The early review of President Barack Obama’s withdrawal plans for U.S. forces from Afghanistan is that, in an effort to give each side something to cheer about, it pleased no one at all.

The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd encapsulated the dynamic when she called Obama “bi” in her Sunday column — not in the sexuality sense but in his never-ending quest for binary partisan approval. The many disapproving reactions from Democrats and Republicans and the military only further cemented the image of a president hopelessly trying to straddle the middle ground.