Google is out there whispering in the ears of journalists that they are off the hook for search manipulation and that there are three solid votes in opposition to the FTC pursuing the case. Perhaps they know things nobody else does, but if it’s true, it will raise all kinds of questions about the agency’s balk, particularly with regard to commissioner Edith Ramirez.

It’s expected that Liebowitz will leave the FTC by the end of the year, and he’d like to wrap up the Google antitrust case before he does. But if he decides that his swan song will be another softball settlement for Google, his legacy at the FTC would likely be the agency’s irrelevance in the digital age.