I was screaming before you interrupted me : American politics has become amplified rage | The Hill

The scene on the floor of the Tennessee House perfectly captured our age of rage. Protesters filled the capitol building to protest the failure to pass gun-control legislation. However, they were in the minority in both the state and its legislature. Three Democratic state representatives Justin Jones from Nashville, Justin Pearson from Memphis, and Gloria Johnson of Knoxville were unwilling to yield to the majority. They disrupted the floor proceedings with a bullhorn and screaming at their colleagues.

It is a scene familiar to many of us in academia, where events are regularly canceled by those who shout down others. The three members yelled No action, no peace  and Power to the people as their colleagues objected to their stopping the legislative process. Undeterred, the three refused to allow business as usual to continue.

Nothing says deliberative debate like a bullhorn. American politics, it seems, has become a matter of simple amplification.

via thehill.com