Mario Cuomo's 1984 DNC speech, "A Tale of Two Cities."

[merrily]

7. Is the term, "plausible deniability?"

Of course, politics require compromise. Also jawboning. Also wheeling and dealing. It requires lots and lots of things. Always has, even when there were theoretically no political parties at all and even when Democrats ostensibly had FDR-era sized majorities in both houses.

But it doesn't require telling WAPO that entitlements must be cut, or nominating a Geithner instead of a Volcker, or a Daschle instead of a Dean, or lobbying Democrats to vote for repeal of Glass Steagall, etc. I could go on, but you know the litany better than I do.

And, because of the wheeling and dealing, compromise doesn't always go only in one direction. That's not even compromise; it's either complicity or surrender. (The 60-vote cloture rule seems to be a much more insurmountable obstacle for Democrats than it is for Republicans, emphasis on "seems.&quot

So, at some point, plausible deniability gets less and less plausible.

I don't believe in the grammar police, but I do believe very much in the power of words.

If we really don't believe that Democrats are truly only "compromising" and only as much as they absolutely need to and they are getting something in return for their part of every compromise, then why say so? If we don't believe that they are simply terrified of Republicans or simply getting outsmarted by Republicans again and again, why say so?