Poor George!

Bush: US is on top of financial crisis
By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
17 march 2008
WASHINGTON - President Bush, trying to calm turmoil in financial markets, said Monday that his administration is "on top of the situation" in dealing with the slumping economy.
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Bush said "our financial institutions are strong" and "our capital markets are functioning efficiently and effectively."

For a slightly different take...
"our financial institutions are strong":

After Bear Stearns rescue, who's next?
By JOE BEL BRUNO and MADLEN READ, AP Business Writers
17 March 2008
NEW YORK - With a deal in place to save Bear Stearns from bankruptcy, the company's shares traded above the offer price Monday even as investors began turning a critical eye to other investment banks amid worries about how far the credit contagion could spread.

Yes - our financial institutions are strong, but they could fail any second now!

"our capital markets are functioning efficiently and effectively":

Fed takes bold steps to ease crisis
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer
17 march 2008
WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve is urgently moving to contain a deepening credit crisis and restore confidence in panicked financial markets by becoming a lender of last resort for Wall Street investment houses, which were able to secure short-term emergency loans beginning Monday.
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"These steps will provide financial institutions with greater assurance of access to funds," Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told reporters in a brief conference call Sunday evening.

Yes - our capital markets are functioning efficiently and effectively, which is why we need to assure financial institutions of continuing access to funds!

In the past I've cited magical thinking as a central characteristic of W's epistemology - he honestly believes that simply saying the right words will alter reality: all that's required is to reverently recite the appropriate incantation.

Others have noted the Alice in Wonderland-like quality of the disconnect between W's words and anything the rest of us would recognize as objective reality.

If the issues weren't so serious it'd almost be amusing.

If he'd not squandered our goodwill long ago, W's ineptness would almost provoke pity.

Yes, the Administration does honestly seem to be taking steps to address the economy's ills... BUT: by continuing to assert the economy's strong fundamentals, and by continuing to characterize the current situation only as "challenging times", W does little to inspire confidence that he appreciates the true potential for full-scale economic meltdown. It may be too late to avert disaster, but when all actions to date have been reactive, not proactive, one doubts that this Administration has what it takes to realistically deal with the issues.

The feel-good framing doesn't help.

Stop the madness!