It Hurts to See a President Beg

George W. Bush’s Imperial Presidency is long gone, as Barack Obama pleads with the nation.

“There are a lot of crises in the world that we can’t always predict or avoid,” he tells Americans today after being missing in action all week. “This isn’t one of those crises...

“If you want to see a bipartisan compromise, make a phone call, send an e-mail, tweet. Keep the pressure on Washington and we can get past this.”

The man who killed Osama bin Laden only weeks ago is being held captive by a few dozen Tea Party terrorists, most of whom couldn’t find the Capitol six months ago. There are no Navy Seals, only befuddled John Boehner, to disarm them and keep them from blowing up the economy like the Twin Towers.

But Boehner is looking more and more like bin Laden these days, making plans in his bunker but unsure of who will carry them out.

It’s enough to make you nostalgic for Dick Cheney, who never had to appeal to social media to work his will in Washington.

Update: Even Peggy Noonan, who can usually be counted on for civility, burbles that “the White House seems desperate to be seen as consequential. They're trotting out Press Secretary Jay Carney, who stands there looking like a ferret with flop sweat as he insists President Obama is still at the table, still manning the phones and calling shots.”

Her conclusion about the President? “He is not a devil, an alien, a socialist. He is a loser. And this is America, where nobody loves a loser.”

Reading Noonan’s lips today is depressing.