What’s going on right now is simply great. The President’s summit is a great antidote for all the nasty, unfair rhetoric that plays out daily on cable and, in bites, in the news reports. Watch some of it. And remember this is not “them” talking to each other, this is us. (Below.)

UPDATE: 10:10AM PST — The summit’s on its lunch break. I’ve been surfing around on Twitter and Facebook while watching. You can catch up on your favorite news site, like the Washington Times or the New York Times. The arguments and statements flowed constantly on the social streams. I feel stronger than ever that the people who just toss snarky, partisan comments into the fire are not helping. I’m happy to report I see lots of people calling for common sense and open minds. The White House feed went down — digital media works about two thirds of the time. But I think — I hope — this exercise is working.

UPDATE 1:55PM — The session’s about wrapped up. I sincerely hope we’ve moved a few baby steps toward getting Republicans and Democrats moving together toward getting a bill passed. Not starting from scratch. I don’t see why the parties can’t finish up healthcare reform now, working together.

AFTERTHOUGHTS — 5:30PM — I try to suspend cynicism. Looking back at what I wrote earlier, I see my wishful thinking. I don’t think I’m wrong to be an optimist. At the same time, I can’t say I’m satisfied with the President’s meeting. I’ll continue to hope. But somebody on NPR just confirmed that this didn’t look like a legislative negotiation, and she’s seen a lot of them. It looked like what happens when you put a legislative negotiation on TV. Everybody retreats to their talking points. I reserve the right to be an older but wiser optimist. Maybe the President was building a case for passing healthcare reform with Democrat votes only. Not the best outcome, but, under the circumstances, not a tragedy, either.