Life Imitates The Plain Janes

Megan McArdle:

The background: twenty people were at the Jefferson Memorial, dancing to the private groove of their own iPods so as not to disturb anyone. Apparently cops showed up and ordered them to disperse anyway, despite the fact that they were not doing anything obviously illegal. One of the libertarians joyfully (yet tastefully and quietly) celebrating the birthday of a favorite founding father questioned why they should have to move along--at which point one of DC's finest shoved them up against a pillar, cuffed their hands behind their back, and hauled them away.

My contribution to the comments thread:

If this was fiction I'd say this story was a ripoff of The Plain Janes by Cecil Castellucci and Jim Rugg.
This book is about a bunch of high-school girls who get together to sneak out at night and create artistic, and mostly harmless acts of 'vandalism'. (Rearranging construction debris into pyramids, putting soap into fountains to make bubbles, etc.)
The authorities overreact at every step. At times I think the possible flaw in the story is the degree to which certain authority figures seem to take it all too seriously. Then news stories like this one come along, reminding me that the book had it all to true to life.

The Plain Janes is available at In Stock Trades and Amazon.com