I never thought the beer riots equated to the Vietnam War protests. Or Tianenmen Square. But the rioters wasted no time making the comparison when they whined to the media the next day.

We have a group of about a hundred people who live in our city who never pass up a chance to protest. It's always the same folks, with minor variations. A core of them are extremely violent, and use their environmental jingoism to rationalize their destructive behavior. This philosophy naturally puts them at odds with the police. I believe they would like nothing better than to generate a Kent State style tragedy here or in Seattle, or wherever they can. But they will do it from the back of the crowd.

I come to these protests because I have to. I'm there to protect the right to protest, and at the same time try to keep the zealots from getting out of hand. In my opinion the nihilists among them have the constitutional right to protest, but based on another respected authority, they "don't have the right to do it."