He Rides Head First into a Hurricane and Disappears

Please take a moment to salute NPR's Don Gonyea, who finally got the chance to ask a question, at the end of the President's press conference on Tuesday, and took the opportunity to say what everyone in the room was thinking:

THE PRESIDENT: Let's see, last question here. Hold on for a second. Those who yell will not be asked. I'll tell you a guy who I've never heard from -- Don.

Q: I appreciate it.

THE PRESIDENT: It's a well-received -- (laughter.)

Q: Following on both Judy's and John's questions, and it comes out of what you just said in some ways, with public support for your policies in Iraq falling off the way they have -- quite significantly over the past couple of months -- I guess I'd like to know if you feel in any way that you've failed as a communicator on this topic? Because --

THE PRESIDENT: Gosh, I don't know. I mean --

Q: Well, you deliver a lot of speeches and a lot of them contain similar phrases, and they vary very little from one to the next. And they often include a pretty upbeat assessment of how things are going -- with the exception of tonight's pretty somber assessment, this evening.

THE PRESIDENT: It's a pretty somber assessment today, Don, yes.

Q: I guess I just wonder if you feel that you have failed in any way? You don't have many of these press conferences, where you engage in this kind of exchange. Have you failed in any way to really make the case to the American public?

Well, if we never see him called on again, it still may have been worth it.