Private citizen

Last night may have been the first time I have been a political event in the last 40 years without a notebook in my pocket.

As a kind of busman's holiday, I went to a forum sponsored by our local congressman, Paul Tonko, on health-care reform held at our town park. This is the kind of forum that has drawn rabid responses around the country.

Ours did not disappoint. A couple of thousand people were there, backing up traffic almost from an intersection near our house to the park, a couple of miles distant.

There were absurd signs ("Get government out of health care'') ridiculous suggestions ("Explain the deficit in terms my ((pre-school)) children can understand'') and lots of nasty yelling and back talk. Tonko managed to both get too bogged down in specifics and too general almost simultaneously, and threw in plenty of jargon as well. But he should certainly earn points for accessibility. One Dem I talked to said there's fear that the issue could hurt the party in local elections this fall.

Overall it was fun and nice not to worry about such details as getting names and quotes and a reliable crowd estimate and hanging around to the end to make sure no real news happened.

It occured to me only for a moment to add my two cents, and point out that one reason medical costs are so high is people like me who place big demands on the system. People get sick, want the best treatment available and want insurance, or somebody else, to pay for it. That urge passed pretty quickly though.

I saw some newsies and a couple of Capitol lobbyists at the event. The consensus was I look good, and shouldn't mourn the 20 pounds I have dropped. But enough is enough.