Peggy Noonan

I don't see how the president's position and popularity can survive the oil spill. This is his third political disaster in his first 18 months in office. And they were all, as they say, unforced errors, meaning they were shaped by the president's political judgment and instincts.. . .

I don't see how you politically survive this.

This, in essence, is what I've concluded: the man is not doing his job. I'm not sure he really knows his job. He's supposed to be an executive, to see to the running of the federal bureaucracy. Admittedly, that's an almost impossible job, considering the way Civil Service laws make government employees nearly immune from accountability, but that's the nature of the beast, and he should have understood that before he ran for President. He was told that he has a gift, that he was the new JFK, etc. but those who cynically pressed him to run obviously didn't consider what in his ability or experience would make him a successful president. They only cared about getting access to power, and he would no doubt be pliant, a spokesman for their grand desires.

But ironically, the BP oil spill seems to have cost him the loyalty of the left. Was it his fault? Only in that there were problems in the bureaucracy that was supposed to have made sure all the regs were followed before a permit was issued to drill this well, but between him and those officials was a long string of other officials who weren't paying attention either. But the illogic of politics is inexorable, and by accepting responsibility for this, he's agreed to be subject to those rules. It now appears that BP's "top kill" technique is working, but there are now thousands upon thousands of barrels of oil ringing the Gulf Coast that will have to be cleaned up and I don't see how big government gets that done. It will probably be cleaned up by nature, over 100s of years, certainly not before 2012.

Update: James Taranto notes this remark from the President's presser yesterday:

My job right now is just to make sure that everybody in the Gulf understands this is what I wake up to in the morning and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about: the spill.

Precisely the point I've been making for some time. He doesn't seem to know what his job is or how to do it. It sounded different today, however. Maybe he's figuring it out. And it's only 17 months into his term. Bright, very bright.