For example, he placed Social Security -- a program he knows Republicans all hate, which has absolutely nothing to do with deficit reduction, and that most Americans need -- on the chopping block before the bargaining for the so-called Grand Deal even began.
But even this betrayal of one of the most important and successful social programs ever created by the Democrats failed to get him any truck with Republicans.
But to his credit, your hero is not a quitter.
Being a practical man, he decided to take the courtship of Republicans to still another level. He would change how he speaks.
He would learn Republican-Speak.
Recently he got an ideal opportunity to practice Republican-Speak.
At a press conference in the Rose Garden when he was asked about his Justice Department's secret recording and storing of conversations and phone numbers of Associated Press Reporters, without obtaining a warrant (which is unconstitutional), he said: "I make no apologies."
That was very Republican. Republicans never apologize. Look at the war in Iraq, the one that took hundreds of thousands of lives and ruined an entire civilization (as well as the American economy) in a vain and fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction. Did the Republicans apologize? No. Bush said that he is proud of his decisions.
Then Obama went further: "and I don't think the American people would expect me as commander in chief, not to be concerned about information that could compromise their missions or might get them killed."
Republican-Speak translation: Worrying about the Fourth Amendment -- which is on the books to protect Americans from unreasonable search and seizure, and requires that even presidents get warrants -- is anathema. That is to say, unlike Progressives, whom Obama once described as "sanctimonious," he worries about America.
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