The meaning of democracy

After a nice workout saturday morning i went to Malmö to meet up with Lina for a nice fika. Following that we joined the crowd at Stortorget in Malmö to look at the spectacle which was the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) expression of opinion. Malmö was completely invaded with police coming from other cities such as Gothenburg and Stockholm. Roughly 600 in total. The problem was not the approximate 100 Sweden democrats, it was the protestors in the crowds surrounding them. The kept yelling "Inte rasister på våra gator" (No racists on our streets), booing them and making so much noice that their speech could not be heard. I don't agree with their message, but at the same time Im rational enough to understand that democracy works both ways. They have a right to express their opinion peacefully in a little marsch. They should not need 600 police officers to protect them. If ppl only understood the foundation of democracy, there would be no such need. If we were to push all this underground, what good would that do? Has history not taught us what happens when important issues and small extremist parties are ignored and not allowed to air their concerns? One thing however that did annoy me and confuse me was that the Sweden Democrats are allowed to use the Swedish flag in their political marsch. It does not feel right for a national flag to be connected to one particular party. I don't see any other party ever flagging the national Swedish flag. They all stick to their own party flags. Why should it be any different for the Sweden Democrats. I don't wish the national flag to be associated with the ideals and values which the Sweden Democrats stands for. Rationally it doesn't have to be, but people are emotional and thus likely to make that connection whether conscious or not! So in short, you have the right to speak your mind and engage politically, but please do so without involving the Swedish flag!