RESTRAIN THIS JOURNALIST, IMMEDIATELY - AT 7:02 A.M. ET:  The AP is off to a borderline-hysterical start this week, going way over the top in discussing Mr. Obama's health-care plans:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Embarking on arguably his most complex political fight yet, President Barack Obama is using skills honed during his presidential campaign and lessons learned from past failures to try to overhaul the health care system.

It's a feat none before him has achieved. As such, it would pay monumental dividends for a popular new president looking for history-making accomplishments ahead of his likely 2012 re-election campaign.

''Nothing is harder in politics than doing something now that costs money in order to gain benefits 20 years from now,'' Obama acknowledged last week.

That's exactly what he's trying as he seeks to ensure health care for everyone in a country with the world's costliest system and an estimated 48 million uninsured people.

COMMENT:  Oh, the hero.  Oh, the godlike figure.  Oh, the messianic creature sent to us by a higher power to right our sins.  Can we be luckier?

Hey, guys, calm down.  The first journalistic question is this:  Does the health-care system actually need overhauling? 

Why is this question not being asked?  Maybe what's needed are some fixes rather than an overhaul.  And maybe it's not the health-care system we should focus on, but the health-insurance system.  And maybe, just maybe, we should fight to minimize government involvement, rather than maximize it. 

March 9, 2009