But there's one principle -- just one -- on which the President has never wavered. His commitment to the most extreme abortion policies has been unyielding.
Although the media largely preferred to look the other way, Obama's pre-presidential record on the abortion issue was extremist and out of the mainstream -- what with his support for partial birth abortion and, during his Illinois legislature days, his opposition to the Born Alive Infant Protection Act.
In ways large and small, the President has stood solidly and consistently with abortion in all its manifestations -- from his silence on the topic of Chinese forced abortions to his willingness to shut down the government over funding for Planned Parenthood.
Given the ugly sight of Planned Parenthood pro-choicers with (figurative) billy clubs threatening the (figurative) life of the Komen breast cancer foundation, we all understand the fear and trembling that abortion rights activist have thrown into the souls of Democrats. But even by that measure, Obama's rigid adherence to the most extreme positions of abortion advocacy is astonishing.
Truly, support for abortion rights seems to be his one fixed principle.