Democracy & Distrust

My friend Nicholas Johnson observes how rapidly what used to be fringe paranoia is moving into the mainstream:

Ballooning scandals at the IRS, government snooping, and the run on ammunition are the main topics of conversation at the range these days. It’s illuminating to hear people outside the chattering class talk about checks and balances, ammo shortages as a barometer of discontent, and looming tyranny. Tyranny especially used to be the cry of black helicopter conspiracy theorists.  It signals something when regular folk will say the word and talk unselfconsciously about how to define it and what to do about it.