How else do you explain:

• Obama leaving his signature domestic reform — health care — in the hands of people least likely to come up with a plan palatable to a majority of Americans.

• Within six months of assuming office, the Democrats’ left and center wings are at each other’s throats.

• A cap and trade bill so horrendously corrupt and mismanaged that its passage in the House marked the first time in years that Republicans out-polled Democrats on the generic congressional ballot.