Two bits from today’s Morning Jolt, now off to the editors and on its way to your e-mailbox later this morning… or early afternoon, depending on various technical factors.

Day 98 since the oil spill. There’s actually been some relatively good news in the past few days. There’s been no disaster with the current cap (knocking on wood). Work on the permanent seal could begin August 2. Of course, we’re not out of the woods yet; even if the well gets permanently shut down, oil could keep coming ashore for weeks and 241 people involved in the cleanup are reporting sickness. It’s been a rough road, but maybe this is a chance for the president to demonstrate that he understands the enormous consequences of all this, how the slow-moving federal bureaucracy has often hindered efforts as much or more than it helped. Maybe we’ll get a bipartisan push to ensure an all-hands-on-deck cleanup, instead of a reheated call for his same old global warming legislation. Maybe a response with seriousness, empathy, a slogan-free determination, finally free from the attitude that the spill was just another crisis not to be “wasted” . . .
. . . Eh, nevermind: “On Thursday, President Obama will be the first sitting president to appear on The View. He will have an open discussion with the ladies: moderator Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, which is anticipated to include the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.”
ADDENDA: I don’t think I expected to see this from the editors of the Denver Post: “Jobs have vanished faster than BP’s credibility. And the oil leak has been a drain on the national psyche. Welcome to the summer of malaise. Welcome back, Carter. Even the talking heads at MSNBC have compared Obama’s sudden lack of leadership, his summer spent adrift, to the uninspiring Jimmy Carter presidency after last month’s remarkably lackluster national address about the Gulf oil leak.”

By the way, Monday was Day 98; today is Day 99.