President Bush to hold financial summit

The Associated Press reports that President Bush will hold an economic summit to discuss why the world is such a mess and what can be done to fix things before the entire financial system goes down the porcelain toilet. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso announced the retreat at the Presidential retreat at Camp David.

No dates or locations have been set yet, but the first summit would focus on seeking "agreement on principles of reform needed to avoid a repetition of the problems and assure global prosperity in the future." Later summits will focus on specifics. What will come of all this? Absolutely nothing, if I had to guess.

The reality is that President Bush has little to no credibility at home or abroad, and this summit looks like a pretty desperate effort to remain relevant. Given that he has some of the lowest approval ratings of any president in history, and substantive discussions about reform will likely have to wait until the new guy is sworn in.

It's not yet known whether the president-elect will attend the summit but, if he does, lame duck Bush's presence will be irrelevant.