Here is some advice for the birthers, tenthers, tea baggers, secessionists, 9-11 conspiracy theorists, global warming deniers, town hall disrupters and other radical right-wingers who have seized the helm of the Republican Party.

The advice is rooted in a lesson I learned while watching actors rehearse "The Guys," a play about post 9/11 New York firefighters. The actor playing the fire captain impressively portrayed the captain's anger so convincingly that it frightened me. The director, however, asked the actor to "take it down a couple of levels." "You want the audience to be sympathetic," she explained, "not afraid." I marveled at the actor's skill as he reread the scene, still angry, but sympathetically.

So here's my advice for the placard-waving mobs screaming from tight, angry faces like road-rage drivers flying their middle fingers through erratic lane changes: Take it down a couple of levels. You are not getting sympathy. You are scaring people.

George A. Sumner

Salt Lake City