Parade crashers

Everything went perfectly as planned. For the anti-war war protesters, that is -- not for parade organizers. Just as the party crashers anticipated, the news on Sunday wasn't about Saturday's St. Patrick's Day parade downtown -- which many people judged the best in recent memory -- but about the disruptions and arrests that occurred when a handful of anti-war activists tried to hijack it for selfish purposes. Photos of Colorado Springs cops dragging a woman over the pavement made the coup complete, providing protesters not only with the press attention but with the martyr status they obviously crave.

In the process, the city of Colorado Springs was made to look intolerant toward free speech -- when it was simply trying to uphold parade guidelines and keep a non-ideological celebration of Irishness from becoming a platform for political statements.

The cops might have handled the protesters more gingerly. A failure to do so played right into their hands. But the bulk of the blame for this incident rests with the agitators, who may have gotten a permit to march, using a bit of subterfuge, but clearly acted in violation of parade rules that bar demonstrations on social issues.

The police were asked by parade organizers to enforce the rules. When some of the protesters declined to comply, they were arrested. If arrested people flop down on the ground and play possum, they run the risk of getting rugburn when they are forcibly removed. It's a real drag, so to speak.

Members of the Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission say "peace" is not a social issue, but they're unconvincing. A controversial war is raging. It's a politically charged, and frequently partisan, issue. And crashing the St. Patrick's parade constitutes an unwarranted imposition on thousands of people who came to be entertained, not indoctrinated.

"It is our goal not to turn this into a confrontational political atmosphere," parade chairman John O'Donnell said. "It really is to come and have fun."

It's true that politicians frequently march or ride in the parade. This opens up event organizers to a charge of inconsistency. So, perhaps it's time to ban politicians altogether -- whom nobody comes to see, anyway. This would draw the line against politicking more boldly, for those who are tempted to bend the rules.

Distinctions can get blurred in situations such as this, so let's be clear. Preventing a political disruption at a non-political event isn't an infringement of anyone's free speech rights. The protesters are free to say anything they want, in the appropriate setting -- as they did at an anti-war protest on Sunday, which anyone could attend who was interested in hearing about the war. But they aren't free to hijack someone else's event -- especially one designed to be apolitical -- in search of a captive audience.

Even if commission members didn't set out to create a scene -- and this had the smell of a planned provocation -- they had to be aware it might occur. But as so often happens with political zealots, their thirst for attention overcame all other considerations -- including their consideration for other people.

Government could make housing woes worse

Pop. That was the sound of the housing bubble bursting, as the subprime mortgage market began to collapse. Lender New Century announced March 13 that it is under investigation by the federal government. Wall Street had cut off funding to the company more than a week ago, and now the nation's second-largest subprime lender finds itself unable to make any new loans. On March 15, another subprime lender, Ameriquest Mortgage Co., announced 3,000 job cuts nationwide.

Although the subprime market accounts for only a small portion of the overall housing market, markets rise or fall at the margins. The subprime buyers are the ultimate marginal buyers. Typically, a prime buyer comes up with about 20 percent down on a house, has a good credit score (in the 650-orhigher range) and has sufficient income and low enough debt to readily afford the monthly payment. Subprime buyers are those with the opposite: little or no money down, marginal credit, too much debt, too little income.

The real estate boom, like the high-tech stock boom before it, kept going as the market became ever-more creative in finding new ways to lend money to ever-more marginal buyers. Remember the high level of investment margin debt during the dot-com boom?

In the wake of the news, lenders will be tightening standards, and will no doubt err on the side of caution. That will reduce the pool of buyers. The federal government and states are looking into new regulations on the subprime market, which also will depress the number of buyers.

Regulators and legislators should give the marketplace a chance to self-correct, as it already is doing. Already, prices are flat. Speculators have stopped buying or are bailing out. Merrill Lynch last week predicted price drops of 10 percent nationwide in the coming year. Those drops could be most pronounced in the most overheated markets -- i.e., California and the East Coast.