we are. >> i don't disagree with both of you. i think dee raises a great point. the way, quite frankly, the pentagon, spending cuts dealt with the pentagon, nobody in their right mind would think that's the best way to do this. at the same time i look at the landscape and think to myself, in order to get some relief from all of this, democrat and republican, you've got to have people that sit at the table and are willing to put in a little on each side noed to lessen the overall sequestration burden. my question is just this whole exercise is not made sitting at that table any easier. in fact, it's probably elevated, the choruses on both sides, the hard base chorus on each side which ultimately will make it harder to find that solution in the center from both sides. >> a constructive role here and come in and try to ease that path by bringing democrats along to that place. >> absolutely. i think that's probably the role he has to play.