The new normal is for left-wing extremists to demonstrate their commitment to the cause by shouting at people on the right as they go about their private lives. Saturday, a group of Democratic Socialists followed Mitch McConnell out of a Louisville restaurant while chanting “Vote you out!” One member of the group added, “We know where you live too, Mitch.” That sounds like an implied threat. But as McConnell’s car pulled away, someone behind the camera says, “We did good, fellow citizens.” And I guess by the left’s current standards, they did.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1glX6qHq-8

This is the second time McConnell has been confronted by protesters in two weeks. Meanwhile, another protester confronted former adviser Steve Bannon in a Virginia bookstore on Saturday. From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Nick Cooke, owner of Black Swan Books on West Main Street in the Fan District, said Bannon was in the bookstore Saturday afternoon and that a woman confronted him, calling him a “piece of trash.”…

“Steve Bannon was simply standing, looking at books, minding his own business. I asked her to leave, and she wouldn’t. And I said, ‘I’m going to call the police if you don’t,’ and I went to call the police and she left,” Cooke said. “And that’s the end of the story.”…

“We are a bookshop. Bookshops are all about ideas and tolerating different opinions and not about verbally assaulting somebody, which is what was happening,” Cooke said.

The bookstore owner sounds pretty reasonable so, naturally, progressives want him punished. Hillary Clinton adviser Philippe Reines posted the store’s contact information on Twitter:

A woman saw Steve Bannon in a VA book store. She took the opportunity to call him a “piece of trash.”

Nick Cooke, the owner of Black Swan Books, called the police.

Black Swan Books
2601 West Main St
Richmond VA 23220
804.353.9476
[email protected]https://t.co/uFqN8KZNhy

— Philippe Reines (@PhilippeReines) July 8, 2018

He then got very defensive when he was asked about it:

The Daily Caller “produces sensational headlines, has a Right Wing bias in reporting, and has made false claims according to Snopes & Politifact” has a creepy preoccupation w/me.

They asked about my Black Swan Tweet. In case they censor me, here’s the entirety of my reply. pic.twitter.com/vbbKZdrgfw

— Philippe Reines (@PhilippeReines) July 8, 2018

Reines even played the Hitler card, which is always a sign of a solid argument:

You don’t know my intent.

I don’t know her intent.

Who can really know Hitler’s intent?

— Philippe Reines (@PhilippeReines) July 8, 2018

The Washington Post has a story today highlighting the number of times this has happened recently, including this incident involving White House adviser Stephen Miller:

One night, after Miller ordered $80 of takeout sushi from a restaurant near his apartment, a bartender followed him into the street and shouted, “Stephen!” When Miller turned around, the bartender raised both middle fingers and cursed at him, according to an account Miller has shared with White House colleagues.

Outraged, Miller threw the sushi away, he later told his colleagues.

The Post doesn’t offer much in the way of condemnation. As for precedent, it does cite protesters showing up at Karl Rove’s home during the Bush administration. In other words, the last time the left got upset with a Republican president. The only note of concern about this comes from a Republican:

Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican who spent 13 years in Congress, said Washington has always been a hotbed of dissent. What has changed, he said, is that aggressive tactics “are becoming more normalized.”

“We’re in a situation where bad behavior is being rewarded,” he said. “There are no filters. I don’t know where it ends.”

Unfiltered outrage is the left’s new normal. You can expect the mainstream press to hold its tongue about the wisdom of this behavior, at least for the next couple years. The first time this happens to someone working for a Democratic president, suddenly we’ll learn that this horrible behavior by horrible people has to stop for the good of the Republic. But until then, the media will keep encouraging this by rewarding it with airtime.