The Creepy Sense of Urgency

Granted, it is the New York Times. Granted, Gail Collins is hard to take seriously, and Tom "Richard Pearle is Right" Friedman is...hard to forgive. But two columnists in as many days call for an immediate end to the Bush Administration (vivid subtext: W is hitting the bottle again.) And they quote Norm Ornstein, the true Man for All Seasons of the interregnum.

It is true that the lack of a man at the helm is palpable. And it is also true that still, still, the public and the media don't really seem to get just how dire is this economic situation.

So, we have hyperbole among the columnists.

Obviously Bush shouldn't go early - the integrity of the constitution is more important than even this economic tsunami -- but Obama does need to keep doing what he started doing today (a little late, by the way). He needs to be specific, compelling and absolutely rhetorically vivid about what he is planning to do to deal with the crisis.

Creating a legislative plan to have it all ready for signature between the inauguration itself and the parade seems beyond the ability of Nancy Pelosi to imagine.

This is not enough, to be sure, but it is his limit at the moment, and it is worlds more than the enfeebled, unimaginative and utterly irresponsible current president can do.