Dear Leader, who looked like he wishes January 20, 2009 was here and he could be helicoptered to safety out of DC, stepped before the podium from the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House and spoke for a mere four minutes about the devastation going on in the markets and the legislation on the Hill. It was a feeble, inadequate, robotic speech in a time of financial crisis that required real information to be delivered to the average person out there.  (Via Think Progress):

He was immediately scorched. (Think Progress):

Immediately following the address, MSNBC turned to New York Magazine’s John Heilemann, who commented:

I don’t think that comforts anybody. I don’t think that moves a single vote. With due respect and sympathy for the man, that was the picture of a beaten dog. That was the picture of presidential impotence right there. He looked terrible like his bell had been rung. He looked drawn to me.

The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan added, “It strikes me lately, when the President talks about the economic crisis, that he seems like a commentator upon the crisis as opposed to the leader in the crisis.

You can’t give a speech on this topic in 4 minutes at the beginning of a workday. This should have been a primetime address, or even better, a press conference. This isn’t leadership. Bush has no juice, no real influence, all the air is out of his sails as he and his buddies ran the economy aground in an orgy of unregulated greed. You can tell he knows his legacy has gone down the crapper.

Regardless of his political position on the matter, at the very least he should have:
1) Explained what happened on the Hill;
2) Reassured the markets that an agreement of some kind will be reached;
3) Describe in detail the impact on the average person who has a bank account, stocks, 401Ks etc.;
4) Outline the effect on small and large businesses and availability of credit.

There are probably dozens of very basic questions that many Americans have that a hands-on President would feel obligated to address. After all, this is part of the job - keeping morale up, outlining the difficulties, show that moves are being made to get factions to work together to craft a solution. He really did look like he felt zero ownership. He phoned this one in.

It was easy for him to stand up on the rubble of the WTC back in 2001 and puff up his chest with tough talk - there was someone else to blame for the horror. In this case, there’s nowhere else to credibly point the finger—this is the Bush/McCain economy. That self-confident, smirking Bush was nowhere to be found today.

More below the fold, including Bush’s approval rating downward spiral, and the latest Obama ad on his fix for the economy.

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