REMEMBER WHEN OBAMA WANTED THIS IN AUGUST? - AT 6:03 P.M. ET:  A funny thing happened to health-care "reform" on the way to a year-end deadline.  Fox News reports:

Despite President Obama's goal of signing healthcare reform legislation this year -- one backed by assurances from congressional Democrats -- Senate Democratic leaders Tuesday subtly acknowledged that's not likely to happen as they started the delicate dance of walking back expectations.

Putting the legislation together has proved exceedingly difficult, and most aides now say there is virtually no way a bill can get to Obama's desk this year.

When asked directly if he could finish legislation this year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday, "We're not going to be bound by any timelines. We need to do the best job we can for the American people. We want quality legislation, and we're going to do that."

Previously, the Nevada Democrat had said a bill could be finished by various other deadlines, with Thanksgiving being the most recent one. But Reid started to qualify his answer after an August recess deadline came and went, saying that he didn't want to be bound by "arbitrary timelines."

COMMENT:  Reid later backtracked, saying he thought work could be finished by year's end, but others agreed with his more pessimistic assessment.

This has turned into a mess.  The bill is longer than the Five Books of Moses, and they've taken 6,000 years to understand.  A GOP bill, at about 350 pages, is expected in the next few days.  Watch some smug liberal commentator say, "You see, these Republicans, all they can read is 350 pages."

Neither version reads as well as "The Caine Mutiny."

November 3, 2009