When George W. Bush spoke on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln back on May 1, 2003, he reminded Americans, "Our mission [in Iraq] continues...we do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide."  No one remembers those words because the mainstream media chose to ignore them entirely.  Instead, they focused on a banner hanging above Bush's head, emblazoned with the phrase, "Mission Accomplished."

Having sought from the first day of the Bush presidency to undermine it, the media and the left (but I repeat myself) finally had their iconic image, around which they could construct the narrative that Bush was an out-of-touch imbecile who lived in a White House bubble of delusion, all while reality told an entirely different story. 

Fair or not - after all, Bush's message was the exact opposite of what it was portrayed to be - the imagery stuck.  But rather than fighting to correct the record of an event that happened over seven years ago, we would be smarter to highlight what journalist Lachlan Markay has observed: Barack Obama has had his ?Mission Accomplished' moment...times ten.

On August 2, Obama dispatched his Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to write an op-ed piece for the New York Times entitled, "Welcome to the Recovery."  This was to be an exclamation point to the White House's strategy of declaring the last few months, "Recovery Summer."  Are they serious?

As Markay observes, just three days after Geithner's column, "the economy shed about 131,000 jobs.  The administration and its left-wing media cheerleaders touted the 71,000 private sector jobs created, not mentioning of course that about double that number would need to materialize for the economy to keep pace with new entrants in the job market."

Still, "Team Recovery" continues whistling past the graveyard of lost jobs, assuming Americans are content with what Obama and Pelosi call a "jobless recovery."  But Americans aren't idiots.  They realize that without jobs, there is no recovery.  Without jobs, home foreclosures spike, businesses collapse, retirement investments deteriorate and the real estate market is devastated.

And yet, while unemployment has stagnated for months between 9-10% (keeping in mind that doesn't even count those who have given up looking for work or those who have accepted temporary part-time work - with those factored in, the Obama unemployment rate is closer to 20%), there is President Obama standing aboard the USS Clueless, praising his failed policies in front of a banner that reads in bold letters, "Summer of Recovery." 

But what makes this oblivious and dishonest rhetoric all the more galling is that President Obama is not the unfortunate recipient of economic conditions beyond his control.  He is not merely putting on a brave face for the country.  This is a mess that, after nearly two years of complete control of the White House and Congress, is largely of his own making.

The "smartest president we've ever had" and his crew of financial wizards have created the conditions that have brought us a perfect storm of economic turmoil.  Take the ingenious idea of raising minimum wage in the midst of a recession.  Small businesses took the largest hit from this and were forced to cut entry-level employees (young people and minorities).  So when your kid graduates college and ends up on your couch, celebrate the "summer of recovery."

Or how about the Obama promise to let the Bush tax cuts expire for the wealthy.  In economic terms, that means capital gains, dividends, and upper incomes will be punched in the gut right at the time we need them to robustly invest in job creation.  Embrace the recovery!

Let's not forget the Democrats continued pursuit of a cap and trade energy scam that will cause, in the words of President Obama, "electricity rates to necessarily skyrocket."  Since energy is somewhat important for any business to function, this massive additional cost to their budgets will certainly cause them to want to hire more employees, don't ya think?

And of course, who can forget ObamaCare?  The job killing impact of that unconstitutional monstrosity has already been worse than forecasted, and promises to - when fully enacted - obliterate profit margins of virtually every business, large and small.

While the formula for economic growth and job creation is well known (tax cuts, reduced regulations, incentives for investment), this administration is pursuing the exact opposite: tax hikes, massive new regulations, mandates and rules, increased costs and undue burdens.

So live it up, America.  This is as good as it gets with liberals.  As long as they're in charge, welcome to your recovery.