Tomorrow morning the President will visit the Gulf coast, where thousands are mobilized to do what pathetic little is possible against an oil spill that has likely already exceeded the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.
What can a transformative President say at a moment like this, when millions stand shocked at what may grow to be the worst environmental disaster of our time?
What can a President say to a nation where almost half of the people voted for lunatics chanting "Drill Baby Drill," likely including many of the people who are about to lose their only livelihood and way of life?
What can a President say at the moment before the holocaust of wildlife begins, knowing that the Mississippi Delta - the jewel of the Gulf Coast and a planetary focus of biodiversity - will never be the same after the coming weeks?
The President can lead.
The President can seize the moment for what it is - a turning point in our consciousness about how tightly connected energy, the environment, the economy, and our national spirit are.
The President can show us the road we have traveled - the minor victories we have achieved, the great losses that have piled up over the decades.
The President can say "Enough is enough!" and with the urgency of the cries of the dying Gulf declare that this will stand no more!
The President can declare that we are on a road to another economy that does not foul our beloved homeland, that does not consume our warriors in foreign wars, and that does not choke our atmosphere with ancient carbon.
The President can declare a date certain when our children or our grandchildren can go to sleep at night without the worry of a rig explosion destroying their way of life.