OH DEAR, HE'S AT IT AGAIN - AT 9:37 P.M. ET:  The president simply can't keep himself out of any speech.  He must have a good Hollywood agent, or something.  Consider:

TOKYO -- President Obama said Saturday that he welcomes a robust China on the world scene, but he cautioned that all nations must respect human rights, including religious freedoms.

In a speech to prominent Japanese, Obama called himself "America's first Pacific president" and urged greater cooperation between the United States and Japan and other Asian countries.

"We seek this deeper and broader engagement because we know our collective future depends on it," Obama said.

COMMENT:  Our first Pacific president?  What does that mean?  He lived for a while in Indonesia and Hawaii? 

Hey fella, there are millions of Americans who know the Pacific.  Bush 41 fought there.  Kennedy fought there.  John McCain was imprisoned there.  And Sarah Palin, dammit, was governor of a state that's right out there on the Pacific rim.

So now we've got the first Pacific president, the first African-American president, and, according to some, the first post-American president.  We also may have the first president who has no great feeling for his own country, but let's not talk about that.

November 13, 2009