You start wearing blue and brown

Let fury have the hour
Anger can be power
Do you know that you can use it?

-- "Clampdown," the Clash

You wonder how it could get worse in Madison, but there's evidence that it is. I linked to this video last night and Allahpundit at HotAir does a nice job setting the stage. It's long (about 12 minutes), but you need to watch it. In the video, a group of people doing God's work accost and chase Sen. Glenn Grothman, one of the evil, hateful, baleful, jackass Republicans who have earned the righteous wrath of the people by choosing to turn on the house lights at closing time. Eventually, at about the 2:50 mark, a Democratic state assemblyman, Brett Hulsey, intervenes. He vouches for Grothman, calling him his friend. And while it takes rather a long time for the crowd to calm down, eventually they do, a little.

You can give Hulsey some credit for at least preventing something very bad from happening, but he still can't resist taking a shot at Walker, suggesting to the mob that they ought to be mad at Walker, not the gentleman they've cornered.

Also, at about the 7 minute mark, a woman helpfully reminds the crowd that "cameras are rolling." And indeed they were.

What conclusions can we draw from this sort of thing? I can think of a few. First, whatever residual sympathy I might have had for the protesters and their political pets is now gone. There's no justification for mob action. I have heard and read dozens of calls for "negotiation" from these folks. Who negotiates with a mob?

A question for Hulsey -- would it have been okay for the mob to chase and converge upon Scott Walker, since he's the one who's "responsible?"

If you think the protesters are on the side of the angels, there would be no reason to fear that "cameras are rolling," now would there? The folks who chased Grothman know the difference between right and wrong. But they don't really give a damn about it, now do they?

I hope I'm wrong, but I think the Altamont Speedway moment is coming.