In case you haven’t heard, there’s been a bit of a kerfluffle in Washington D.C. over this healthcare business. President Obama is proposing a healthcare plan that will, in his words “provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance,” and “provide insurance to those who don’t.” This reporter will not endorse or condemn this plan. However, there are some people who feel so strongly about health care that they go to extremes to make their displeasure heard.

Some choose completely juvenile approaches to their protests, even if they are old enough to know much better. And by “some people” I mean Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina. His previous claim to fame was his insistence that “the Confederate heritage is very honorable.” To turn the spotlight back on himself, on Septermber 9 the Republican Congressman shouted “You lie!” during Obama’s address to Congress in which he outlined his healthcare reform proposal. Wilson’s outburst came when president said that his healthcare plan would not subsidize benefits for illegal immigrants. The congressman later apologized to Obama in a statement to the press, but refused to give a formal apology on the House floor when requested by House Democrats.

If you’re looking for another way to bring any semi-civilized argument to a screeching, grinding halt, look no further than the “You’re a Nazi!” attack. Does your position make any sense? Doesn’t matter! The other guy’s a Nazi! This is the tactic preferred by the LaRouche movement, which likens Obama’s healthcare plan to Hitler’s Action T4 program. Their leader, Lyndon LaRouche, has been arrested for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, insisted in the 1980s that Queen Elizabeth was a cocaine smuggler, and, finally, believed at the height of the AIDS scare that those infected should be publicly identified and then quarantined.

LaRouche has said he supports a single-payer health care policy, under which insurance companies would be eliminated and the government would take over national insurance. This plan is in contrast to President’s Obama’s public option plan, which would allow people to stay with their current insurance provider.

While some believe the problem with Obama’s plan is the involvement of insurance companies, LaRouche and his followers are protesting the aspect of the plan often referred to as “rationing.” This means that a government-based healthcare system would cut costs by limiting the number of unnecessary procedures using previously determined guidelines. In LaRouche’s eyes, this makes Obama’s policy equivalent to Hitler’s policy of systematic extermination of people he didn’t like. Back in May, he wrote in a pamphlet that “citizens must quickly and suddenly change the behavior of this president… for no lesser reason than that your sister might not end up in somebody’s gas oven.” You decide whether or not this man is sane.

Speaking of hated political movements: it is quite the fashion in America of late to smear an opponent by accusing them of being communists or socialists (Can you say McCarthyism?). These accusations by themselves are questionable, since political mudslingers usually don’t have high standards for factual accuracy.

Then there are the independent anti-healthcare reform protestors. These are people who seem to be confused — they can’t decide which insult is best, so they go with all of them. From this confusion comes signs calling Obama a “Nazi socialist fascist,” and declaring that he will appoint “Socialist czars” to positions of power in healthcare. You know, czars who apparently practice the same type of government that overthrew them. These people may not know what they’re talking about, but they sure are angry about it.

Here’s a fun fact: In early September, a 65-year-old anti-healthcare reform protestor had his finger bitten off during a confrontation at a healthcare rally in Los Angeles. His medical expenses? Covered by Medicare, a government program that partially pays for medical treatment of senior citizens.

Whether their arguments are coherent or not, there is one basic emotion driving all of these protestors; fear. Fear of dying, fear of illness, a genuine fear of czars, or anything else that you could imagine. This fear drives them to protest, and in the process, they forget to think about anyone but themselves.

“When people are afraid they won’t get the healthcare they need, they forget about the needs of others,” says Dr. Janelle Walhout, who works in clinics with patients who cannot afford insurance

This fear is what’s affecting the United States right now, as voters and policymakers stubbornly refuse to consider options that will benefit those in need, just because they believe it will lessen their own healthcare coverage. The right single-payer plan could help by paying for medical coverage with money saved by eliminating insurance companies and reducing paperwork, yet those in power will not vote for such a plan.

“It’s just fear driving it,” says Walhout. “If they take a step back they will see that justice needs to occur.”