He had a chance. He had one last, fleeting chance, a brief window of opportunity smashed open by the hurricane winds of his own failed economic theology. He had this one chance to step up, truly to unite rather than to divide, to speak the truth, to lead.
Faced with one of those grim opportunities that present themselves to Presidents and other world leaders on occasions when Things Go Very Wrong, he had a chance to grab the reins and try to soothe the stampeding horses of the markets.
He had a chance to utter words that might indicate that, while he truly understood the desperate seriousness of the situation, he was confident that he and the Congress, working closely together in the best interests of the American people, and without regard for partisan advantage, could address the widening gyre of this economic crisis.
And how thuddingly, sickeningly familiar the hawking, self-righteous sound of this, what we can only hope is his final complete failure.
It’s a great day. He actually said this.
Oops.
Ah...every day....is a...great day....when you get to....um....servetheAmericanpeople??
Heh-heh-heh.
And then President Beavis had to ask yet another reporter on yet another day ‘so, where’s the price of gas now?’
He doesn’t know what the price of a gallon of gas is right now. The American economy, micro and macro, is teetering on the verge of the worst dive since at least 1987, and he doesn’t know the price of gas.
And so it came to pass that at a moment when the putative leader of the American people could have risen truly to lead, could have redeemed some tiny mote of respectability out of the ruined timber of his Administration, could have demonstrated to the American people and to the financial markets, here and around the world, that he was capable of recognizing a serious situation and could treat it seriously...
...he blamed Congress for not having OKed offshore oil drilling.
And I found myself, to my not inconsiderable surprise, stunned once again.
Amazing.