Associated Press figures out that Obama really is a mere mortal

LOL. This is an about face from their pre-(and for that matter, much of their post-) election reporting on The One:

WASHINGTON – Two weeks into his presidency, Barack Obama proved that even a clearly gifted politician cannot escape the gravitational pull of Washington forces that have humbled many of his predecessors.

The new president, seen by some as arrogant, was anything but on Tuesday.

“I screwed up,” Obama said repeatedly during a series of TV interviews. “I take responsibility for this mistake.”

It was a frank admission from an Oval Office where “mistakes were made” has often been the preferred dodge.

An old story, with new actors, played out Tuesday: A new president’s team imperfectly vetted top nominees. The nominees, it turns out, had not paid taxes for household help or other services when they were private citizens. The news media and political adversaries bored in. And rather than spend more valuable time and political capital defending the appointees, the administration dropped them and moved on.

In other words, Obama may be more ordinary than some admirers would like to admit. He will surely struggle, over the coming weeks and months, with the economy, health care, military matters and Congress, much as other presidents have.

That’s hardly an indictment. But Obama’s rocket ride to the White House, his extraordinary speaking skills, and his smooth, I-don’t-sweat style had some people calling him “the one,” a once-in-a-generation political leader who could rise above his predecessors’ foibles.

“Some”? That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one.

In related news, the NYT reported today on the fact that several of their mainstream media colleagues have left their jobs in the newsroom in order to work for the Obama administration, which you would think they’d note gave credence to the belief by conservatives that the mainstream media is biased towards the left. Not so, says the NYT. It has more to do with … the economy (via Deborah Corey at Newsbusters):

Administration officials report they have had discussions with other print journalists looking for work as their news organizations begin to shed jobs.

Riiiight.

Show of hands how many of you think we’d see the same influx of journalists to a McCain/Palin admin as we have with Obama/Biden’s due to the economy?

I didn’t think so