I'm the first person (well maybe the 9th or 4,000th) to blame President Obama for a torpid Presidency. But, holy sinking country Batman! WaPo's Dana Milbank says the country, and Obama's Presidency is crashing down around him.
Now, I don't agree that things are going well, but:
It’s not exactly fair to blame Obama for the rout: Almost certainly, the markets ignored him. And that’s the problem: The most powerful man in the world seems strangely powerless, and irresolute, as larger forces bring down the country and his presidency.
Hyperbole much, Dana? Larger forces are bringing down his Presidency? Isn't that a tad, um, alarmist, and perhaps a touch premature?
Ironically though he seems to sum up yesterday's wreck list (Whiner in Chief, etc., don't need to link to those diaries).
He lists and a few things that have, granted, gone wrong in the last few days
The economy crawls, the credit rating falls, the markets plunge, and a helicopter packed with U.S. special forces goes down in Afghanistan. Two thirds of Americans say the country is on the wrong track (and that was before the market swooned), Obama’s approval rating is 43 percent, and activists on his own side are calling him weak.
But is that really a sign of the country being brought to its knees? I didn't think it was his greatest speech, or even a good one, and he could have shown more resoluteness, but seriously, his Presidency is being brought down? In fact, if one were to characterize Obama's Presidency, it would be on the basis that it hasn't much changed course from the previous one.
It's hard to argue that Obama did not inspire hope and change in millions yet an outsider might conclude that he is operating as if Bush had in fact not left the country in shambles, rather just filled in the spot vacated by the previous President, and picked up where Bush left off. Was Milbank warning us then?
And the rest of the Press, of course, helps along, calling for Congress to immediately return to work because the stock market is dropping.
“The president said our problems are imminently solvable, and he talked about a renewed sense of urgency,” CBS’s Norah O’Donnell pointed out. “Why not call Congress back to work?”
Carney chuckled at this suggestion.
“I mean, the Dow dropped below 11,000 — where’s the sense of urgency?” O’Donnell persisted.
The press secretary uttered something about the founders and the separation of powers.
NBC’s Chuck Todd was not swayed. “Why not bring Congress back now?” he repeated, pointing out that “the American public seems to be in a little bit of a panic” while Washington says, “We’re going to stand back and wait until school starts.”
British PM David Cameron recalled Parliament to deal with the London riots, but our press calls for Congress to be recalled to rescue the stock market. Yes, call Congress back in session because the stock market is falling. As if they could do anything about it. If there's one thing I hate it's equating the health of the stock market with the health of the rest of the economy and the entire prosperity of the country. The stock market has been ridiculously outperforming all reasonable expectations for months BTW, press corps. Didn't hear much about that.
If the country and the Presidency is crashing down around us, I'd hate to read what he'd have to say if a true economic crisis wasn't averted by raising the debt ceiling and the United States defaulted on its loans.
Oh, and the stock market is rebounding slightly today. Does this mean Congress can go back home?