The Protests Will Keep Going On

Here's a little tidbit from an Arlen Specter town hall meeting.

When I watched this, I wondered if the angry man yelling at the senator had ever done this before. I doubted it. Under ordinary (or should I say, "previous") circumstances, this guy would be making a birdhouse with his grandson in his garage. As the government grows and people like Senator Specter gain a larger and larger role in our lives, the value of yelling at them rises.

If the government contented itself with doing what it did in, say, 1985 well and with thrift and efficiency, there'd be no reason to put down your tools (or your TV remote) and run off to a town hall meeting to scream at the local politicians.

The yelling and screaming won't stop if the Republicans win back the House or Senate, either. So long as the government is seen as a solution to our problems, the yelling and confrontations and protests will continue. It's the size and scope of the thing that drives protests, not the people in power.