I'm not saying, "these rioters are the British Tea Party" any more than I'm saying either of them are Al Qaeda (whom I also mentioned by implication). I'm saying they both feel disconnected from the system, largely because they are, because a lot of people are, and that indicates a fundamental problem with the system that needs to be corrected before more people stop shouting and start burning. The Tea Partiers and the rioters have some things in common: They both rightly feel alienated; they're also both bipedal mammals, inhabitants of Earth and post pubescent, but that doesn't make them identical. I have as much in common with the Tea Party as the rioters do, but just because that doesn't make us interchangable doesn't mean we have no common ground, and finding that common ground is probably the best way to reduce the alienation that's sapping the spirit of communities all over the planet even as it threatens their very existence. It's also probably the best way to prevent people throwing a brick at their fellow human beings, by SEEING that common humanity instead of some sub-human enemy to mercilessly attack.

OK, really really done now; at this point even I have to admit I'm not having any constructive effect.