are any of us going to remember this and ask about the results? Nope. But it gets him good press and good will now. He called the press conference because he's interested in the image, not in the results.

He'd prefer we think he's doing something but forget exactly what it is.

but also, manipulating public perceptions to cover his tracks for doing nothing seems to be his MO

Looks like this is the bar where the cynics congregate. My kind of place!

Not even a blue ribbon commission?

The fact that he feels the need to do anything at all is a good sign. To say Obama is on the side of Big Rx is like saying Popeye might have an affinity for spinach; it's so well known it can be assumed as a fact. He invited them into the room as the first players, let them craft the parameters and structure of the HCR debate, and actively pushed, pulled, plied, twisted, and contorted Congress to make sure they got the deal they wanted.

Obama doesn't want this panel, he doesn't want this "investigation", he doesn't want people talking about this stuff. In the same way the banks want to talk about the deficit and debt reduction but NOT taxes and NOT foreclosure fraud. That they are forced to discuss it is testament to the great pressure being brought about by the mensch (that would be us.) Just like the banks and OWS, the fact that this HCR business will not go away after their great package became law must be irksome as hell to Obama and these peeps. It hasn't been like this for decades in the USA; as long as gas is cheap, people tune out and go to sleep while you screw them nice and slow.

I don't know who exactly is providing this pressure (it might just be general polling results and malaise), but it has the President worried. Remember too that once you call these investigations, they can slip the leash easily. Bush called for Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate the info slip around Judy Miller, Rove ended up 4th and inches from "pound me in the ass" prison. How did that work out for the Bush Administration, did they think that was going to happen when they started the investigation?

Setting up public panels and holding investigations is truly like a box of chocolates, you have no idea what you are biting into each time you reach back into the box. Let's wait and see what flavor Obama gets on this one...