Sometimes there is a bogeyman. Rhetoric is often served with agenerous dose of fear – especially in this particularly rancorouspolitical climate. And why not? With all due respect (or credit?)to Machiavelli, fear always seems to motivate more effectively thanhope (or change).

Look at the 9/11 truthers, a group of paranoid conspiracy nutsconvinced we either bombed ourselves that horrible day or allowedit to happen in some FDR-esque scheme to go to war against anentire religion. I’m surprised Oliver Stone hasn’t made this filmyet. Or on the other end of the political spectrum, we have theonly-recently debunked birthers, whose ringleader has already movedon to other paperwork, Selective Service cards and the like.

I think they’ve already managed a spin-off of “Osama’s stillalive” conspirators. Maybe he’s having drinks with Elvis and Tupacsomewhere. These high-brow versions of campfire stories have beenaround as long as this great union. And they’ll live on as long aswe have unstable zealots to propagate them. But sometimes we shouldbe afraid. One of the oldest arguments against universal healthcare also happens to be one of the most rational – at leastmathematically speaking. Yeah, I’m talking about rationing.

And, I know, it’s scary stuff. Even before former Gov. MittRomney signed Massachusetts health reform into law, many warned wewould devolve into Canada, where even the simplest procedurerequires more paperwork, approvals and wait times than anythingwe’re used to now. But sometimes prophecies come true. Just afterthe state celebrated its fifth anniversary, the MassachusettsMedical Society released a survey that reveals more than half ofall primary care physicians in the Bay State are no longer takingnew patients. And the wait time to see specialists? Longer thanever.

The state’s average wait time to see an internist last yearhovered at 48 days, while those wanting to see a familypractitioner faced a 36-day wait. By the way, where do you thinkthose patients go? The ones who can’t get a primary care provider?Or the ones who have a family doctor but can’t get in to see heruntil the month after next? They’re heading to that bastion ofefficient and affordable health care: the emergency room.

And we wonder why health care costs continue to spiral out ofcontrol. But that’s just one state. Now imagine that scaryafter-school special played out on the big screen in a summerblockbuster. Sometimes things can get worse.

Denis Storey Editor [email protected]