Here’s a refresher, in case you’re a Democrat and you have the memory of a fruit fly.

You’ll recall that, hours before the Paris attacks, President Obama decided the time was right to announce that the J.V. Team (which he still enjoys calling ISIL) had been “contained.”

After the Paris strikes, someone in the administration realized how bad this looked, so they tried to float the idea that Obama was speaking “very specifically” about geographical control. This did nothing to dispel the fact that Obama was trying - as he tried for the prior year and a half - to downplay the organization’s strength. The explanation landed with a dull thud.

A few days later, amidst mounting criticism of his administration’s unwavering - though obviously failing - ISIS policy, Obama told us not to be afraid. If you were against his refugee plan, you were afraid of “orphans and widows.” You were doing ISIS’s bidding.

A few days (and a couple more attacks) after that, the threat had become so severe that the State Department issued a global travel alert - in essence suggesting that the entire planet was now a place where Americans could no longer feel safe.

Today, things have changed again. Speaking in Paris during a joint press conference with French President Hollande, Obama has finally admitted what everyone else on Earth knew all along.

ISIS is a “serious threat to all of us.”

I’m sure liberals will call this an “evolution.” Much like when he abandoned his deeply held beliefs on gay marriage and Australian-style gun control, Obama’s new attitude will be lauded as evidence of his brilliance and his willingness to adapt.

However, it wasn’t that long ago that Obama was dismissing ISIS as little more than a fly on the rump of global affairs. Despite all of the intelligence, all of the warnings, and all of the indicators to the contrary, they were repeatedly mocked as “insignificant.” When that was proven wrong, they were upgraded to “serious but not a problem in the U.S.” When that was proven wrong they were “dangerous, even here, but not worth fearing.”

Now even that’s been proven wrong, and they’re a legitimate global threat that represents a serious threat to every single one of us.

That’s not called “evolving.” That’s called “being a step behind.”

At best, it’s a staggering failure of both vision and policy.

At worst, it’s an incoherent pattern befitting of a President who just can’t be bothered to give a damn.