I can’t help but cheer some comments Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) made on Tuesday. In his brash way of speaking, he summed up my sentiments exactly.

On Tuesday during a town-hall meeting in his state, Frank got a little hot under the collar and snapped at a protester. It happened when she approached the podium to ask a question. She was carrying a poster depicting President Obama as Hitler.

“On what planet do you spend most of your time?” Frank asked the woman, according to an Associated Press story on the exchange.

“Ma’am, trying to have a conversation with you would be like trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it,” Frank replied when she asked why he would support a Nazi policy.

He continued by saying her ability to deface an image of the president and express her views “is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated,” AP reported.

I couldn’t agree more. To say things have gotten way out of hand during these town-hall meetings about healthcare reform is an understatement. There is nothing wrong with disagreement or dissension, but the way some people have reacted, such as comparing Obama to Hitler, a mass murderer, is sickening.

There are other incidents I find appalling. Carrying loaded guns to events where the president is speaking is the most obvious one. Yes, I am well aware it is people’s constitutional right to bear arms, but why do they feel the need to tote them to a presidential event? Why would anyone want to create such an atmosphere of fear? Just imagine what would have happened if people acted this way after 9/11.

Not only do I find this behavior frightening and unnecessary, I find it disgraceful. It demonstrates the utmost lack of courtesy to the president of the United States. No president, whether he is liberal or conservative, merits this treatment.

These actions to me speak volumes about our current lack or loss, perhaps, of civility in this country.

We may not agree with Obama, but the least we can do is show him the respect that he is worthy of as president. But apparently, to some people, values like courtesy and civility don’t mean much anymore.