If he couldn't have anticipated--and therefore prepared himself for--the tougher, more pointed questions, it makes me wonder just how in-touch he and his staff really are with the concerns that an increasing number of Americans are expressing.

His inability to come up with (or admit) a single example of a mistake he might have made since 9/11 is astonishing to me. He and his advisors should be asking themselves each and every day "what have we done wrong, where have we faltered, what needs to be improved?" And they should be keenly aware of the answers, don't you think?

At least he was able to admit that he probably has made mistakes...though apparently the details are unimportant.

I'm not sure what exactly we were supposed to come away with after watching the conference. The platitudes that he kept coming back to have been old and unconvincing for quite a while now. And why is it that he can state the obvious ("nobody likes seeing dead people on their TV") and it's taken in some quarters as a sign of wisdom?