BULLETIN – AT 7:53 P.M. ET:  The president of the United States formally informed residents of the Gulf coast today that they're not alone.  This changes history.  From The New York Times:

GRAND ISLE, La. (AP) -- President Barack Obama has promised Gulf Coast residents that they are not alone and will not be abandoned or left behind.

Oh, that's so good to know.  The president won't leave a good chunk of the country behind.  You know, for a minute there...

Obama made the pledge as he visited Louisiana on Friday to tour areas threatened by the disastrous oil spill and get an update on response efforts.

Took him a few weeks to get there.  Could've come in a covered wagon. 

Speaking outside a Coast Guard station on a barrier island, Obama said he had a message for residents. He said: ''I'm here to tell you that you are not alone, you will not be abandoned, you will not be left behind. The media may get tired of the story but we will not. We will be on your side and we will see this through.''

Whaa..?  It's because the media didn't get tired of the story that the president was forced to delay one more vacation and go down to the Gulf Coast, which is not his idea of a playland.

Naturally, The Times had to get this in:

The promise might sound familiar to Gulf Coast residents who heard previous presidents -- such as former President George W. Bush after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

And yet, maybe that's a journalistic breakthrough.  The Times is comparing Obama with Bush, and Obama doesn't come out ahead. 

Progress.  Progress.

May 28, 2010