For today’s Obamateurism, we turn to Stephen Hayes and Thomas Joscelyn at the Weekly Standard for a case of tortured Obama syntax that reveals more than the President intended. When discussing the federal response to Faisal Shahzad a few days after the attempted bombing, Obama had to make a mid-course correction:

This incident is another sobering reminder of the times in which we live. Around the world and here at home, there are those who would attack our citizens and who would slaughter innocent men, women, and children in pursuit of their murderous agenda. They will stop at nothing to kill and disrupt our way of life. But once again, an attempted attack has been—failed.

The attack has been failed? Obama nearly tried to take credit for stopping the bombing, but realized a little too late how ridiculous it would have sounded. After all, Shahzad managed to get his massive car bomb into the middle of Times Square, aided by a conspiracy headed by the Pakistani Taliban and funded by them as well. The only thing that separated hundreds of people in Times Square was the incompetence of the bomber.

Something certainly was “failed” by the government, but it wasn’t this terrorist plot.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!