Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller, one of the more extremist tea party darling candidates of this election cycle, seems to have his own set of brownshirts. Joe Miller’s private security detail handcuffed and detained Tony Hopfinger, editor for the Alaska Dispatch and reportedly pushed him into a wall at an event for the GOP Senate candidate. According to Miller’s website, Hopfinger “appeared irrational, angry and potentially violent” and apparently “assaulted another individual.”

Hopfinger’s account of the incident appears slightly less hyperbolic . He stated he was surrounded by both private (non-uniformed) security guards and Miller supporters after he followed and attempted to ask uncomfortable and unwelcome questions. Hopfinger admits to pushing a guard out of the way, but only after he began to feel threatened by what seemed like a mob. While Miller’s campaign said Hopfinger was trespassing on a “private” event, that event was held at a public school that citizens were invited to via Facebook and other websites.

What might be a small local incident that can be easily handled by local law enforcement and judicial bodies highlights a few extreme problems with our electoral system, as well as how we perceive the press. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Hopfinger pointed out that Miller has “drawn a line in the sand” regarding answering questions from reporters about his past. Miller’s security said that the reporter “should have assumed” from the signs outside the public school that the event was private. The event was billed as a town hall meeting.

All of this sounds too familiar.

The 21^st century style “town hall” rally first popped up during the 1992 presidential election, where Bill Clinton, George Bush Sr. and Ross Perot attempted to have a more “conversational” type of debate, paying attention to ”Real America,” particularly undecided voters. Since then, the format has become increasingly popular and is now essential in today’s campaigns. During the Bush years, the former President had plenty of town hall type meetings, many of which were carefully crafted and stacked with supporters.

So here we have a candidate who refuses to talk about his past, even though his political party often drudges up the past of its opponents to discredit them, who believes that a town hall meeting is a private event only for supporters. When faced with confrontational questions or opposing viewpoints from a journalist, private security guards “arrest” and detain that journalist, only to release him when actual law enforcement shows up. As plenty of writers have pointed out, had this happened at a tea party rally or been a Democratic candidate, the outrage from the right would be deafening. Had the shoe been on the other foot, they would’ve been right to be outraged.

Sadly, the whole incident highlights the exact problem with American political discourse. Politicians manufacture an event that appears “for the people” on paper, surround themselves with supporters and shield themselves from having to dissect their own talking points. The only difference between now and 1992 is that things have become more heated and less civil. Did Hopfinger cross a line hounding Miller? It’s possible he may have been overzelous, but demanding answers to important questions is what a good journalist does (although sometimes they could be nicer about it). Did Miller cross a line by having Hopfinger handcuffed by a private security firm? Absolutely. To let such behavior go without challenge undermines the fabric of Democracy, which is encouraging political debate, not silencing opposition.

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