You Read it First on FrumForum

My latest CNN column argued that the White House can only wait until the economic recovery begins. Monday, Robert Gibbs let that plea for more time slip.

William Safire used to write a column in which he'd try to read the mind of some world leader and imagine what Mikhail Gorbachev or Anwar Sadat really thought, as opposed to the diplomatic niceties they were obliged to utter aloud.

In homage to the master, let me try an imitation: reading Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's mind:

"Everybody asks me what the next plan is. There is no plan! We have broken our leg and we have to wait for the leg to heal. It's just a matter of time. And most of the bright ideas to heal faster will only make things worse."

David Frum, August 30, 2010

This was not like -- there was not one flip -- switched a flip and then the economy would somehow get better overnight. I think as you heard the President discuss, we did not get into this problem and did not get into this crisis in a short period of time; it took a number of years. And it’s going to take a while to get out of that crisis.

Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary, August 30, 2010