Confused? Don't be. It's all part of the long-drawn out, ritualistic dance that will eventually result in Yahoo! being digested into the Microsoft empire. I'm more and more convinced the deal must happen. Yahoo! is being back into a corner by Microsoft which, like it or not, the Sunnyvale company can't escape. Given investor pressure and an absence of another viable suitor, Jerry Yang can't escape the clutches of Steve Ballmer. This isn't a remix Romeo and Juliet. But nor is it Cinderella. Those guys are going to end up at the altar - even if they hate each other's guts and are committing themselves to a mutually unhappy marriage.