William Jacobson is quite correct and says it better than I could, so I’m going to quote him in full:
It’s very tempting to jump to conclusions in either direction about the Eric Garner Grand Jury non-indictment of one of the arresting police officers.
It would be really, really easy to jump on the “injustice” bandwagon, with a visceral reaction to the video. Or to take the contrarian view because there was, after all, resistance to a lawful arrest. No resistance, no death.
In fact, we’ve gone through multiple drafts trying to sort this out.
But none of them worked because we just don’t know enough about the evidence to determine whether the death of Garner was the result of an unlawful homicide, or just a tragic confluence of resisting arrest, health problems and lawful use of force by police.
I think we’ve done well in the many criminal cases we’ve followed — George Zimmerman, Michael Dunn, Joseph Walker, Michael Brown, Theodore Wafer, Merritt Landry, and others In fact, I think we’ve done better than well, because we always followed the evidence.
We have the video, or at least one or two of the angles, but we just don’t have enough … yet.
I want to understand this case better. That may take a day, a week, a month, or never.
There are plenty of opinions, but at least for tonight, you won’t find them here.
Especially in these times where many policing departments have become para-military organizations to be feared as the Standing Armies of the Colonial Period were, this kind of incident requires that we be given all of the information possible before we render an opinion.
We conservatives are traditionally strong supporters of Law Enforcement Officers and Officials because we believe in Ordered Liberty and The Rule Of Law, but we also understand that, like any of the powers placed in the hands of government employees, they can be abused by the imperfect men who wield them.
As governments at all levels have become more Tyrannical, it is right and proper that we be on heightened guard for abuses and uspurpations by those in the employ of our governments at all levels. Too often lately, especially in the last two decades, Law Enforcement Officers and Officials have inflicted injustices on the Law-Abiding, because (1) the laws passed have been Despotic and (2) some of those Officers and Officials have forgotten their obligations under our Constitutions [ie: their Oaths].
Laws and Regulations [which have the force of Law] have become so numerous that every American breaks at least one every single day.
We live in an age of Leftist Hegemony where Leftist Thinking has pervaded American Society, where ideas that are Alien to The Founding have been given a Legitimacy that they do not deserve. We live in a time where our understanding of Freedom and Ordered Liberty has become deranged, where our view has been filtered through a fun-house mirror.
Conservatives realize that we can no longer assume that Law Enforcement Officers and Officials are, in the main, to be trusted with the immense power we place in them. And, at the same time, we are quite aware that the Masterminds behind the Left In America are doing everything in their power to destroy every aspect of American Society, to sow Chaos, and to promote Tribalism, which is the enemy of a Free People.
We are in a situation where we have no choice, if we are to remain true to the magnificent Legacy gifted to us by The Founders, to question every action taken, be suspicious of all motivations, to doubt all who say ‘We’re from the [insert organization or group here] and we’re here to help’.
Now more than ever, we conservatives must be suspicious of all hope and all change.
This is a sad situation, but how else can we approach such grave matters? How else can we properly perform our duties as the Guardians Of The American Republic? And our obligations to our Posterity:
Let us remember that “if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom.” It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.
—Samuel Adams, writing as ‘CANDIDUS’ in The Boston Gazette, 14 October 1771
