I don’t want to be entirely without compassion toward a man who is surely now in horrific pain. But, um, the guy set himself on fire. And why? Well, all you have to know is where it happened and you can figure out the rest:

How do you know the electorate made the right choice in November? By considering the intelligence of those most upset about it.

I’ll grant you that I’m taking a bit of a flyer with the presumption that this was some sort of anti-Trump protest. The guy didn’t actually say that. In fact, the only thing he was reportedly quoted as saying was, “Ooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuccccccccccchhhhhhhhhh!”

According to CNN’s ABC affiliate WJLA, the man attempted to start the small blaze outside the Trump hotel but was burned badly in the process and taken to a hospital for treatment.

“We did arrive and did find a male adult with burns and we transported that patient to an area hospital with potential but not life-threatening burns,” DC Fire and EMS Department spokesman Vito Maggiolo told CNN Wednesday.

But generally speaking, people don’t just start fires out in the street for no reason. They do it to make a point - whether the point is that they’re generally pissed off or that they’ve got a specific beef.

Here’s where I think the peril lies for Trump haters: At some point, Friday will have come and gone, and Trump and the new Congress are going to get down to the business of governing this nation. There are serious problems to be solved, of which ObamaCare is surely first on the list, but only the first of a very long list. Eventually, the left might want to let its hissy fit slow to a stop and start offering some solutions of its own. They spent the Obama years pursuing a largely ideological agenda of spending, taxation, regulation and use of the courts to impose its social vision on America.

That resulted in soaring debt, sluggish growth, poor labor force participation, social fragmentation and cultural upheaval. If the left wants to deny these problems exist and continue standing out on the street setting themselves on fire, while Trump and the Republican Congress solve the problems, I do not think that will go well for them. This might be a good time for them to start the transition, but then they haven’t had much serious to say of a policy nature lately. I’m not sure why the would be interested in starting now.

Except that they run the risk of becoming an even bigger joke than people already think they are. There are lots of other ways to smite yourself if fire isn’t your bag. Do your thing, left.