The Photo Op

What is going to be particularly delicious about the White House summit for this economic summit will be some photo of President Bush flanked by Senators McCain and Obama.

In the center, will be Bush. He’ll look resolute, but the wear of eight years of presidency will show on his face. On one side will be McCain. He’ll have his usual bulldog look.

Then on the opposite side, looking like the before picture on those don’t-let-the-bullies-kick-sand-in-your-face-Charles-Atlas ads will be Obama. Looking like a recalcitrant teenager just hauled into the principle’s office for smoking in the bathroom. Peeved that his important work as savior was interrupted by this pedestrian, bourgeoisie capitalist trifle. 

The beauty will be that such a picture will be a jarring contrast with Obama’s carefully cultivated post-partisan cool. No matter how he tries to spin this crisis, there will be a picture of him at the center of the storm; only with him documented as playing second fiddle.

And, there’ll be a picture of him making it impossible to fob off the problem on someone else. Because, next to him will be his opponent, who pushed for the very reforms of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that would have averted the crisis. There will be McCain who, of his own inititative dropped his campaign and came to Washington DC to wade right into the middle of the crisis; with the resolve to solve, and not talk about, this problem. 

Crisis Over; Palin Trashing Resumes

The markets just closed up 400 points yesterday. Its up about 300 points today. Crisis over. Obama is going to have to find a new “crisis” to try to pin on the GOP. So, its back to kicking that little upstart hillbilly from Alaska in the butt (here and here). Oh, Michelle Obama contributed as well. Here’s the contrast of competence with the empty words of Obama.

On one hand we had a financial crisis that could have, like in 1929, triggered a major recession if not depression. But, thanks to the hard work of the Treasury Department and the Fed, this crisis was averted. Were all the judgements correct? Perhaps debatable. Will there be further problems? Probably. But, for the last week we had a lot of individuals making the best of bad alternatives to try to cobble together a workable solution.

But, what occurred at the Treasury and the Fed were consummate professionals putting the resolution of a serious crisis ahead of any personal or partisan animus. I’m sure that there are many guilty parties in this whole mess. Likely,many of these same said parties actually played a role in the resolution of this crisis. And, many of these guilty parties may be prosecuted for acts of malfeasance that precipitated this crisis. But, agendas weren’t the agenda; keeping an economy going was.

This has been the hallmark of Bush’s leadership. Fix on a problem and solve it–without any grandstanding. But, don’t worry. What good work was done, since it was done on Bush’s watch will never see praise in the MSM.

Contrast that to the “change” candidate from the Chicago Democratic machine and his MSM amen chorus (on both sides of the pond). Obama was riding this crisis for the sole purpose of jacking up his poll ratings with non-stop denouncements of the “failure” of our market system and Bush’s oversight (with the implication that McCain will be more of the same). Our European “friends” were gleefully piling on about the “collapse” of America and free markets. Congress, with Pelosi in the lead, said it wasn’t their fault, couldn’t do anything and left town.

We are lucky that this problem didn’t happen with Obama in charge. There, the solution of the crisis would be to use it to further advance Obama’s and his fellow travelers’ agendas. Just like the New Deal which only managed (and did not solve) deprivation to the furtherance of a big government agenda. It was fortunate that this crisis was solved in an Obama, Pelosi and Reid free environment.