By Bob Morgan, Jr.

As Congress continues its summer recess, many members, particularly Democratic ones, have been besieged by angry constituents concerning President Obama's health care bill. The protests at town hall and similar meetings have touched off a discussion on the role of debate and civility in American life. Indeed, the two leading Democrats in the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, have written in a USA Today article that the "disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views - but of the facts themselves." They added that "drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades."

Of course, a basic problem with the proposed health care overhaul has been the inability of proponents to convince people who already have insurance that it will make their lives much better. Most people are at least reasonably satisfied with their existing health care and are concerned that a new program will actually make things worse. In addition, there are fears that the new program will be very expensive at a time when the federal deficit is burgeoning. And there is this from a Gallup Organization article summarizing health care polling: "Americans also appear dubious about the benefits of what they perceive to be less-than-fully-informed representatives in Washington rushing into a new healthcare reform law when the need for such legislation is not the highest on the public's agenda."

As this is written, President Obama was preparing to appear himself at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, stressing the advantages in the new proposal of ending restrictions on preexisting conditions and lowering copayments by participants. This is a part of a new White House strategy of playing defense on health care.

But whether the President and his allies manage to move the opinion poll needle in their favor, a little perspective is in order concerning the protests and heated debate on health care.

The charged rhetoric and over the top behavior is not all coming from one side. For example, a recent American Association of Retired Persons television advertisement shows forces opposed to health care overhaul as cars trying to block an ambulance from getting through. That's pretty tough stuff. In addition, the only reported assaults at town hall meeting occurred in Missouri and were allegedly perpetrated by union supporters of the President.

Moreover, protests like those at the town meetings are not new. A strikingly similar event occurred in 1989, when Congress passed the Catastrophic Coverage Act, a measure that imposed a new tax on Medicare beneficiaries. A group of angry elderly citizens chased Congressman Dan Rostenkowsky, a senior Democratic congressman, down the street. The surtax was rather quickly repealed.

Still, while not unprecedented in American political life, drowning out speakers with opposing points of view is a bad thing. Somewhat ironically, Mr. Obama's deputy press secretary, Bob Burton, struck about the right balance this week. Asked about the statements that town hall protesters were un-American, Mr. Burton noted that "there's actually a pretty long tradition of people shouting at politicians in America" and said that a spirited debate about health care is part of the American tradition. But, he added, "If you just want to come to a town hall so that you can disrupt and so that you can scream over another person," that's not productive. As a country, "We've been able to make progress when people actually talk out what our problems are, not try to shout each other down."