We already mocked the NYT for echoing the chattering class' claim that Obama, thanks to the AIG story, suffered a “cataclysmic” week, last week.

That sky-is-falling meme was everywhere:

--"[Obama] did not seem at all concerned about what the press has been playing up as his worst week." (CBS's Steve Kroft, quoted in the WashPost.)

--“Not a good week at all for Obama." (Pollster John Zogby, quoted in US News & World Report.) Zogby graded Obama's week as a C-.

--“Another bad week for the Obama administration." (New York Post editorial.)

--“This has been the Obama administration's lost week.” (ABC's The Note.)

--“For Barack Obama, it was a horrible way to end the week, but perhaps that was only fitting: it had been a horrible week.” (Guardian UK)

So how bad was Obama's week? Fact: his approval ratings actually inched up.

But we thought the press was sure “the public” was going to blame Obama for the AIG fiasco; that it was “hounding” Obama, as the WashPost announced last week. Yeah, not so much.

According to a new USA Today/Gallup poll, Obama's pretty much the last person voters are blaming for the AIG bonuses. And this may shock members of the Beltway press, many of whom tripped over themselves last week to announce “the public” was furious with Obama, but according to the polling data, when asked who they blamed for the AIG bonuses, most Americans said...AIG.

Imagine that.