The Speech

Yes, I watched. No, I wasn't impressed.

Revisionist history works best when a decent interval passes before the revision. You must allow memory to fade so that your shaping of the facts, your selective omissions and your self-serving emphases can be accepted as true. If the history you are rewriting is less than two weeks old, many of us will remember what really occurred.

The Bamster did not lead in any of this. He was not decisive. He was not creative or organizational or strategic or even consensus building. He was driven, kicking and screaming to action by events which he followed and garbled and confused until finally he had no choice but to get involved and even then it was only with a litany of disclaimers and caveats that made the value of the action much less than it could have been on the national stage.

I leaned forward in my chair throughout the speech waiting for him to mention Sarkozy and Cameron. I wanted at least a nod to the unequivocal statements from the French on what was needed and then the actual implementation of those statements. I wanted to hear him share at least a bit of the credit for the outcome that he now pushes to arm's length.

But, it wasn't there. I was asked to believe that he led and then I was told nothing about outcomes or futures or the rest of the Middle East or the dream that America should have for the future.

It wasn't there.