Republicans turned down invite to screen Lincoln at White House with Obama and Spielberg

Watch Lincoln at White House with Steven Spielberg, President Obama, and Daniel Day-Lewis? Ewww! Gross! Look, I'm sick and tired of the cynical skepticism coming from people outside of Washington, D.C. about the impact of President Barack Obama's charm offensive. Here's the fact: It really is a big deal that Obama is finally at long last reaching out to Republicans on Capitol Hill. After months'years, actually'of doing nothing except farting in their general direction, he's finally willing to treat them like human beings and have a conservation with them about why he should do things their way now that he's won the election.

It's either that, or:

For all the attention to President Obama's new campaign of outreach to Republicans, it was four months ago ' on the eve of bipartisan budget talks ' that he secretly invited five of them to the White House for a movie screening with the stars of 'Lincoln,' the film about that president's courtship of Congress to pass a significant measure.

None accepted.

Hmm. And why did none of them accept?

The five Republicans invitees, including Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell, sent regrets; aides cited the lateness of the invitation and the leaders' commitments on Capitol Hill.

The invite wasn't too late, however, for all but one of the five Democrats who were invited. And given the special guests who attended the screening, it's not hard to see why:

Four of the five Democrats who were invited, including both party leaders ' Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and Representative Nancy Pelosi of California ' did make it, joining not only Mr. Obama but the film's director, Steven Spielberg; its screenwriter, Tony Kushner; and the actors Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones and James Spader.

So to put this in perspective, President Obama invited five Republicans to a White House screening of Lincoln attended by Steven Spielberg, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, and James Spader'and not a single one of them accepted his invitation.

Clearly, the big question here is this: How in the world did President Barack Obama become such an asshole that Republicans couldn't even bring themselves to accept an invitation like that?