Senator Jeff Sessions famously hoped that health care reform would be Obama’s Waterloo. That didn’t work out so well for the GOP blockade bunch, who had hoped pure obstructionism might yield political benefits. And Wall Street reform, such as it is, has not provided much more traction for the naysayers.

With the growing oil spill, Obama-haters clearly hoped the president had met his disaster — “This will be the president’s Katrina!” they thundered, which is kind of funny given that a lot of this came from the same people who maintained Bush was doing a heckuva job with Katrina at the time. Until the flood from the hurricane swamped their party and left them all sitting on top of their houses, waiting for rescue.

At his press conference yesterday Obama may have stopped the water from rising (if I may extend the metaphor), even if he can’t stop that oil from gushing a mile below the surface, just by uttering the words “I was wrong.” Few men, let alone standing presidents, have made this admission before (just as the number of women, heads of state or not, who have said “I am sorry” can be counted on Jerry Garcia’s skeletal right hand) and just by admitting to have been slow on the response he may have bought himself and his administration some time.

Besides, there will be plenty more disasters to handle or botch between now and 2012. To repeat Robert Altman’s favorite joke (which he heard from Harry Belafonte): Two jazz musicians are on an ocean cruise. Between sets they go out on deck, smoke a joint and contemplate the ocean.

“Man, look at all that water,” says one.

“Yeah,” says his friend. “And that’s just the top.”