Cardinal George of Chicago gave a spicy account of his tete-a-tete with Obama last March 18.

“It’s hard to disagree with him because he’ll always tell you he agrees with you,” he [told 200 priests in Louisiana].  “. . . You have to say, again and again, ‘No, Mr. President, we don’t agree (on abortion).’

He told Obama he was concerned about his decision to rescind the Mexico City policy, which meant taxpayer money would go to fund abortion overseas.  He apparently said we were “exporting abortion” by that decision.

“He said we weren’t exporting abortion,” the cardinal said. “I said, ‘Yes we are.’ He would say, ‘I know I have to do certain things here.  . . . . But be patient and you’ll see the pattern will change.’ I said, ‘Mr. President, you’ve given us nothing but the wrong signals on this issue.’ So, we’ll see, but I’m not as hopeful now as I was when he was first elected.”

Why he was hopeful at any time escapes me, but if that was naive of him, the same simplicity, or at least directness, led him to provide a fascinating glimpse at the man who the inimitable Mark Steyn says “has the knack of appearing moderate while acting radical,” calling it, however, “a lethal skill.”

It seems from the cardinal’s account that he was not fooled.