The headlines and news coverage coming out of the Aug. 16 shows may have seemed to mark a major turn in the debate over health-care reform. "White House Backs Away From Public Health Care Option," cried Politico.com. The New York Times led its story with a declaration that the Administration had "sent signals" that it was moving away from "its once-firm vision of a government organization to provide for the nation's 50 million uninsured and was now open to using nonprofit cooperatives instead." And the Drudge Report, predictably enough, was running a big photo of a white flag.

But was this big news? What started the flurry was a comment on CNN's State of the Union by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that a government-run plan is "not the essential element"...