Gee, nothing loaded in this one, right?

Obama's health care summit: Just for show?

Honestly, can GOP talking points appear more transparently in the form of an AP headline?

Keep in mind there is no reporting within the article to substantiate the sneering premise; that the White House has invited Republicans to a health care summit simply for theatrics, and that the White House has absolutely no intention of trying to accomplish anything.

Make no mistake, that is the GOP spin about the summit, but should the AP really be in the business of treating spin as fact?

Meanwhile, get a load of the this piece of priceless AP analysis [emphasis added]:

Still, there are a couple of issues on which Obama could try to nudge both sides.

He could officially bury the government insurance plan sought by liberals. A major obstacle for Republicans, the public option never had the votes to pass in the Senate. Yet Obama has hesitated to declare it dead.

The president could also follow through with curbs on medical malpractice litigation. Although he agrees with Republicans that fear of lawsuits leads doctors to practice defensive medicine and drives up costs, Obama has not insisted that limits on litigation be in the bill.

Any step toward limits — fiercely opposed by the nation's trial lawyers — is certain to draw solid Democratic resistance in a midtern election year. It's unclear how much such a gesture by Obama would help at this point.

Is this a joke? The AP sets out to explain ways that Obama could nudge “both sides” towards a health compromise. But then the AP only mentions initiatives that Republicans favor.

Or maybe that's the Beltway's media's new definition of bipartisanship -- doing whatever Republcians want.

UPDATED: Behold the Obama bipartisan trap. For a year, the Beltway press has been blaming Democrats (and Dems only) for the fact that Republicans oppose virtually every White House initiative. Now, when Obama overtly reaches out to the other side for a bipartisan summit, the AP suggests it's “just for show.”