'Start over'

I have my small desk-side TV tuned to CNN as I answer e-mails and manage some website issues this morning. The network is airing live coverage of a health-care "summit" convened by Pres. Obama.

Over an hour into this dog-and-pony show, it's what I'd expect from a bunch of federal elected officials. It's been a predictable exchange of talking points, with one notable exception -- the President himself.

He began by trying to set a tone of collaboration and compromise, encouraging participants to discuss substantive issues and to seek whatever common ground may exist. Because he was addressing a bunch of Congressional leaders -- read, "entrenched ideologues" -- that didn't happen, of course.

Majority-drunk Democrats want to jam an existing bill through the legislative sausage-grinder. Republicans, dragging their obstructive feet all the way to November, want to "start over."

Both have the right idea. They just don't know it.

Specific to health-care reform, finally the ball is rolling. There's no longer a clean slate, no fresh sheet of paper. In that sense, I back Democrats' wish to press forward rather than retreat -- no, not the typically stubborn defense of legislation now on the table, but rather an atypically honest effort to engage in constructive conversation.

I also agree with GOP leaders that it's not too late to "start over." By their definition, that means purging the legislative system of the Dems' proposals. By mine, it means dropping the "loyal opposition" act and doing precisely what the President suggested at the summit's outset -- climbing out of their partisan trench and conducting themselves as if they're truly interested in accomplishing something for The People.

Neither side will make my wish come true -- I know that. But hey, a guy can dream, can't he?