LIBERALS HAVE become lazy when thinking about the mob. They have celebrated "people power" when it threatens regimes they disapprove of, in the Middle East, say, while turning a blind eye to the excesses of protesters who they deem to be on the right side of history-in Portland, Oregon, for example. In August 2020 a mainstream publisher, Public Affairs, produced "In Defence of Looting: A Riotous History of Uncivil Action" by Vicky Osterweil. The invasion of America's Capitol by mobs of President Donald Trump's supporters on January 6th was a reminder of the danger of playing with fire. It is naive to assume that mobs will be confined to the "nice" side of the political spectrum; the left-wing kind by their nature generate the right-wing sort. It is doubly naive to expect that mobs will set limits; it is in their nature to run out of control.
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