Watching crowds of lunatic extremists attempting to shut down any reasonable debate about healthcare by shouting down politicians at town halls and even bringing firearms to protests is reminiscent of the scare tactics that brownshirts used to secure power in pre-WWII Germany, a point that has been made by at least one observer.

It’s worth pointing out that strong-arm and intimidation tactics, though often viewed as acceptable in an “end justifies the means” way,  tend to spiral out of control because of their very nature.  I’m reminded of an old made-for-TV movie, The Wave, about a high school teacher who starts a “youth movement” as a lesson which spirals quickly out of control.  The entire movie can be viewed on YouTube, in two twenty-something minute parts:

The movie, and its novelization, are based on a real-life incident which occurred in California in the 1960s.