Obama Was Going To Change The World

After what's taken place in the first months of his administration one begins to wonder if it's a major struggle for the guy to decide to change his underwear:

Decisions, Decisions
By James Taranto, Best of the Web

If it seems as though the world is moving faster than ever before, maybe that's just because the White House is moving so slowly. To take an example at random, on Sept. 20, 2001, President Bush gave an address to a joint session of Congress about the war on terror. On Nov. 13, 54 days later, allied troops liberated Kabul. On Sept. 9, 2009, President Obama gave an address to a joint session of Congress in which he pointedly mentioned Afghanistan only as part of an illogical argument for massively higher domestic spending. [Today], 83 days later, Obama will give another speech, this one on Afghanistan.

And what's going to be the thrust of his address?  Here's how: We're going to go into the fight with relentless determination until victory is achieved with a working understanding of how we are going to extricate ourselves from the fight.  [link]

Huh?

Taranto:

This is going to be stirring, isn't it? With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will give a clear sense of both the time frame for action and how the war will eventually wind down! Let every nation know that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, to ratchet back our presence after the buildup! Either you are with us or you are with those who would fail to make clear that a significant American presence will remain, not just for a while but for a long while!

It sounds as though, after months of indecision, the president has finally resolved to be irresolute. It seems that his central strategic goal is to displease no one. Unless the speech turns out to be markedly different from what the Times leads us to expect--and let us hope it does--it will only reinforce the impression that he is a ditherer.

It's a tough job.  No doubt about it.  Where's Jeremiah Wright when he needs him?