Haven't we seen this movie before?

So, it's August, and something's about to go terribly awry. Do you know where your president is?

Worries about the deepening housing slump and an intensifying credit crunch consumed an increasingly anxious Wall Street last week, but President Bush barely broke stride.

Bush went mountain biking and cleared a trail on his ranch here as the stock market gyrated Thursday. When asked whether the president was concerned, Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, responded with confidence: "As President Bush has said, the U.S. economy is fundamentally sound, and so we expect to see continued economic growth."

If history is any indication, we are completely fucked.