Democrats (liberals, progressive) nearly always overreach or overstate their positions.  Republicans (conservatives) nearly always respond with compromise, not wanting to appear as obstructionists. After all, every time conservatives stand up to liberals and liberals don't get their way, conservatives are called obstructionists by liberals.

The MSM duly reports what liberals say, what they say about conservatives, and what they spin when the news favors liberal ideals.  And the MSM ignores the news when it does not further liberal ideals.  E.J. Dionne, in the Washington Post, began the liberal spin about President Obama's most recent overreach and compromise/backdown, his "accommodation" on the contraception affair for religious institutions, particularly Catholic hospitals and colleges.  Dionne stated, "President Obama did today what he should have done at the very beginning...."

On Friday, February 10, 2012, Obama announced that his administration will not require religious institutions to provide free contraception to employees in their health insurance.  But on January 20, 2012, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that church-affiliated institutions will have to cover free birth control for employees, a regulation that Obama and his administration backed.  Sebelius also said that nonprofit institutions, such as church-affiliated hospitals, colleges, and social service agencies will have an additional year to comply with the requirement.  She provided an extension until August 1, 2013, saying "I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services."  The HHS announcement set off a firestorm.

About the original announcement, what did the MSM have to say? ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC ignored it. NPR covered it on Friday night (naturally) with a positive tone, with its website saying "Administration Stands Firm On Birth Control Coverage."  Yet they all were quick to report the "accommodation" announcement.  Are we seeing a double standard here?

And damned if the "accommodation" strategy didn't work.  We now learn that Sister Carol Keehan, head of the Catholic Health Organization, said the compromise "has responded to the issues we identified that needed to be fixed."  Keehan continued, saying that the accommodation "protects the religious liberty and conscience rights of Catholic institutions."  And it worked for the other side as well. A spokesman for Planned Parenthood Federation of America said the accommodation "does not compromise a woman's ability to access these critical birth control benefits."  Two birds with one stone - not bad!

Liberals overreach, conservatives compromise, liberals win every time.  Regarding the contraception requirement, John Boehner (R-OH) called it "an unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country."  But did Obama and his administration overreach on purpose, figuring that the Republicans would compromise?  Did Obama think Republicans would leave the negotiating process, declare victory, get a few concessions, and say that the Catholic Church needed to compromise? 

That is how liberals work!  They overreach on purpose, appear to compromise by backing down, then come back later for more.  Liberals use this tactic over and over until they finally get all they want.  When will conservatives ever learn?

But that's just my opinion. 

Dr. Beatty earned a Ph.D. in Quantitative Management and Statistics from Florida State University.  He was a (very conservative) professor of quantitative management specializing in using statistics to assist/support decision making. He has been a consultant to many small businesses and is now retired.  Dr. Beatty is a veteran who served in the US Army for 22 years.