After a bit of a weekend respite, it's time to plunge back into our nation's health care debate.

Today Speaker Pelosi and House majority leader Steny Hoyer claim in an op-ed that the health care debate must be about facts, but not before claiming that such factual debate is being thwarted by the organized voices of ... well, they are never clear about exactly who is doing the organizing, or the thwarting:

However, it is now evident that an ugly campaign is underway not merely to misrepresent the health insurance reform legislation, but to disrupt public meetings and prevent members of Congress and constituents from conducting a civil dialogue. These tactics have included hanging in effigy one Democratic member of Congress in Maryland and protesters holding a sign displaying a tombstone with the name of another congressman in Texas, where protesters also shouted "Just say no!" drowning out those who wanted to hold a substantive discussion.

Let the facts be heard

These disruptions are occurring because opponents are afraid not just of differing views — but of the facts themselves. Drowning out opposing views is simply un-American. Drowning out the facts is how we failed at this task for decades.

Health care is complex. It touches every American life. It drives our economy. People must be allowed to learn the facts.

The first fact is that health insurance reform will mean more patient choice. It will allow every American who likes his or her current plan to keep it. And it will free doctors and patients to make the health decisions that make the most sense, not the most profits for insurance companies.

Reform will mean stability and peace of mind for the middle class. Never again will medical bills drive Americans into bankruptcy; never again will Americans be in danger of losing coverage if they lose their jobs or if they become sick; never again will insurance companies be allowed to deny patients coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

That's quite a laundry list of promises.

Of course, when constituents try to have reasonable debates with their representatives about such promises and "facts", they are more likely to get this sort of distemperate response.

Speaker Pelosi and those of her party who have claimed these town hall debates are insincere and staged by 3rd-party interests ought to bear a great part of the blame for their continued unrest. Those who have made this claim are, after all, poisoning the well of common discourse by claiming their disagreement is not about facts, but about politics or partisanship.

For a lighter take on these issues, see Mark Steyn's clever piece "The Community is Restless."