Says the Telegraph—jaw-droppingly. Read every paragraph:

Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been “overwhelmed” by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.

British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a formal dinner, as has been customary. They concede that Obama aides seemed unfamiliar with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister.

But Washington figures with access to Mr Obama’s inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special relationship.

Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president’s surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk.

A well-connected Washington figure, who is close to members of Mr Obama’s inner circle, expressed concern that Mr Obama had failed so far to “even fake an interest in foreign policy”.

A British official conceded that the furore surrounding the apparent snub to Mr Brown had come as a shock to the White House. “I think it’s right to say that their focus is elsewhere, on domestic affairs. A number of our US interlocutors said they couldn’t quite understand the British concerns and didn’t get what that was all about.”

The American source said: “Obama is overwhelmed. There is a zero sum tension between his ability to attend to the economic issues and his ability to be a proactive sculptor of the national security agenda.

“That was the gamble these guys made at the front end of this presidency and I think they’re finding it a hard thing to do everything.”

Jim Geraghty, via whom I got this, and who rightly calls this “terrifying,” concludes:

It’s at moments like this I’m reminded of this assessment of Obama, back in 2007: “I think he can be ready, but right now I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.”

That assessment came from . . . Vice President Joe Biden.

The stuff that gets me is that the State Department, et al., are claiming to be clueless as well on the Brown-visit issues. This, in theory, is why we have an institutional, non-political Foreign Service! So this kind of stuff doesn’t get screwed up! And before you blame some disastrous Bush discontinuity as the root of all evil (because you will—it’s so tiresome), remember that the Clinton Administration was only eight years ago and that many, many of these appointees are retreads—and if they aren’t, they know those who are and can ask!

Confucius, Œc. Vol.

Don’t ask impertinent questions like that jackass Adept Lu.