Barack Obama and his advisors are trying their best to scoot away from the increasingly untenable position that Obama would personally meet–without preconditions–with the leaders of rogue states. But the statements are too numerous and  YouTube is too ubiquitious for him to hide the facts. And Hillary Clinton’s a witness to (or a victim of) his public, year-long insistence that this represented a new type of diplomacy.

So why is it significant that he is now attempting to reverse course without admitting it? Imagine if he were already President and he tried this. After stating in public settings and on official websites for a year that he would meet with Ahmedinejad without preconditions, he then announces “I never said that” or “Well, I didn’t mean no preconditions.” Would our relations with Iran be even worse? Would Iranian officials have grounds to claim they were lied to? Would our allies and enemies be baffled? Would our prestige in the world suffer?

Welcome to the new diplomacy.