Timing

Paul Krugman responds to his own question by saying Obama should have given the speech in February.

Huh?

If he had given the speech in February, he wouldn't have been able to give it last night -- when it actually mattered.

If I recall, in February we were still wondering if we'd wake up without a working banking system.

And I agree with most commenters, the one false note was when Obama declared he'd be the last president to face our faltering health care system. He and his speechwriters had to know that's simply not true.