President Obama's health-care speech to Congress last week wasn't perfect. He made promises he can't keep (dragging out, for example, that old political fiction that we can pay for big new projects by cutting waste.)

He took no step toward real, long-lasting reform - a single-payer system.

And he didn't talk much about the escalating cost of health care. That's also true of the bills coming out of Congress, of course. "Instead of true reform," the New York Times' David Brooks wrote recently, "we got a series of bills that essentially cement the present system in place. The proposals do not fundamentally challenge the fee-for-service system. They don't make Americans more accountable for their own health-care spending. They don't reduce costs. They just add more people into the mess we've got."

All that said, Obama's speech was a strong one, with the boldness and passion that he often showed during the presidential campaign. But it was just a speech, and the response of his critics - particularly the response of South Carolina's Joe Wilson - is drowning out Obama's words.

Strangely (or maybe typically), some Democrats in Congress want to prolong the focus on Wilson, insisting that his immediate apology to Obama wasn't enough, that he has to apologize on the floor of Congress.

As reprehensible as Wilson's action was, I can think of more important things to be concerned about. I'm really worried about the Republicans' behavior in the health-care debate, and what it says about the future of politics and public policy. The Republicans seem intent on blocking reform - maybe because they don't think we have a health-care crisis or because they're protecting health-care special interests.

But their anger and disrespect hint at something much broader. Republicans have been engaged in all-out war against Obama since the day he took office. I assume they think whipping up public rage will help them take control of Congress in the next election. Health care is only one of the problems the country will have to deal with during the next few years, of course, and it looks likely that every Obama initiative will be overwhelmed by partisan rancor.

I'm also worried about the public's reaction during the health-care debate, and what it says about the future of politics and public policy.

It's hard to tell how many Americans embrace the wingnut propaganda about health-care reform. Maybe the people shouting at the town hall meetings represent only a small minority. But if they don't, the implications are obvious.

Here, too, reasonable Republicans in Congress are culpable. The majority of them have stayed silent as the lies and insanity have spread. I have to assume the same thing will happen as the Obama administration tries to address other critical national challenges.

And what does the public's reaction say about Americans and our relationship to our government? Do most of us hate government and public servants this much? Do we mistrust government this deeply? (Do we trust, oh, I don't know... insurance companies more?)

Barack Obama has the potential to inspire Americans to face tough times and tough challenges by working together. Many of us voted for him because we saw that potential. And I don't think failure on health-care reform will doom his presidency, as many people have predicted. But I do think it will make it harder for him to lead us. And I think it will make it harder for all of us to deal rationally with the many other problems we're facing.

"I still believe we can act even when it's hard," Obama said in his speech to Congress last week. "I still believe we can do great things... Because that is who we are. That is our calling. That is our character."

That's his description of the American people - including, I assume, members of Congress. I hope he's right. Over the next few weeks, we may find out.