What would Robin Hood do?

John Tierney has an op-ed today about Bush's plan to reshape Social Security to give the greatest benefit to the poor:

[Democrats] tried yesterday to portray him as just another cruel, rich Republican for suggesting any cuts in future benefits, but that's not what the prime-time audience saw on Thursday night. By proposing to shore up the system while protecting low-income workers, Mr. Bush raised a supremely awkward question for Democrats: which party really cares about the poor?...

Democrats like to portray Mr. Bush as King George or Marie Antoinette. But on Thursday night, when he promised to improve benefits for the poor while limiting them for everyone else, he sounded more like Robin Hood, especially when he rhapsodized about poor people getting a chance to build up assets that they could pass along to their children.

It was the kind of talk you might expect to hear from a Democrat, except that Democrats don't talk about much these days except the glories of the New Deal.

Mr. Tierney aren't you forgetting something? That other way Democrats like to portray Bush? "He sounded more like Robin Hood"? Why not say he sounded more like Jesus? It seems to me Democrats also love to say that Bush is too much of a deep-believing Christian, but the usual charge slips out of their heads altogether when Christian belief points toward doing things they approve of:

"If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."