Update: "I'm Not Dead!"

Like the old man with plague from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the public option apparently will not go down without a (weak) fight.

Twice this morning, the White House has said President Obama still supports the public option, and that Kathleen Sebelius "misspoke" yesterday in calling it "not the essential element."

Still, for reasons listed here, the public option is still more or less finished.

So, fellow hand wringers, reports of the public option's demise appear premature...if only just so.