I don’t get why some people seem to burn with hate for the OWS folks.

Really? I don’t agree with large swaths of TEA party activism, but I don’t think they are wrong to have a set of values and act on them in a show of political dissent. That’s what political dissent is for. I think whining about taxes in the US is silly. But, hey, if it’s bothering you, you should feel free to say something and to make yourself heard.

Twenty years ago, it was possible to demonstrate your dissent by putting together a furious book, and you’d get attention out of it; 10 years ago you could have a furious blog, and it might get you some attention. But now your voice will be drowned out easily.

Is it really all that wrong to be worried about things like the costs of the bailouts, or underwater homeowners, the spiraling costs and growing inequalities in medical care (have you been to a doctor lately? I’d rather been seen my dogs’ vet! He seems to give a crap, at least, which is more than I can say about any doctor I’ve seen in the past 5 years); the growing burden of tuition, etc?

Is it really that wrong to camp out for a bit? Sure, it raised some municipal cleanup costs, but so do a bunch of other things, like parades and streets fairs, and nobody asks me if I want to pay for those.

I don’t think so. I think the bottom line is that democrats will a small d in the US have become so strident, and that toleration in the Locke sense of the word has become so thin, that people hate the public voice/presence of anybody who doesn’t hold their values.