An intelligent and articulate President, at long last

A quick note to say that the single most uplifting set of events last week was President Obama's multiple and deeply impressive public appearances - the press conference, his on-line public forum, his interviews, his announcements.....

All these were further and growing evidence of his enormous and timely gifts as a once-in-a-lifetime leader in this time of crisis.

What a blessed change from the Bush era, to be perfectly blunt. We have, finally, a guy who is deeply thoughtful, incredibly intelligent, and entirely engaged; with the ability to communicate and think in actual sentences and paragraphs, not mere sound bites. One who is comfortable with real ideas and real discourse. One who, despite accusations hurled at him by the Right, is not a blind ideologue (unlike, ahem, the right). A leader who increasingly comes across as a man who knows how deeply serious are the challenges we face.

The man has clear mastery of all of the critical issues, the ability to make them understandable, the courage to tackle them, and the open-mindedness to learn along the way. His message of 'persistence' in particular, is incredibly important, as this crisis will indeed persist, and will require ongoing ongoing effort and multiple course corrections. Only an intelligent and engaged mind will be able to navigate this minefield. We can dispute some of Obama's decisions, but not his mastery of policy options, of political discourse, and of the gravity of the decisions he's making. Mr Bush had none of these qualities, and we blundered endlessly the past 8 years.

If ever we've needed such a gifted leader now is the time. Inspiration is in short supply, and Obama provides it in (careful) abundance.

Consider us very lucky.