I watched BBC News last night. Katy Kay, the brassy blonde very British anchorperson, is crazy about our new president. After suffering through the thinly veiled sarcasm and sneering irony of the Bush years, it is pleasant to hear foreign commentators like Ms. Kay speaking well of our new chief, although the present almost worshipful treatment probably won’t age all that well either.

Katy Kay has been manifestly over the moon since Obama was first nominated. From the very beginning she saw his elevation as something wonderful. Last night she could hardly contain herself in her enthusiasm for what she considered his latest brilliant political maneuver. After all, she gushed, when was the last time we ever heard a president admit to making a mistake? Actually, Katy, it was only a few weeks ago as Bush wound down his presidency that he admitted he wished he hadn’t landed on that aircraft carrier and announced the end of a war that was just getting underway. He didn’t say “screwed-up” like Obama did so you probably missed it, but then he was never as at ease with the language as his successor. And while it was refreshing to hear the president admit that nominating three tax-cheats and a bribe taker to his cabinet was a big mistake, I’m not as certain as you that his belated recognition of that error was quite the bit of political wizardry you seemed to think. Only the day before he claimed to be totally behind Senator Daschle’s nomination. What did he know a day later that he hadn’t known before? You don’t suppose it had anything to do with his desertion by the usually dependably democratic editorial staff of the New York Times do you? The whole thing looked a lot like a case of bad luck and poor judgement to me.

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