Our rooting interest here is that The One double-crosses him and doesn’t sign it at all, right? In theory, it’s a dilemma because conservatives want whatever meager protection for the unborn that Obama’s willing to give. But if you believe that the executive order’s a purely symbolic gesture that’s worth nothing in practice, then who cares if he signs it or not? Better that he doesn’t sign it, in fact, and proves once for and all to the suckers in the Democratic pro-life caucus just what an ignoble sellout Stupak’s deal turned out to be.

Not that they’d care.

President Obama signed the Senate health care bill into law Tuesday. He did not sign the executive order on abortion negotiated with Michigan Democratic Congressman Bart Stupak in an 11th-hour arrangement that may well have saved the entire health care reform effort.

A White House official told Fox, Obama will not sign the Executive Order Tuesday and has set no specific date to do so. Stupak predicted Obama would sign the order later this week. The White House said only that Obama would sign the order “soon.”

In two celebratory speeches Tuesday – one at the bill’s signing, the other at the Interior Department with health care advocates – Obama said nothing about the abortion issue or the executive order…

“Throughout history, Executive Orders have been an important means of implementing public policy,” Stupak said in a statement. “The most famous Executive Order was the Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Lincoln in 1863.”

He’ll sign it, I’m sure. It’ll pain him to do so, but so total and sudden a betrayal would it be that it’d actually damage him within his own caucus. The president’s word has to mean something, at least for a few months until everyone forgets about this and he can quietly rescind the order; if it doesn’t, there’s no reason for any Democrat to make a deal with him on any future bill. I do think it’s humiliating for Stupak, though — and gratifyingly so — that Obama wouldn’t so much as sign the order today. No one expects him to talk it up at the big ceremony lest it offend the Lords of Abortion in attendance, but there’s no reason he couldn’t have taken care of it afterwards in his office. If NARAL can cope with it being signed tomorrow, they could have coped with it being signed today. Consider this just another small piece of evidence that William McGurn’s right and that the pro-life wing of the Democratic Party is now, for all intents and purposes, finished.

Via Johnny Dollar, here’s Andrew Napolitano yesterday reminding Fox’s audience that the deal that saved ObamaCare is worth squat. Although I should actually call it the deal which we thought saved ObamaCare: Stupak’s now going around telling people that it doesn’t matter that he caved because Pelosi had enough votes anyway. In which case, why didn’t you just walk away and vote no, dummy?

Update: As predicted, he can’t stab Stupak in the back. Yet. Tomorrow’s the day.