Black Box Report

During his weekly radio address Saturday, President Bush said he "has great confidence that our economy will pull through this difficult period, because I have great confidence in the innovative spirit of the American people." That, my friends, is a lie.

Not the part of the American spirit, but the part about this Commander in Chief believing in our resolve. Consider the challenges we face today as a nation, and what we've been told to do in the face of that adversity. When we were attacked our fearless leader told us "go shopping." When Afghanistan wasn't enough, Bush did not tell us "we have nothing to fear but fear itself,” he told us to fear everyone including Iraq. If the spirit of the American people was never in doubt, why would we torture in secret prisons and trample on the Constitution while spying without warrants on those same Americans?

Right after Bush praised Americans’ can-do it spirit Saturday, he said if we truly want to solve the stranglehold the Middle East has on our energy, we'd push congress to let him drill offshore. Does he really believe we're that stupid? Instead of asking us to commit to a generational plan of renewable energies - full of vision, sacrifice and, I’m sure, trial and error - once again he says, “don't worry, be happy.”

How's that game plan working out for you?

George Bush did not create the financial crisis were knee-deep in, but he sure as hell fostered it. Every economic indicator is going in the wrong direction and possibly the most important one isn't making headlines.

A recent poll found an unprecedented level of doubt and pessimism among Americans, with the younger generation believing our best days are behind them.

That boundless spirit W talks about has been frittered away under his watch, because too many Americans have lost faith that someone is in charge, and that someone has their best interests in mind. The biggest failue of this administration isn't Iraq, Katrina, trashing our standing in the world or even the crumbling economy. The worst thing Bush and friends have done to us is, for the first time in a long time, we doubt we can do it. Bob Herbert wrote a column Saturday in the NY Times that summed it up:

When exactly was it that the U.S. became a can't-do society? It wasn't at the very beginning when 13 ragamuffin colonies went to war against the world's mightiest empire. It wasn't during World War II when Japan and Nazi Germany had to be fought simultaneously. It wasn't in the postwar period that gave us the Marshall Plan and a robust G.I. Bill and the interstate highway system and the space program and the civil rights movement and the women's movement and the greatest society the world had ever known.

Fast forward to today. Big ideas are too big, were told. Every problem's answer is tax breaks for the very folks who need it least and a pat on the head from our president who tells us it'll all be OK. We know it's not that easy, we know something has got to change. So here's our moment and our choice: if inspired leadership emerges do we reach for it? Do we make the tough, painful tradeoffs that make things better for our kids’ generation? Or do we follow our president's lead and keep passing the buck as we struggle to keep our heads above water? The time for happy talk and this president are over. Will we be the next greatest generation or just more of the same?

Our time is at hand.