After suffering the worst midterm setback in 72 years, with his polls hitting 40 percent approval, and with a host of local, state, and national conservatives poised to take office as more administration officials head for the exits, the president does not have a lot of options. We can refer to his new embrace of what he used to demonize (e.g., suddenly tax hikes have gone the way of closing Guantanamo and trying KSM in New York) as “triangulation,” but it seems better explained as the no-brainer decision that it was — sort of like slamming on the brakes when speeding down what turns out to be a dead-end alley, rather than explode against the approaching wall.