BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward and President Obama want their old lives back, and no one can blame them: all of that luxury, all of that access, all of that leisure and glitz. Actually, for most of the crisis, Obama did have his old life — extravagant dinners, musical evenings, fundraisers for Sen. Barbara (“Don’t call me Ma’am”) Boxer, D-Calif., leisurely holiday weekends at home.

It was only when polls showed the real toll of the crisis — public disgust with the way he responded — that he began to snap to. Peggy Noonan said he seemed “snakebit … unlucky, like Jimmy Carter.” Maureen Dowd said he was drowning in oil.