Courage is a funny thing. It can make people do extraordinary things in the face of overwhelming odds. On a life-or-death scale, it's what carries soldiers into combat. On a "fight the power" scale, it's what inspires a young woman to refuse to yield her seat on the bus. It's what gives some politicians the strength to craft or sign legislation they know will be unpopular and possibly lead to their party's loss of power next election.

What we've been seeing lately seems to be the opposite of courage. There has been an obnoxious vocal (but small) minority trying to scuttle health care reform, and some politicians have been bending in their wind. We've been getting mixed messages from the White House, which can't seem to make up its mind as to whether the Public Option is a deal-breaker or not.

Why are the senators and the White House scared of these people? It seems pretty clear to everyone that they are a small minority, even as the media tries to give them equal footing in the news cycles. Of course, one "news" outfit gives them not just equal footing, but actual support. But even CNN will cover the protesters more than the supporters as if the protesters are more numerous.

Perhaps it's also because the protester group is full of nutjobs. They are the racists, they are the "libertarians" screaming socialism, they are the birthers, the teabaggers, the gun nuts... They are a disparate group of misfits finding common ground under the umbrella of a cause they can all agree on (or - more accurately - disagree with). They claim "Nazism" without really knowing what it means, to the point of screaming "Heil Hitler" at a Jewish man.

Perhaps the scariest trend with the coddling of these miscreants is the proliferation of firearms at the protests. Naturally, any criticism is met with cries of "it's my 2nd amendment right!". But is it? Squeaky Fromme spent 34 years in prison for pointing a gun at President Ford. More recently, people have been arrested for simply being near the president with a loaded gun. Yet nowadays, we actually have House Reps encouraging people to bring guns with them. What the hell??

Are we going to lose the most significant reform to health care in our country's history because a tiny minority is trying to threaten and intimidate us? Are we going to let our future health (and financial health) be ruined by haters that value ideology over pragmatism and take their cues from health insurance industry moles?

Fortunately, some of our politicians are not being intimidated. A sizable chunk of House Reps have thrown down the glove and stated they will not vote for a bill that does not include the public option. Organized labor has stated they will sit out the next election if a bill passes without the public option. Surely the Dems understand how important this is to those that elected them in the first place. They swept Congress and the White House because of voters demanding change, and the voters will be angry if they don't get it.

That's what makes this equivocating so hard to fathom. A strong majority of the American public want this. Only a small vocal scary minority (and their enablers in the media) are against it. Is it too much to expect courage in the face of nothing from our elected representatives?