Tea Party Politeness

Comments like this:

Fresno had over 7,500 attend the most polite protest I have ever witnessed.

are both a blessing and a curse, really.
You see readers email Glenn Reynolds saying this all the time about protests all across the country: People are so nice, so polite, everyone was very cool, everyone was so calm, no one got violent, smiles were all over the place.
That's neat, and all, I really am glad people can behave like adults.

But this is a protest. This is a protest movement, or at least some would like it to be. Someone needs to get angry and show it. Someone needs to shout something at a cop and get the ball rolling. Politely asking Congress "if you please would you mind not raising taxes? And could you pretty please impeach Mr. Obama?" is kind of like standing in front of a beehive and saying "Bees, would you please let me have your honey? I won't stick my hand in there, honest, but I'd like that honey so I need you to bring the honey out to me."

Of course, I don't condone violence, or riots. But I do believe that a protest movement, if it wants to be effective, needs to have some bullhorns, and the occasional arrest. If you look at the length of American history you see radical change coming not from petitions and sit-ins, but from arrests, angry protesters, and from government taking action when the protest is on the verge of becoming an uprising.

Of course, you have to actually be focused on an issue in order to effectively protest it. People at the Tea Parties really don't have a unifying cause. They are all just sort of there with their own pet complain against liberal government.

I guess I'd really like to turn on CNN and see someone chain themselves to Obama's front steps in Chicago.


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