"I have no interest in sugarcoating what happened in Massachusetts," said Sen. Robert Menendez, the head of the Senate Democrats' campaign committee. "There is a lot of anxiety in the country right now. Americans are understandably impatient."

No, Senator Menendez, Americans are quite patient; in fact, we wish that Congress had our patience instead of trying to ram through a bill that few have read and fewer understand -- a bill that they will yet try to pass just so they can say they did something about health insurance this whole year.

The results of the Massachusetts race should serve notice on the Democratic Congress that the majority of Americans would rather have no bill today than one so full of faults, pork and glaring omissions. Indeed, we seem to have much more patience for the right legislation than you, seeing what you're trying to foist on us behind closed doors.

Let the lessons of Massachusetts (and New Jersey and Virginia as well) sink in; we'll be glad to be patient in our impatience.

Stan Sirody, Owings Mills

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