Cardinal Dolan should not have been surprised—that was exactly how Obama pretended to cooperate with the Republicans in Congress—set up meetings where no give-and-take takes place but Obama or his minions just restate their position and try to make the other side look like it is being unreasonable and is to blame for the failure to reach an agreement.
You got that right!
And you are right.
Quite remarkable when you think about it. Here are a group of people (unfortunately leaders of our Country) who care only about appearances and the facade. As you said, they staged a similar game with the Republican Congressmen, as they did with the Bishop's people. Childish and deceitful. They may consider themselves to be 'masters of politics', but in the end their actions are just lies.
A word search of 'abomination', seems to talk a lot about this gang. Here are a couple examples:
Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.
Proverbs 11:20 They that are of a froward [distorted; hence, false:--crooked, froward, perverse] heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.