"The people want us to work together."
"You bet."
"And get things done."
"You bet."
"That's why I invited you to dinner at the White House this week."
"We can't make it this week."
"I thought you said you could."
"We can't. How about after Thanksgiving?"
"After Thanksgiving is fine. There'll still be plenty to talk about."
"For instance?"
"Well, for one thing -- "
"We're against it."
"How can you be against it?"
"We're totally against it."
"But you haven't heard what it is yet."
"What is it?"
"It's -- "
"We're against it."
"Even though you were for it before?"
"Before is different. We're against it now."
"I might have to fight you on this one."
"We've reconsidered -- maybe we can work with you on this one."
"Excellent! But we don't have much time."
"We need a month."
"I can live with that."
"We need two months."
"I can live with that."
"We need six months."
"But -- "
"And hearings."
"We've already had hearings."
"We need more hearings. We still have questions."
"You didn't have questions before."
"We have questions now."
"And if we answer your questions?"
"We'll have other questions."
"But -- "
"Don't you want us to work with you on this one?"
"Of course."
"Don't you want us to be bipartisan?"
"We'll have more hearings."
"Perfect."
"And we'll answer all your questions."
"Perfect."
"And then we'll have your support?"
"We'll consider it."
"So we'll have wasted all that time for nothing? And you'll still oppose it?"
"We didn't say we'll oppose it. We said we'll consider it."
"For six months."
"Plus the hearings."
"But that could really slow things down."
"We noticed that."
"That could really slow things down a lot."
"Nobody said bipartisanship is fast."
"And in the meantime, I won't be getting anything else done."
"We noticed that."
"Just to try to get a few of you to vote with us."
"Nobody said bipartisanship is easy."
"Just to show we're reaching out."
"What could be more important?"
"Getting things done?"
"Getting things done is overrated. What matters is trying to win our support."
"You've got your hearings."
"Perfect."
"And you've got your six months."
"We need a year."
# # #
Rick Horowitz is a syndicated columnist. You can write to him at rickhoro@execpc.com.