There's a cancer in our democracy

I did an earlier post about the Left's sudden inability to appreciate that ours is now, and always has been, a winner take all society. In this lucid Thomas Sowell commentary we see where this state of denial leads us. The following material comes from the middle of the article, but I urge you to read the whole thing:

Elections are supposed to be an alternative to other ways of settling political differences, including riots, military coups and dictatorships. But riots have been re-christened 'demonstrations' by the mealy-mouth media. What are these 'demonstrations' demonstrating -- other than adolescent self-indulgence and contempt for the rights of other people to go about their lives without finding their streets clogged with hooligans and the air filled with obscenities? The irony is that many of those who are indulging themselves in these strident orgies are the same people who were telling us to 'get over it' and 'move on' during President Clinton's scandals. Today the liberal MoveOn.org is the last place where people are willing to move on. While this is overwhelmingly a phenomenon of the political left, the increasing acceptance of irresponsible behavior -- including vandalism and violence -- as a normal part of our public discourse says something about what is happening to this country as a whole. Not only is there a growing class of people for whom indignation is a way of life, their sophomoric slogans are taken seriously by people who should know better. Moreover, their disruptions of the lives of ordinary people are accepted as if such things were nothing more than free speech. The media even give rioters free air time in exchange for providing them with a spectacle to broadcast and liven up their news programs. The taxpayers who foot the bill for mob control seldom rate a mention. Neither do the police who get injured trying to keep hoodlums in check. This may be some people's idea of a healthy democracy but it is more of a sign of a spreading sickness in a society too wimpish to insist that law and order matter and too mushy-minded to see that self-indulgence at other people's expense is not idealism.