The Rudeness Expert

Ann Althouse and her husband Mead have been covering the Wisconsin protest rather well...but when they started asking questions, a "rudeness expert" butted in:



From Althouse:

A woman who does not have a Wisconsin accent noses in to tell me I'm "rude" to take pictures.


I say: "Let me ask you a question about 'rudeness.' This is a Veterans Memorial, for people who died in the war. These are all things..."

The rudeness expert interrupts me: "They do things for democracy, which is what we're trying to save right now."
I say: "What would you say to people that are..." And she's turned her back on me and walked away. The rudeness expert.

She had her point and she made it: The memorialized veterans "do things for democracy." That's a poor use of the present tense. They did "things." They died. They fought and they died. But what's important "right now" — according to her — is that the protesters are "trying to save" democracy.

I didn't get to ask follow-up questions, but I think her point was to equate the protesters to the veterans and to make that a justification for piling sleeping bags and all sorts of junk up against the monument. I didn't get to ask how trying to undo the results of the last election is an effort to "save democracy," and, obviously, she wasn't interested in having a conversation with me.

Ms. Althouse has done great work covering this mess in Madison.  If you can afford to do so, please hit her tip jar to help defray the costs she's run up trying to get out the Tea Party message....for that matter hit mine to the right as well!  [while I'm finally back to working full-time, we're still in dire financial straights, every little bit helps.]

H/T Instapundit