EMBARRASSING - AT 7:41 A.M. ET:  We urged readers early in the week to brace themselves for the "100 days of Obama" worship party.  It has come, it has come.  And the nation's newspaper of record has now weighed in with its grave, deeply thoughtful assessment.  (That is sarcasm.)

It is sad to see, each day, the deterioration of The New York Times.  But nothing makes that decline more clear than this morning review of the First Obama Centennial.  See the wonder.  See the greatness.  See the messianic vision.  Fall deeply asleep.

Crises, not days, is the first word that comes to mind when we think about the number 100 and Barack Obama’s presidency.

The list of failed policies and urgent threats bequeathed to him by former President George W. Bush could easily be that long.

Nothing like a little sense of proportion.  You know exactly where this is going.

He is trying to rebuild this country’s shattered reputation with his pledge to shut down the prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, his offer to talk with Iran and Syria, and, yes, that handshake with Venezuela’s blow-hard president, Hugo Chávez.

Shattered reputation?  Among whom?  Yes, among the usual suspects our reputations suffered under George W. Bush.  But elsewhere we actually did rather well.  India, for example, which happens to be the world's largest democracy.  And among the countries of Africa, where Bush is highly regarded for his AIDS program.  And I suspect that many foreign ministries are suffering a bit of buyer's remorse, as they contemplate what a weak American foreign policy might be like.

There are things, of course, that even The Times concedes are standing in Obama's way - like allies:

Mr. Obama’s commitment to Israeli-Palestinian peace is already being tested by Israel’s new prime minister, who says he doesn’t believe in a two-state solution.

Rotten allies.  If only Israel could be more like Hamas and Hezbollah.  And that England!  The old colonialists didn't even appreciate the thought that went into our gift of DVDs to its prime minister. 

The economy?  Close your eyes and predict what The Times might say.  Open.

After eight dismal years, the president’s stimulus bill, his budget and even the flawed bank rescue strategy offer a welcome return to the rational proposition that some problems are so big that the government must step in.

Huh?  Eight dismal years?  I recall that seven of those years featured a vibrant, strong economy, and that the financial crisis was largely a result of a home mortgage racket brought about by Fannie and Fredddie, two Dem institutions.  But never mind.

Oh well, you can read it if you like.  Or, you can pick up a copy of My Weekly Reader, if you want something on a more stimulating level.  The Times concludes.

During the campaign, then-Senator Obama declared that “government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves.” In his first 100 days, President Obama has started to show Americans just what he meant.

Actually, it was Lincoln who said that.  But details, details.  In the presence of such a light, who cares about details.

April 29, 2009