What passes for Courage?

On the one hand, if it involves killing somebody:

President Barack Obama made a “very gutsy call” to send Navy SEALs into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden, outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

"I worked for a lot of these guys. And this is one of the most courageous calls – decisions — that I think I’ve ever seen a president make,” Gates told CBS in a wide-ranging interview aired on “60 Minutes.”

On the other hand, if it involves something "boring" like fiscal sanity and government working and taking care of things like, oh, Americans -- courage is in short supply:

The advisers are deeply concerned about winning back political independents, who supported Obama two years ago by an eight-point margin but backed Republicans for the House this year by 19 points. To do so, they think he must forge partnerships with Republicans on key issues and make noticeable progress on his oft-repeated campaign pledge to change the ways of Washington.

Anybody think the GOP is getting less crazy, smarter, or easier to deal with through this "political" negotiating strategy?

It turns out the six-month spending bill Congress passed in April increased discretionary outlays through the remainder of the fiscal year by a bit over $3 billion.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]