Customer boycotts vs. punitive government power

Grass-roots boycotts can be a healthy sign of a vibrant marketplace of moral claims and identities.  Government attempts to show the same moral outrage that animates such boycotts tends to shut down the very marketplace that boycotts can nurture.  Thanks, Glenn Greenwald, for reminding Salon readers that threats against Chick-fil-A by the mayors of Boston and Chicago should be noxious to political progressives and conservatives alike.