As we analyze the reprieve for Obamacare, let’s celebrate and make explicit the victory of facts over bluster, and substance over euphemism. Ryan was not honest about his real goals: massive tax cuts for the very rich and minimal restraint on the cruel effects of a deregulated health care marketplace. The Freedom Caucus was not honest about its goal: repealing Obamacare entirely, regardless of the harm inflicted on low income people. And few of the Republican moderates were honest about their belief: that Obamacare was doing a lot of good. (The moderates might well have become more vocal — if similarly obtuse — if the Freedom Caucus had softened and increased the chances of the bill making it through the House.) But the facts are that Americans don’t want to return to the days before Obamacare, and the Republicans’ internal divisions in this case do not lend themselves to workable compromise.  The moderates were unwilling to face their constituencies after voting for a law that would have made Obamacare worse for the average person. And the Freedom Caucus was unwilling to enshrine a new entitlement program under the Republicans’ watch. That is why Ryan gave up, rather than continuing to try to negotiate. Facts are stubborn things, but at least this time they mattered.