So if you are the President of the United States, in the last two years of your term, with power sapped from you daily and your legacy being pulverized by police being murdered on your watch, what do you do next?
That, my friends, depends on what the current president actually wants. I would pose that he should only be wanting one thing in regard to the police vs. black communities saga -- peace. And by that I mean a lasting peace, predicated on these assumptions accepted by all:
(1) The cops in black communities are on the beat to protect the black communities
(2) Citizens are responsible for the natural consequences of their actions
(3) The American system of justice actually provides justice.
If Barack Obama does not believe all the above, he needs to tell the American people that and explain himself, because all of the above is true. If he does believe it, as he should, then he has the moral high ground, and an amazing leadership opportunity I'll present in a second.
Remember what we are dealing with here: two criminals, at least one violent, were killed by police in the process of resisting arrest. Worse, "resisting" in the Ferguson case entailed robbing a convenience store, then punching a policeman, trying to wrestle his gun from him, running off a bit and then charging him after having already been shot. In both cases, the grand juries looked at the evidence in detail, met with witnesses, and determined that the police acted within their guidelines as law-enforcement officers.
In both cases, unfortunately, the racism industry, led by the "Reverend" Al Sharpton, incited riots by declaring that the grand juries were wrong, prejudiced and unjust and that, without any evidence, both cases had racial elements. As a result, we have at least two dead police officers that we know of, and hatred for the police, and verbal and Internet threats to the very people who are paid to protect the citizenry from people like Michael Brown.
So back to leadership. If indeed Obama wants this whole thing defused -- and I don't know for sure he does but I sure hope so -- he needs to do the following:
Place a call to Dr. Ben Carson, the pediatric neurosurgeon thinking about running for president as a Republican next election. Carson is a reasonable person, black, poor upbringing in Detroit, that sort of thing. He'll take your call.
Then the two of them need to stand together on a podium and explain the grand jury process in St. Louis County and how, in this case, it actually worked. Justice was served; the bad guy ended up dead because he acted in a way that should expect to cause death-by-cop. The justice that was served was justice for the community of Ferguson, not "against" Michael Brown; Brown got "his" justice, in that he was unfortunately but unsurprisingly killed after a robbery and police assault. Obama and Carson need to explain that the next person in that county in need of the justice provided by a grand jury is likely to be one of the community, one of them who may be unjustly accused of something for which there is inadequate evidence to bring to trial.
If Obama does that, along with another respected leader who happens to be black, it may not matter that much what the outcome will be -- but he will have defended the Constitution he twice swore to uphold, and stood up for the justice system that in this case actually worked. He will have shown the ability to distance himself from the Sharptonite race-panderers who are clearly not interested in a better America, only one tense enough to provide them with an income.
Think about it, Barry. Give Ben a call. Show a little leadership, while you still have the bully pulpit.
Copyright 2014 by Robert Sutton
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