Upon his return from his Martha's Vineyard vacation, a trip cut short so he could be photographed pretending to exercise some hidden capability to temper Irene's fury, Obama announced he wanted to give a speech to a joint session of Congress upon its return to D.C., on a night and at time which not coincidentally was already scheduled to be the night of the first Republican candidates' debate. Obviously the white House brain trust figured they'd steal attention from the debate and look presidential because, in their sophomoric calculations, if the Republican Speaker of the House turned down this imperious...