The Capitol Police obviously did the right thing. Still, in a nod to the law of unintended consequences, I'm sure there was a temptation to leave Bridgette O'Brien chained to the railing in the Senate balcony for as long as her bladder could hold out.
The once impressive protest movement in Madison has largely fizzled out. Still, as the State Senate prepared to pass the final version of the budget today, a small group of activists showed up and tried to disrupt the proceedings one final time with the usual tired chants.
At one point, the 23-year-old Ms. O'Brien placed a bicycle lock around her neck and chained herself to the railing in the balcony of the Senate chambers. Ms. O'Brien reportedly said that she was willing to stay there for 24 hours.
Part of me says 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours - who cares? Let her stay as long as she wants. Just ask her to turn the lights out when she leaves.
The world is not a perfect place though and the Capitol Police did Ms. O'Brien a favor by quickly cutting her loose while the Senate was in recess.
Still, it would have been interesting to see what happened if they simply let O'Brien stay locked to the post for a few hours. My guess is that after a bit she would have been praying that some other protester hadn't locked herself inside the nearest restroom.
And so "Capitol Chaos" ends - not with a bang but with a bolt cutter.
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