George Dubya’s farewell to the Marines, vs. Barack Obama’s first appearance as president:

Here we have an illuminating contrast: the United States Marines greeting President George W. Bush on Labor Day versus the Marines greeting President Obama at Camp Lejeune last week.  . . . .

They know who’s on their side.

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A day or so later:  A dissenting view of the two presumably telling videos comes from Greyhawk, of the milblog Mudville Gazette, who says it’s a put-up job: Obama’s audience was standing at attention, for one thing, and presumably you can’t get the spontaneity shown in the Bush video.  That and the paste-up nature of the contrasting video made Greyhawk, who is regularly cited by the libertarian Instapundit, very suspicious.

However, from Mrs. Greyhawk comes a link to Amy Proctor — hey, I’m just getting to know these folks myself — who runs the whole CNN video (at “Bottom Line Upfront”) and concludes it was an “embarrassing response” that Obama got.  It was the CNN anchor who called it “tepid,” remember.  I’d just as soon let the Greyhawks argue it out, but I am leaning (back) towards my initial reaction. 

Of course, I do think Obama is a disaster waiting to happen for us all, and that may influence me.  What do you think?

Cocky Locky is finding matters more complicated than he thought:

Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been “overwhelmed” by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.

British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a formal dinner, as has been customary. They concede that Obama aides seemed unfamiliar with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister.

Oh that British visit.  There’s hostility to the Brits among staff:

The real views of many in Obama administration were laid bare by a State Department official involved in planning the Brown visit, who reacted with fury when questioned by The Sunday Telegraph about why the event was so low-key.

The official dismissed any notion of the special relationship, saying: “There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.”

On the other hand,

The apparent lack of attention to detail by the Obama administration is indicative of what many believe to be Mr Obama’s determination to do too much too quickly.

We know what that is: transform the economy into Euro-style low-growth stagnancy, with comcomitant 30% drop in living standards (says Michael Boskin of Stanford and Hoover Institution in Wall St. Journal).

The Sunday Telegraph understands that one of Mr Obama’s most prominent African American backers, whose endorsement he spent two years cultivating, has told friends that he detects a weakness in Mr Obama’s character.

“The one real serious flaw I see . . . is that he thinks he can manage all this,” the well-known figure told a Washington official, who spoke to this newspaper. “He’s underestimating the flood of things that will hit his desk.”

A Democratic strategist, who is friends with several senior White House aides, revealed that the president has regularly appeared worn out and drawn during evening work sessions with senior staff in the West Wing and has been forced to make decisions more quickly than he is comfortable.

He’s gonna trip one of these days, and the bloom will be off the rose.