Cartoon: Iceberg Dead Ahead!

Given the incredibly precarious situation the Dems find themselves in, I wonder if electing a pack of blue dogs in order to gain a "majority" was worth the now very real risk that the party will chew itself to pieces via stubborn ideological bickering.

To that end, we'll be lucky if the abortion issue in the form of the Stupak amendment issue doesn't derail the entire health care bill, which is of course why conservatives have pushed it into the legislation. It's amazing Obama didn't see this coming and work to defuse it. Perhaps his strategy is to get health care passed, then try to defang the amendment.

Good luck with that.

However, many moderate Democrats, my own electissimo among them, seem to be following the president's lead. Given that health care passed the House, there is cause to feel somewhat optimistic, but boy, are they going to have to play this just right...