Obama "never sounds weaker than when he suggests his predicament is all his predecessor's fault"

A Snakebit President

Excerpt:

There is still a sense about Mr. Obama that he needs George W. Bush in order to give his presidency full shape and meaning. In this he is like Jimmy Carter, who needed Richard Nixon, or rather the Watergate scandal, which made him president. Mr. Carter needed Richard Nixon standing in the corner looking like he'd spent the night sleeping in his suit as it hangs in the closet. The image is from Joe McGinnis's "The Selling of the President, 1968." Mr. Carter needed to be able to point at Nixon and say, "I'm not him. He dirty, me clean. You hate him, like me." Carter's presidency was given coherence and meaning by Nixon, Watergate, and without it that presidency seemed formless. Mr. Obama, in the same way, needs Mr. Bush standing in the corner like Boo Radley, saying "Let's invade something!" But Mr. Bush is wisely back home in Texas finishing a book, and the president never sounds weaker than when he suggests his predicament is all his predecessor's fault.

Mr. Obama needs Mr. Bush in the corner and doesn't have him. That's part of why he looks so alone out there.

Comment: If you are old enough to remember (as an adult) the Carter administration, one sees echos of it in Obama

The Bush derangement syndrome

CBS Decides Al and Tipper's Separation is the Fault of....George W. Bush

Excerpt:

Is there anything a journalist cannot or will not twist to bring the topic back to how life would be so much better if only not for that awful George W. Bush? On Tuesday's CBS Evening News, with the help of the Washington Post's Sally Quinn, Sharyl Attkisson managed to blame news, that Al and Tipper Gore are separating, on how they never got over being denied the presidency despite winning the popular vote in 2000. If only Bush hadn't taken it from them.

Attkisson recalled "it's been ten years since that oddly public passionate kiss at the Democratic convention. That was followed by Gore winning the popular vote for President but losing the electoral vote. Family friend Sally Quinn says that may have done the marriage irreparable harm."

Viewers then heard from Quinn, who's married former Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee and is now titular overseer of the paper's "On Faith" blog: "He obviously suffered a lot and still is suffering. He'll never get over that and neither will she."

Attkisson cheekily began her story: "While Al Gore was out fighting global warming, his marriage to Tipper was apparently cooling."

On ABC's World News, Claire Shipman offered a simpler explanation, sans the political grudges: "The Gores have told friends they've simply grown apart. Tipper embracing the perks of a post-political life like grandchildren and travel. The former Vice President relishing his role as an award-winning environmental activist and not eager to slow down."

Comment: Or maybe not Exclusive: Al Gore Cheats with Larry David's Ex