Or the NDAA. Etc. Etc. Etc. Saying "We need a really shitty piece of legislation like SOPA in this country to be the spark that ignites the lazy, idle tinders of protest" ignores all the other "shitty pieces of legislation" that have been passed over the years without igniting the "lazy, idle tinders of protest." I (perhaps naively but hopefully) feel like SOPA could become the turning of that tide...

SOPA would only work if it interrupted the things that normal people care about. If Facebook was taken down for an extended period there would be a major rise in discontent. However, the censors know doing something like that would be suicidal, so they will let the entrenched players like Facebook go and kill every Facebook Jr. as soon as someone posts a link to a Daily Show clip from YouTube instead of comedycentral.com.