President Barack Obama had plenty of obstacles when he took over from the Bush administration. The country faced a recession not seen since the Great Depression and the U.S. was embroiled in the Iraq war which left hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis along with thousands of American soldiers in what has turned out to be one of the most catastrophic American foreign policy blunders in history. One would think that the Republicans would help the young president fix what they had broken. Unfortunately, since Obama took office, the Republicans have done nothing but try to stifle him, even at the cost of shutting down the government.Fast forward more than seven years and we still see an unbroken theme with the Republicans   continued obstructionism that has prevented the government from functioning properly and has kept vital decisions from being made. In the latest round, the Republicans in the United States Senate refused to give Chief Judge Merrick Garland a fair hearing and a vote despite the fact that it s been 45 days since the president nominated him for the United States Supreme Court. In his address, the president made it clear that the U.S. Supreme Court must remain above partisan politics and the senate must do its job.Unfortunately, as they ve done in the previous seven years, the Republicans are unlikely to heed the president s advice and suggestions. In the end, it s the American system and ultimately the American people who suffer from the partisan politics which have become so dysfunctional.Watch the video here: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl8quI2z0sY]Featured image via video screen capture