But the metaphor hides a truth. We must understand the current debacle in terms of standard business cycles. It is not something completely different, just bigger than more recent bouts. It was caused by concerted government interventions in the housing markets, a general goofy understanding of risk (itself perhaps largely a product of government regulation, as Nassim Nicholas Taleb has pointed out), and a long-standing policy of inflation from the Federal Reserve, a policy of easy credit that gave power to an investment craze.

But Obama’s mishmash explanation is not the heart and soul of his speech. The real meat is the Gospel parable of two houses, one built on a rock, the other on sand. “We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand.”

When I look at his proposals, what I see are towers built on the same old sand. The best example is his proposal for health care. Here we have an industry almost wholly circumscribed by government, and yet politicians portray themselves as vexed, blaming market forces and ignoring all the government interventions at work.

And Obama offers more of the same. More interventionism. Not less.

Indeed, after a brilliant bit explaining the harsh realities of entitlement growth and its place in current budget deficits and growing debt, he then rests his response to said imbalance by making a few technical fixes in health care.

The Prez says he’ll reduce costs. Wanna make a bet? What government program has done that? Certainly not Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

It is the most absurd bit of misdirection I’ve seen in some time.

But it is nestled among a few powerful metaphors, a bevy of half-truths that resonate, and some good common sense. The problem is often not any single statement, but what it all adds up to.

And what is that? The same old irresponsibility in a nice new package.

Precisely what you’d expect from a mainstream politician. This is the best such folk can deliver. A nice, shiny new cover for politics as usual.