Noonan to Dems: Heed 'Mob,' Hold Reform

Americans everywhere are storming town halls to heckle their congressmen over health care, and that shouldn't come as a surprise. “They hired a man to represent them in Washington,” explains Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal. “And all they ask in return is that he see to their interests and not terrify them too much. Expectations are very low. What the protesters are saying is: You are terrifying us.” And the Democratic response has been abhorrent.

Democrats have gone into attack mode, “mocking and menacing concerned citizens.” They’ve called protesters “angry mobs” and “right wing extremists” who are bought off by lobbyists. But people only leave their houses to protest if they’re impassioned. “This is democracy’s great barbaric yawp,” Noonan writes, and while these citizens have gotten out of hand, they deserve respect. Democrats should better argue their case. Or, better still, "they ought to think about backing off" health care reform for now, she concludes: "Discretion is the better part of valor."