He always does. Once again he offered a half measure expecting to be hailed as a moderate uniter, got blowback from the right, then publicly pledged defiance while just as publicly preparing retreat. Within a few weeks we will be in the classic Obama end game of increasingly half hearted speeches while sending flunkies to negotiate with the most influential conservative leaders before unconditional surrender. After that only the post mortem remains:

1) Conservatives who have always hated Obama and always will, no matter how he grovels,

2) Liberals infuriated he betrayed them yet again,

3) Moderates and independents who elected him to "pull the car out of the ditch" and wonder why it is still there three years later and

4) Obama looking around at them all mournfully wondering, Why do they all despise me...?

The healthcare debate set the tone; it is only fitting leaving "public" healthcare in private hands forces him to repeatedly re-enact that for the rest of his presidency.