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An old protest song of the sixties’ lyrics. “Something’s happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear.” Except I think it is clear. There are people who do not like the United States of America. They’re not trying to make it better. They are being paid to tear it down. Sad, but true.

It was disturbing to me when I saw a sitting senator, Rand Paul, and his wife leave the President’s acceptance speech at the White House to simply walk the couple of blocks back to their overnight hotel. As soon as Senator Paul was recognized, he and his wife were surrounded by a mob and stopped.

They were fortunate to receive some help from two policemen, but, even then, I feared for their lives. The mob, which he described as a Black Lives Matter mob, got in his face and yelled all sorts of profane utterances and wanted him to say the name of Breonna Taylor, a young woman who had been killed in Louisville.

The irony of the situation was that Senator Paul is from the state of Kentucky and had introduced a bill, The Justice for Breonna Taylor Act, to address the police action that had resulted in her death. The mob, either did not know that Senator Paul had spoken her name in the hallowed halls of the Senate, or did not care.

All they cared about was that Rand Paul was a Republican and a friend of the President. Is there any more that needs to said, these days, for some people to raise their fists and riot?

I know that, in this great nation of ours, a senator should be viewed with no more respect than a janitor. Both are deserving of respect simply for their humanity. At the same time, the fact that a sitting U.S. senator and his wife could be violently accosted in our nation’s capital should offend all Americans.

Senator Paul made an interesting observation that is valid. He said that he had seen some of these people in the same hotel in which he was staying. The room rates for Washington hotels are $600 to $1000 per night. Who’s paying for their rooms and their food in the expensive city of Washington D.C?

Another thing. There is speculation that some of these people have been seen in videos in some of the other hotspots around the nation. A question to ask. Is there coordination and organization for these revolutionists?

In the city of Washington, the restaurants are not open for inside dining yet. The eateries are surviving by seating people on the sidewalks and are creating an atmosphere appropriate for a meal. Except when a group of people taunt them as they eat, demanding that they raise their hands in unity with their causes. I’m sure those meals are expensive and what right does a group have to interrupt their evening’s pleasure?

Now, it seems that in Portland and Kenosha and other cities, the mobs are moving into the residential areas where they walk down those streets where people should feel safe and comfortable, shouting their slogans and shining bright lights in the private homes. Their purpose? To interrupt the peace and comfort those innocent citizens should be able to enjoy.

No doubt, something’s happening here. Anyone as old as I am can remember many times in our nation’s history where protesting and, even rioting, has occurred. It is an American right to protest. We are not a perfect nation, any more than we are not perfect people.

At the same time, protesting should have as its purpose to make the nation better. I think we need to be careful that we don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater!