Remember those great bumper strips that Iraq war critics wore on their cars, right next to their "Obama '08" stickers?
If dissent was patriotic then, why is it not now?
Bill Clinton warns against violence in the Tea Party movement, though there hasn't been any. Yes, you will find cranks in at least the fringe of any movement and there is no doubt that incendiary rhetoric can unhinge some already unstable minds--left or right. It is worth while being on guard about that.
But as for actual violence, the most outrageous example so far is the little noticed protest that took place outside a Southern Republican Leadership Conference fundraiser in New Orleans. It sent two GOP attendees to the hospital with serious injuries (broken leg, broken jaw, etc.).
You have to hunt to find out that the perpetrators were likely the demonstrators. The streets surrounding Brennan's, the famous French Quarter restaurant, are not inherently dangerous.
Photos show that most demonstrators looked civil, but some others reminded one of the folk who nine years violently disrupted the WTO in Seattle, breaking windows and hurling trash at police. If mayhem was not contemplated, why (as in Seattle) wear the face masks?
Meanwhile, the question for serious people--those of good will on all sides--is whether the message the Tea Party people are trying to convey has merit. The message (in case you missed it in lavish media discussions of the Tea Parties' demographic make-up) is that spending is out of control. (IT IS.) And that taxes are going up. (THEY ARE, not this year, perhaps, but next and especially in 2012.)
Hand wringing about the Tea Party people is at best a stylistic distraction from the important issues they are raising.
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