View From a Height

Crushing of Dissent

Protesters at the Social Security Preso. There have been complaints that a couple of people who wanted to make a disturbance were escorted out. Too bad. If their purpose was to protest, there was plenty of room outside where they would have been guaranteed an audience and cameras. If their purpose was simply to embarass the President and disrupt the event, they deserved to be shown the door.

In fact, there was a small smattering of protestors outside. All the Reactionaries were able to muster was about 10 people in a couple of small groups. One of them, called "Billionaires for Bush," sporting faux furs (they had better have been faux) and real tophats, carried signs saying "Privatize Everything." As they walked by, I called out cheerfully, "Now, that's a policy I could get behind." One of them, who was into the spirit of things, laughed. Five of them didn't.

The other myth is that the crowd uniformly supported the President's proposals. They didn't. They may have been friendly Republicans, willing to be convinced, but that doesn't mean they walked in or walked out spouting talking points. My b-school friend, Kevin, is still sitting on the fence. People around me in line were expecting a substantive proposal, although they did want it to be civilized. Most of them were probably sympathetic, but not necessarily sold.

Columnists who want to turn us into the PRC are just blowing smoke.