At last! A grand unified theory of the Bush presidency:

When Bush says someone is trying to get him to "negotiate with myself in public," which he says a lot, it has always been my understanding that he means he doesn't have to consider an argument with which he doesn't agree. Now, though, I suspect that, at least in this case, he means something more. He's saying that he doesn't have to consider reality. It isn't his job to do "this hard thing." That's somebody else's job—in this instance, Congress: "I don't get to write the law."

What "I" get to do, as president, is make promises that I know perfectly well can never be kept, and then to make Congress break those promises for me. I don't have to change "the principles I believe in" because I know more responsible people in the government will violate them and take the blame.

I was going to write something about this the other day, but decided it was too obvious. Apparently not. The president cannot be allowed to distance himself from Social Security Abolition. No way, no day. This is Bush's idea, Bush's scheme. Bush wants to drum up a fake crisis. Bush wants to propose a needless and badly designed change. Bush, Bush, Bush. Remember, in 1994, Republicans never stopped calling health care reform by its infamous name: the Clinton Health Plan. And guess what? Voters were overwhelmingly in favor of health care reform. They were much less in favor of the Clinton Health Plan. It's sad to remember, but lesson learned.