Consider the following exchange from ABC's Sunday talkfest (the one hosted by the diminutive Clinton operative, not the one hosted by the Cuomo operative), courtesy of Hotline On Call:
STEPHANOPOULOS: You've also said that with Social Security, everything should be on the table.
OBAMA: Yes.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Raising the retirement age?
OBAMA: Everything should be on the table.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Raising payroll taxes?
OBAMA: Everything should be on the table. I think we should approach it the same way Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan did back in 1983. They came together. I don't want to lay out my preferences beforehand, but what I know is that Social Security is solvable. It is not as difficult a problem as we're going to have with Medicaid and Medicare.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Partial privatization?
OBAMA: Privatization is not something that I would consider, and the reason is this: Social Security, I think, is -- that's the floor. That's the baseline. Social Security is that safety net that can't be frayed, and we shouldn't put at risk.
The posture of complete open-mindedness endures approximately 10 seconds, until a fundamental challenge to a liberal institution is contemplated. This really tells the tale of Obama's--and most other liberals'--invitation of non-liberals to "dialogue." We can discuss anything as long as no substantive challenge to the liberal worldview is even entertained.
This is like being invited to dialogue with Henry Ford about the colour of one's Model T.
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