What could be more disturbing than having Congress and President Obama discard single-payer universal health care from consideration? Seeing gun-toting, death-threatening opponents, along with obscenely high lobbying dollars, go unchallenged by most Democrats, Republicans, and good-willed Americans alike.

Something very frightening has been occurring in this country since Barack Obama was elected president. A kind of hysteria has seeped in from the fringes. For example, in Hagerstown, Md., during one of the “town hall meetings” where the health care plan was debated, a man appeared with a sign that read, “Death to Obama,” and “Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids.”

At another health care town hall meeting in Arizona, at least a dozen people were seen outside the hall where President Obama was speaking, openly and shockingly displaying firearms, from an AR-15 assault rifle to 9-millimeter Beretta sidearms.

The news that came out of too many of these town hall meetings was less about a serious effort toward bipartisanship, and more about juvenile schoolyard bullying. And a nation that launched war on Iraq on the pretense of fighting bullies with phantom weapons of mass destruction practically ignored the bullies here who flaunted their weapons.

So ask the Republican leadership, which has thwarted efforts at bipartisanship, along with their radio talk show attack zealots: Will they continue to ignore such threats of violence, or, worse yet, cheer them on? Pretending that these Republican fringes are simply disgruntled citizens concerned about a public health insurance option is as dishonest as the talking points that were peddled at the town hall gatherings.

It’s not the first time in U.S. history we've witnessed such contemptible behavior. Corporate lobbyists often rule the day — and the legislators. And assassination attempts against U.S. presidents are tragically not unique. But the new element in these particular dynamics is race. And for the country, the consequences are potentially much more dire.

Those of us who witnessed first-hand the anger and frustration after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed can’t help but contrast that reaction with what followed the killings of President John Kennedy and his brother, Robert, or the attempt on President Reagan’s life. Regardless of the racial progress since the 1960s, it seems inevitable that a similar attempt against Obama’s life would again lead to a backlash.

Race war in America is possible, some would even say probable.

As caring citizens, let us keep in mind during our discussions that Barack Obama, as a Black man, has ascended to an unprecedented position in the Western world (save for Haiti). Let us remember that the social, political and racial paradigm has shifted, which many justifiably see as the main and real cause for the commotion from the fringes.

In the words of Dr. King:

“We ain’t what we oughta be,

“We ain’t what we wanna be,

“We ain’t what we gonna be,

“But thank God we ain’t what we was.”

This is not to suggest that the way to avoid frightening repercussions is to back down in the face of ugly provocation. Instead, the urgent need is to raise more voices and communicate more strongly the truths of a genuine single-payer system, including who is opposing it and why.

According to the Children’s Defense Fund, an organization that works hard to be a voice for America’s children, “health insurance lobbyists are spending $1.4 million a day to make sure health reform increases their profits.” Others have dubbed the plan an “insurance plan,” rather than a “health plan.”

The president and Congress need to know that if they are more forthright about what they have actually acknowledged are the benefits of single-payer, we will defend and cheer their advocacy.

Even more important, the whole world needs to know that we, as American citizens, will not meekly stand aside and let bullies with bullets, shouters with short tempers, and fear-mongers with lies drive this country toward a race war.

Arthur Conquest and Merelice are Brookline residents who serve on the State Committee of the Green-Rainbow Party, a strong advocate for a single-payer universal health care plan. Conquest is also a Town Meeting member from Precinct 6.