Government refused to come up with a national healthcare system that would have made it easier for American companies to compete globally.

This needs to be said again, and again, and again, until someone listens.

You don't do national healthcare because it's nicer to sick people who need help (although it is).

You don't do national healthcare because it's nicer to poor people who need help (although it is).

You do national healthcare because, purely and simply, it's the most efficient way to spend your money.

That's right. Good old uninsured America! The government must be saving a bundle right? Wrong. The American government spends more per person on healthcare than any of the 36 countries whose national healthcare systems give their citizens better health outcomes than the US.

Get this through your skull: your tax bill is higher because there is no national healthcare.

You do national healthcare because it's cheaper that way.

You do national healthcare because a healthier population is a more productive and efficient population.

Considering that each and every one of your "questions" (accusations would be a more accurate word) was asked by the moderator after Ahmadinejad spoke, what exactly did you gain by shouting them out at the beginning, Bollinger, besides a bunch of column inches?

All the time you wasted could have been more productively used by the moderator in pushing for more specific answers from Ahmadinejad to the questions you claim you wanted answers to.

What a waste for a cheap shot! A great opportunity before a live audience to pin him down, and you individually squander it.

So instead of answering direct questions, Ahmadinejad rattles on about hospitality and the pursuit of truth.

Heckuva job, Bolly.

I know you've spoken about this before, Patrick, but I think it bears repeating in the wake of the Thailand crash: passenger reports of "what happened" after any flight (routine or not) are rarely, if ever, accurate.

Passengers can say things like "45 degrees" and "really bumpy" and "too fast" and mean "15 degrees", "perfectly routine", and "very slow".

Imagine the news media quoting a non-qualified observer at a routine medical operation: "There was a LOT of blood, and the doctor seemed really hesitant and nervous..." Meaning there was a perfectly normal "amount" of blood, and the doctor's incision was accurate and careful.

In this case, the fatal crash seems to bear out the wildest of passenger fantasy, but I think we only hamper our ability to learn what "really happened" if we take any of those reports seriously.

The two things you can't back away from are: yes, you did say those things; and yes, you did mean them.

Your mistake. Now own it.

You boss is obviously big enough (or experienced enough) to have done this herself (heck, who hasn't!?) and has responded with an explanation rather than a shriek-fest. So far, so good.

You'll bring it up again at this meeting -- how can you not -- and she'll say one of three things: (1) despite my explanation on the phone we can no longer work together; (2) let's never mention it again; or (3) "go on...".

The first is tough, but that's her option, and you'll have to live with it. The second is dangerous, but don't push because the most likely internal monologue for her probably goes "everyone gets mad occasionally, and that needs to be forgiven, it's over and done". That isn't a win, it's more like a draw, and you can live with it.

It's the third option that's tough. As I said above, and as Cary describes in different words, owning your mistake is the best option. Perhaps something like the following:

"I feel just awful about you seeing that as it was an unedited whine to my husband, and not even particularly coherent. And I want to thank you for your lucid response, which I respect and appreciate greatly. Although I never would have wished to bring it up in that way, you immediately saw through my whine to the issue behind it, and I think that places us actually in a better position than before. I am certainly not "glad it happened" -- but now that it has, I can own my mistake, and I hope we can go on because I like so many things about working for you. If issues come up in future, I know that I can come to you directly."

Only a person you don't want to work for would reject the honesty of that.