Time for a Deep Breath

I love a good protest, and love to see folks engaging in the public sphere. But reading the stories and watching some of the footage of last night's ruckus at Rep. Russ Carnahan's meeting, I think it's pretty safe to say that a vocal, organized minority is intent on going down a destructive path.

It's too bad that this small group of folks is so uninterested in a reasoned debate. It's also too bad that much of their anger is based on bad information. This isn't surprising, of course, given the stream of bad info we've been receiving from elected and party leaders.

Conservative leaders seem a little too willing to play into this hysteria. Last night, the spokesman for the Missouri GOP actively inflamed the situation by publicly suggesting that the sign-in sheet at last night's event might be for an Obama "enemies list." And this morning, Carl Bearden of Americans for Prosperity is still promoting the views of Bill Hennessy, the Tea Party organizer who unapologetically asserts that "Barack Obama wants to turn everyone into a Nazi snitch."

It's time for a deep breath, and time for the leaders who organize and encourage these protests to ratchet things back a bit -- before they really get out of hand.

Image credit: ArchPundit