If you ever needed proof that incrementalism can’t work, Obama’s healthcare proposals weren’t the victims of the vast right-wing attack machine, but rather of the Democrats’ own prediliction for arguing against themselves. “If we ask for too much, they won’t give it to us, so we’ll ask for less. Wait, now they want us to compromise from our fall-back position. OK, we can do that.” And so it goes, as the Republicans smell the stink of weakness and exploit it for all its worth. And who can blame them, except the families of the dead?