During the primaries several pundits referred to Obama as Chauncey Gardiner, due to the senator’s remarkable capacity for making the vacuous sound profound. But Obama’s grown since the primaries; he now has the gift of making the incoherent sound elegant. His statement– that knowing then what he knows now he still would’ve opposed the surge– is a monument to muddled thinking and obstinacy. Will any member of the press ask the obvious follow-ups? Obviously not. A compliant press is an empty suit’s best friend.