STAY HOME, YANKEE! – AT 3:55 P.M. ET:  The president has cancelled his trip to Asia so he can remain as an Obamacare-covered midwife to the health-care bill:

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has postponed his trip to Asia until June so he can stay in Washington for a possible Sunday vote on his health care overhaul plan.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday the president is disappointed and regrets having to delay his visits to Indonesia and Australia but has told the leaders of those nations that health care is a crucial priority.

"The president believes right now the place for him to be is in Washington seeing this through," Gibbs said.

Obama had already delayed the trip to Indonesia and Australia, pushing back a Thursday departure until Sunday so he could help Democrats on Capitol Hill rally last-minute votes for the plan.

COMMENT:  We really must look great to foreign nations.  We can't even schedule things well enough to allow the president to take an important foreign trip.  The Australians, who never get enough credit for standing by us, must be privately appalled. 

Real change we can believe in.  Total incompetence.

March 18, 2010