It had all the trappings of a revival meeting. It wasn't, of course, for the subject matter had nothing to do with the Lord's work. It was, instead, a calling up of the faithful to recommit to the power of workers' compensation reform. It had a certain evangelical fervor to it, it required those in attendance to sing the praises of what the Governor has done, and at the appropriate time I fully expected the assembled business leaders to shout "Hallelujah!" when exhorted by the white-suit-clad minister from the Chamber of Commerce.

Unfortunately (I think) I was shown the door before that moment arrived.

It began with the praises of the permanent disability rating schedule, apparently sent down to us from Mt. Whitney.

"Amen!" shouted the business leaders.

"Uh, excuse me," I meekly interjected, because in the presence of such zeal I knew I needed to be respectful.

"But isn't the RAND report based on evaluations under the old schedule?"

"Yes!" said the minister.

"And isn't the old schedule based on evaluating PD differently than under the AMA Guides?"

"Yes!" said the minister.

"So doesn't that mean that we ought to get some new data before we do the new final schedule?"

At that point, the assembled faithful nodded appreciatively, understanding perhaps that some more work needed to be done to fine- tune the embryonic rating schedule.

"No!" thundered the minister.

Suddenly the room got very dark, as though a menacing presence was emerging from the big-screen monitors alongside the zealots on stage. The screens flickered and his image appeared.

The minister spoke:

"The Governor can't be with us tonight, but he wanted to deliver this message. Hear the word of the Governor."

The unmistakable voice appeared, clad in what seemed to be a yellow suit and tie, with the great seal of the State of California behind him. He extolled the virtues of the workers' compensation reform and how it would make California great again. He thanked all the businesses whose hard work made this all possible. Then the screen went black.

There was a certain serene look on the faces of the business leaders, a somewhat disturbingly serene look, from my perspective.

"Do you believe?!" the minister shouted.

"Yes!" the business people replied.

"Do you support reform?!" the minister yelled.

"Yes!" the business people responded – somewhat louder than before.

"Uh, can I ask a question?"

There being no reply, I figured I might as well go ahead.

"Can you explain to us why the medical provider network regulations does not allow CIGA – the Guarantee Fund – to apply for an MPN, but the DWC's draft utilization review guidelines state that non-physicians can deny treatment, which seems to be totally contrary to the law?"

Once again, the business leaders nodded in what seemed to be agreement.

"Do you support the reforms?!" the minister intoned.

"Yes!" shouted the business people.

"Then do you support the Administrative Director and all she does."

"Or are you falling victim to the dark side."

A hush fell over the crowd. I suddenly felt that all eyes were looking at me.

"Well," I replied, "Does falling victim to the 'dark side' mean we have to agree with regulations that give the voc-rehab providers a piece of the supplement job displacement benefit? Or that staffing agencies effectively get PD increases because the regulations don't clarify how they make a return to work offer? Does that mean.."

"Silence!"

I think I was beginning to wear out my welcome.

"You either support reform or you don't. You either support the AD or you don't. You either support him or you don't. It is that simple."

The crowd murmured.

"Well." One intrepid business person then stood. "We support reform, and the AD, and him. But some of this stuff really should be worked out sooner rather than later."

A spotlight descended on him.

The minister spoke:

"Enough!"

With that two young people went to the businessman and gently escorted him out of the room.

"Children, listen to me!" the minister intoned. "This is what happens when you talk to those who oppose reform. Questions are bad. Remember, those who seek more data seek to undermine the reforms. We must not let our enemies succeed."

"Children?" A businesswoman stood.

This was going to get ugly.

"Listen, sonny, you're playing high-stakes poker with my money and you won't even let us see the cards. Now we want some answers and we want them now!"

The spotlight shone down on her. The two young people came. She was escorted out of the room.

"Any other questions?" At this point the minister was annoyingly smug.

Oh, what the hell.

"Excuse me. But any word on an appointment to the Appeals Board, or the Court Administrator?"

Suddenly I was bathed in light.

As two young people came to me, I raised my hand.

"Don't worry, I know the way out."

Then I looked at the minister and smiled.

"The question is, do you?"