RICHARD FERNANDEZ: “Obama is waist deep in quicksand. The first rule of quicksand is not to struggle; to swim your way out. But Obama won’t. Can’t. The deeper he gets the harder he thrashes. No shame. No self control. And therefore this may end in the manner of the Beast From Hollow Mountain.”

Plus this: “Meanwhile the conservatives, who cannot at present account for more than half the voters, are in a strategic waiting game. At best they can consolidate the half into the nether millstone against which events may grind. The single greatest task for conservatives is to fix their own leadership problems. In so doing they must avoid the single greatest mistake Obama has made, which is to rely on fantasy. The facts, however unpalatable. The truth, no matter how bitter.”