Check out this video of protesters disrupting a town hall meeting with Rep. Kathy Castor on Healthcare reform.
Now, I won't confess to an opinion on the pros and cons of a single payer healthcare system. Obviously, in a perfect world, every citizen of a civilized nation should be entitled to healthcare. But, As anyone with eyesight and/or hearing will tell you, this is not a perfect world.
No, its not the view that concerns me , it's the method. Bear with me...
In 1930's Germany, a large number of political ideologies found root in a society searching for a political, post-war identity. Communists, Socialists, Democratic Liberals, etc. would gather together in a club-like setting to discuss their idea of what Germany should be. One such political group, the National Socialists, weren't content with simply getting together and chatting. They decided to take it one step further. They decided that the best way to get their point across was to go around disrupting the meetings of other political groups. I don't mean disrupt like "excuse me, but we are here to join in a debate," I mean disrupt like yelling and shouting and screaming. Eventually this yelling and carrying on evolved into something a bit more violent, and we all know how that ended up.
Now, I am not implying that these protesters are either Nazis or violent. What I am saying is that as I watch these protests, I am reminded of the above-mentioned history. Is it unfair to say that attempting to suppress an opposing opinion by attempting to disrupt an organized gathering by chanting and screaming is a little bit fascist? Will this debate be decided by who yells the loudest? Scary.
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