In the week following the shellacking of his party in the midterm elections, one might think that President Barack Obama would be conciliatory and humble. Instead, he has continued to be audacious — but with arrogance rather than hope. The day after the elections, during a White House news conference, Obama said this in response to a reporter’s questions about the possibility of changing focus based on the mid-term election results: “The key is to find areas where the agenda that I’ve put forward, one that I believe will help strengthen the middle class and create more ladders of opportunity