The national reality show that is our national political stage plays on several cable news shows and network news and newsmagazines. There was a great plot twist–and the deepening of a main character’s character–that went largely overlooked last week, which I thought was as dramatic as it was inspiring. Imagine a moment when Democrats applauded enthusiastically in unison for the speaker at their retreat… President Bush!

“You know, I welcome debate in a time of war and I hope you know that,” he said, going on to say that disagreeing with him doesn’t mean that “you don’t share the same sense of patriotism I do.”

“You can get that thought out of your mind, if that’s what some believe,” the president said. “These are tough times, but there’s no doubt in my mind that you want to secure this homeland as much as I do.”

I wish this kind of thing would’ve gotten more of a mention. I wish Leno and Letterman would have been joking about it, as well as Conan, Carson, and the rest. A trickle effect may even have contributed to lifting the spirits of a nation, known to itself as a divided one, with the gap between Red and Blue getting wider. The rhetoric and vitriol in Washington is portrayed so combatively that networks (Fox on the right and CNN on the left) have largely become known as political machines in and of themselves. It sounds like the president and the Democrats are taking steps in the right direction. I hope the networks take notice!

Regardless of one’s politics, this was good entertainment, and the fact that it went largely overlooked is either a grave oversight or a signal to all of us that we don’t get to watch all of the parts of this dram. This is one show where something is more important than just reporting the news and letting us choose what we think about it.