Oh Yeah, Obama

[Shani O. Hilton]

I saw some rumblings in the open thread about Obama's speech from last night. My PostBourgie blogmate and friend Monica Potts writes for The American Prospect: 

The speech is a specific version of a general Obama theme: we will work together to solve this problem because our collective soul is one committed to problem-solving and forward-thinking. Like many hoped in this address, Obama used the opportunity to compel us to shift our dependence away from fossil fuels and use the power of the public sector to fuel innovation in alternative energies.

...

One thing the speech didn't do, though, is sound new. Obama sounds similar calls often. What hasn't happened is actual action. He spoke of the climate change bill the House passed last year, but declined to chastise the Senate on its health care-bill-like posturing and inaction. That's probably the biggest source of frustration over the administration's handling of the oil spill. Contrary to many others, I doubt the dissatisfaction has much to do with the president's failure to bang a fist on a lectern. I think it's more that even the best speeches, in the face of a witheringly endless disaster, are starting to sound hollow.

I think she's basically right on, here.