There is mob rule — and then there is glorified mob rule. The former is obvious, such as when an uncontrolled group of men summarily hangs a person without trial or due process. Glorified mob rule is subtler, possessing a thin veneer of propriety and legality, such as a “democratic” determination or action contrary to the rule of law.
An example of portraying mob rule as something nobler would be how Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the 2011 left-wing-protester invasion of the Wisconsin Capitol — which became the longest demonstrator occupation of a government building in U.S. history — an “impressive show of democracy in action.” Pelosi isn’t alone in her party in this thinking, either, says one writer; rather, “mobocracy” is now the Democrats’ default mode.











