PARKER: Optical illusions  Kathleen Parker  Kathleen Parker
WASHINGTON -- The media love optics and no one understands this
better than President Barack Obama.  Thus, he invited a gang of
Republican senators to din-dins at the swank (and legendary)
Jefferson Hotel, one of the city's more discreet (and expensive)
gathering places.  Upon exiting, senators were greeted by a
hungry throng of reporters and photographers, their appetites
whetted no doubt by the cold. How was it? What happened? Did you
bond?  Sen. John McCain, already engrossed in a cellphone call,
gave a thumbs up. Others in attendance granted post-mortem
interviews. And the world was glad.  Could a Grand Bargain be
far away?  Hey, it was a free meal.  Indeed, the president
picked up the tab, a gesture of generosity or, one might
speculate, a tiny deposit on a big investment, the returns of
which are already rolling in: The media extrapolation that the
president is extending an olive branch to his adversaries in
search of a solution.  A Trojan hor