I love it when somebody wants to tell me that something is a "defining moment" after the excrement has already hit the proverbial fan. Picking through the excrement for the "defining moment" never has worked well for anybody, except those looking for a salvagable "defining moment."
Bush's defining moment passed three weeks ago. He never saw it coming, and he never saw it leave. Opportunity after opportunity squandered. He and all his incompetent crew simply blew it. The could have been heros, but they came off like watching the "Three Stooges at the White House." By the time they realized Elvis left the building, they were standing around with Cherthoff and Brown looks (i.e., "why did I ask for this job?" "what the hell do we do now?") on their faces.
It took an outraged media and plummeting poll numbers to get somebody's attention. Not the President's, of course, because he doesn't watch or read the news. He apparently has ADD.
Or maybe I'm all wrong about the President. Maybe this was all just a Machiavellian stroke of genius to let NOLA drown so Halliburton, Bechtel, and all the other buttboys of the President could clean up.
And so it goes...
Update: (TL) The text of Bush's speech is here.