When Laura Bush Came to Town.

Last Sunday,

I went to a patriotic program

here in Provo.

Laura Bush was the keynote speaker.

Before she came out,

there were songs by a military band,

a speech delivered by a high school boy

full of Ronald Reagan quotes,

and stories of servicemen

and immigrants

who took American ideals

and lived them

with all their hearts and sweat.

Just a few minutes into Mrs. Bush's remarks,

while she was giving us

an intimate review

of her family's recent life events,

someone about twenty rows in front of me

started yelling.

He was yelling angry things

loud enough to disrupt the whole stadium.

I watched as first his wife,

then the security guards,

dragged him up the stairs

and out of the Marriott Center.

And I thought,

"Why would anyone do that?

That's so unkind."

And it was.

But it was also probably

the most American thing

that happened that evening.

Because that man

didn't have to fear being thrown in jail

and wasting away as a political prisoner

for the rest of his life.

Or worse,

being quickly executed

behind some building

and never heard of again.

That man had just as much right

to say how he feels

as anyone else.

He doesn't have the right to disrupt others

and no one has a moral right

to be so unkind.

But what happened there

was the messy side of democracy,

and I love that that side exists.

We'd be nowhere without it.