Tone-Not-Completely-Deaf

How about that?  For one of the few times I can remember, the Barack Obama White House has actually thrown a symbolic bone to liberals, by leaking to the NYT that the president has banned the word "triangulation." 

It's worth noting two things.  First, the story here is that the WH gave this "news" to the NYT; there's no actual substance involved, since whatever they choose to do in the wake of the November election probably has
nothing to do with how they characterize it, and certainly has nothing at all to do with whether they adopt Dick Morris's (self-)advertising slogans. 

Second, I'm not sure if it's good news or bad for liberals if the WH, which has been notoriously unwilling to toss them rhetorical bones, is going to start doing so.  Would it mean that the administration has learned how to avoid pointlessly, and seemingly accidentally, annoying its allies?  (Perhaps learned is the wrong word; perhaps it's just a sign that Rahm Emanuel isn't around any more).  Or would it mean that the administration intends to deliver symbolically because they have no intention of working for substantive gains that liberals will like? 

Granted, I don't want to make too much of one paragraph in a fairly bland story, but I'll be interested to see if this is deliberate and the beginning of a trend.