Violence is rising again in Ferguson, Missouri, where they apparently cherish constitutional protections against mob justice except when they are part of the mob.
The media narrative is that a white police officer (Darren Wilson) shot an unarmed black man (Michael Brown) for no reason whatsoever. The grand jury, which carefully examined all the evidence, concluded there was a lot more to it than that and chose not to bring any charges against Wilson.
The folks in the street operate according to the media narrative, of course, so now we're back to burning buildings and dangerous objects flying through the air. We're back to riot gear and liberals blaming the riot gear for the riot.
And there was President Obama, on live TV after 10 p.m. Eastern when NCIS: Los Angeles was supposed to be starting, engaging in the lame, ineffectual presidential practice of "urging calm."
Now this is not the Barack Obama we know. The Barack Obama we know takes action, and doesn't trouble himself too much over constitutional niceties in the process. If there's a problem to be solved, he'll do something! Maybe it's not something he really has the authority to do. Maybe it won't make the situation better anywhere but in his own mind. But no matter! Dude acts.
So enough with this "urging calm" nonsense. Obama needs to do something. He needs to order the FBI to arrest Darren Wilson, thus giving the mob its pound of flesh and presumably diffusing this whole thing.
Now I know what you're thinking: Obama doesn't have the authority to just arbitrarily have citizens arrested, especially when a grand jury has examined the evidence and concluded there was no probable cause to justify charging him with a crime. Hey. Technically you might have an argument, but this is the real world and mobs are in the street. The man in the White House can't just be expected to sit idly by while all this is going on.
OK, sure, there is really no federal law that would justify Wilson's arrest. But surely the executive branch of the federal government, which is charged with enforcing the laws, has to be afforded some modicum of discretion. Just because this particular grand jury didn't conclude Wilson should be charged doesn't mean they were right. That's just one group of people. Barack Obama is the guy who was elected by everyone. (Well, 51 percent of everyone who voted, but why get technical?) Surely his judgment counts more than theirs.
We know what he did! They talk about it on the news all the time. A lot of people are talking this morning about the fact that cops don't often get indicted for killing people. There is an uneasy sense among the public. This is the sort of situation where people need to know that the president will act in response to their feelings, and a document written more than 100 years ago as Ezra Klein would say cannot be used as justification for inaction.
There was a time when a president would throw up his hands and say, hey, I'd like to do something but I'm not an emperor. When was that? Last year. But no matter. Now it's this year. We can't wait forever for a Republican Congress to pass new laws, or for a grand jury to hear the will of the mob people, so sometimes the guy who has his hands on the levers of executive power needs to turn those levers.
Arrest Darren Wilson. Make it happen, Mr. President. You have the power insofar as no one can really stop you from doing whatever you want to do. Then inform the mob that, having gotten what they wanted, they can all just go home.
If it works, it won't matter that you didn't have the authority to do it. And if it doesn't, you can always blame George W. Bush.
