In the Wednesday Morning Jolt, a look at the possibility of keeping one’s shoes on in future airport security lines, the Democrats’ sudden aversion to the word “stimulus,” and then . . .

Nobody Ever Blames the Maryland and Virginia Suburbs
Boy, Obama and his surrogates just can’t stop blaming the presidents who came before him. First they spent years blaming George W. Bush, now they’re blaming George Washington.
Oh, wait, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney meant the other Washington. The one where Obama has lived and (technically) worked since January 2005 and where he is the single most powerful and influential lawmaker: “White House officials said Tuesday that President Obama’s approval ratings are dropping because Americans are furious with Washington in general . . . Obama’s high-30s approval ratings, Carney said, are a reflection of ‘a high reservoir of skepticism toward Washington in general.’ ‘I think that everybody associated with Washington is being viewed quite dimly right now,’ Carney said. To that end, Carney continued the White House assault on House Republicans, whom Obama and his allies are blaming for gridlock that ‘wasn’t just frustrating; it was harmful.’ ‘For no other reason than ideological purity, Washington almost brought the global economy to its knees this summer,’ Carney said.”
Oh, sure, there’s a kernel of truth to this interpretation, but it still relies on the notion that voters can’t distinguish between the parties, much less the particular top figures in our political system. (It’s like blaming out-of-wedlock births on New England Patriots quarterbacks.) In the Carney theory, the voters are merely confused between which one is Obama and which one is John Boehner, and if they somehow had a clearer scorecard of what the two men stood for, Obama’s approval rating would be a healthy majority. Carney more or less dismisses the possibility that Obama’s earned that 30something percent approval rating, or that Obama’s done anything significantly wrong as president. Maybe that’s the psychological price of the job, that you can’t open the door to self-doubt or fears that you’ve already made significant policymaking mistakes. And yet, running around believing that all of other’s disappointments, frustrations, or grievances with you are their fault for not understanding how great you are doesn’t seem like a formula for greater success.
“We should know by now, it’s never Obama’s fault,” sighs Zip at Weasel Zippers.
I have to clean up the assessment from Jonn Lilyea at This Ain’t Hell, but I think you’ll get the gist: “Hey! [Bad word]! You ARE Washington. From where were you speaking? The dead [another bad-word-ing] center of Washington . . . at the best-known address in Washington. If the President isn’t Washington, what the [that second bad word again] is he? Who was the [that first bad word again] who early in his presidency defended his impending agenda with the snarky “I won”? Own it all.”
Doug Winship urges a bit of sympathy for the White House press secretary: “I don’t see why everyone says Carney is such a loser. Poor [guy] is facing the Kobiashi Maru . . . every . . . day,” referring to the no-win training scenario from Star Trek.

I look forward to the bumper sticker, “Obama 2012: Remember, None of This Is His Fault.”