the Left to feign a world-weary cynicism. The “Audacity of Hope” is often considered a utopian conceit, and a New Fatalism has descended upon the Left. We must not be afraid of the inspiration that we got from the Audacity of Hope, even if our prophet seems to have feet of clay.

I’m suffering from a dashing of hope these days, and Paul Roget Loeb’s book Soul of a Citizen just might help me recover.

President Obama and Democrats in Congress have accomplished some truly amazing things. The economic recovery package, health reform, Wall Street reform – all of these things are big f*cking deals. And yet, I and many others are still feeling betrayed – the economic recovery wasn’t big enough, health care reform by all rights should have been much more progressive, and Wall Street reform doesn’t nearly go far enough. Why the feeling of betrayal? Because we were promised so much more than just “reform.” President Obama promised this country transformational change. And we have not been given transformational change.