Obama: Ruptured Duck
He not a lame duck President any more. He is now wearing the insignia of discharged Army troops after World War II ended.
Obama sold ObamaCare on a no-pain basis. Like a pediatrician who tells a five-year-old, "This won't hurt," he loses the trust of the five-year-old as soon as the needle goes in.
The needle has gone in. There are many more to come.
He sold it with an obvious impossibility: "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it." He will never restore trust again. That phrase will be the tombstone of his presidency. It will be his version of "Trust me." It will be his version of "Read my lips. No new taxes." It will be his version of "I did not have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky."
He will be in office for three more years. This will impose extensive damage on the Democrats, and it will give Republicans a free rein. They know their bills will be vetoed. They do not have to propose alternatives until 2017. After that, they get to be on the firing line. But Obama's veto threat is like a King's X for Congressional Republicans. They get to blame it all on him for three years.
Hillary Clinton will watch from the sidelines in horror. If she gets the nomination, she will have to campaign in terms of the Pelosi-Obama agenda. That agenda is now a casket. Clinton will climb into it. Think of a casket on wheels. Think of McCain's Straight Talk Express bus. Hers will be the Healthcare Express.
Obama will do a long series of retreats. They have begun. These will do no good. He will look weak. He already does.
Everything will be focused on ObamaCare for the next year. It will be ObamaCare 24x7. This disaster cannot be hidden. The policy-cancellation letters will not end. This will keep the topic alive.
The programmers will fix the website, but it will not get the traffic the administration had projected.
If the Supreme Court cuts the subsidies for the federal exchanges, it's all over. The law will be on the books. The policies will be sky high. There will be no escape, other than repeal. He will veto any such repeal.
There could always be some national disaster that will rally support, but that is a long shot. As it is, he is on a sinking ship, one which he set fire to.
I am not alone in seeing this. Britain's Financial Times ran an article on it. The sharks smell blood in the water. Bush II had only from September 2008 until January 20, 2009 to run his presidency onto the rocks. Obama has over three more years.