“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
-- Mahatma Gandhi (Indian Philosopher, internationally esteemed for his doctrine of nonviolent protest, 1869-1948)

Rachel Maddow turns this attributed to Gandhi quote upside down to theorize what we're seeing with Barack Obama. Her criticisms are scathing, which in itself is unusual for her. Using phrases like "inexplicable capitulation", "faceplanted", "risks becoming a joke, irrelevant", etc are not what you expect from Rachel. Just a few months ago she was listing off the accomplishments of this White House.

Perhaps President Obama would be wise to remember another of Gandhi's teachings:

All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take.
--Mahatma Gandhi