2. “It will be good for you to remember it’s not about you.” A health-care disaster has been visited on a significant number of Americans, who have been left understandably anxious, resentful and confused. If you use your time to pound the podium and get in the clips of the local news station back home, many of your constituents, seeing your theatrics, will recognize you to be an unhelpful blowhard out to gain from their pain. The national press will recognize you to be a grandstanding fool. Do you want that?

3. Do not take the bait when Democrats on the panel, who know they have been forced into defending the indefensible or joining a pile-on, try to change the subject. They’ll offer long, meandering (or accusatory and sarcastic) speeches on how Republicans have never wanted to help anyone in trouble and that’s why they’ve always opposed ObamaCare. Don’t engage, don’t start wrestling around with how many supported Social Security and who didn’t. Smile and let it go. You have limited time. Use it to find out what happened, what’s true and where we are.