Former vice president and 2020 Democratic primary candidate Joe Biden this week performed the rarely seen flip-flop-flip maneuver, opposing and then supporting and then opposing again an amendment barring federal funds for abortion.

Even Magic 8-Balls are more consistent than this.

Worse, however, than having the resilience of a Ritz Cracker, and cowering in the face of progressive criticism, is the fact that Biden lacks even the courage to take full responsibility for this shameful and clumsy about-face. Instead, he faults conservatives for his supposed come-to-Jesus moment on his decades-long support for the Hyde Amendment, transforming what began as an act of mere political gutlessness into one of supreme cowardice.

“I’ve been struggling with the problems that Hyde now presents,” Biden said Thursday evening. “If I believe healthcare is a right, as I do, I can no longer support an amendment that makes that right dependent on someone’s ZIP code.”

The 2020 Democratic front-runner then blamed conservatives for his reversal.

“Circumstances have changed,” Biden said. “We’ve seen state after state including Georgia passing extreme laws. It’s clear that [pro-life conservatives] are going to stop at nothing to get rid of [Roe v. Wade].”

He added, “Folks, times have changed. I don’t think these guys are going to let up.”

It is worth mentioning here that the former vice president has just abandoned a position that most Americans support (against taxpayer-funded abortion) for the one that all the other 2020 Democratic candidates have embraced.

It is also worth mentioning that when Biden served in the Senate, he voted for the Hyde Amendment and similar provisions against taxpayers' funding abortion (he even made his own proposal to that end) throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. In fact, he supported this position as recently as two days ago.

Yet Biden would have us believe that he is not a soulless opportunist who will say and do whatever it takes to finally — finally! — secure the Democratic nomination. He wants us to believe that within the span of a week, pro-lifers forced him to flip, and then flop, and then flip again on a position he has supported for more than 40 years.

I am starting to understand why this is Biden’s third attempt at running for president.