http://spectator.org/print/62589Ben Stein's Diary
Raider Mosby
A few notes on what we have learned regarding Baltimore.
By Ben Stein – 5.3.15
A few notes on what we have learned about law, race, order and the media after Baltimore, the largest city in my home state of Maryland, whose gleaming white stoops once stood for a city’s pride in its law and order and self-discipline.
First, Marilyn Mosby should not be allowed to be a law clerk, let alone a state’s attorney/prosecutor. To prosecute police officers EXPLICITLY to please a mob (“I have heard your cries about ‘no justice, no peace’…”) is exactly the opposite of what a prosecutor should do. That is, to prosecute only when the facts and law demand it. To press charges because a gang of thugs loots liquor stores and promises to loot more liquor stores if charges are not pressed is exactly lynch mob justice. It has nothing to do with the sacred rule of “innocent until proven guilty.”
Usually prosecutors will show at least hint of impartiality in an important case. Ms. Mosby went straight for the jugular and basically said, “The thugs are my bosses and I answer to them and not to the Constitution.” This is a dangerous woman. She bears watching.
Next, the death of Mr. Freddie Gray cannot possibly have been solely an act of white racism. Three of the six officers charged in his death were black. One was a black woman. Maybe a case of police brutality. Surely a case of serious misconduct. But racism?
So, why all the hullabaloo about racism in the first place? The officers are black. The police chief is black. The mayor is black. Where is the racism?
Third, the media is endlessly up in arms about the number of black men in confrontations with the police. Maybe this is not racism. Maybe this is because black men, especially young black men, seek out high risk, law-breaking forms of amusement at a rate per thousand many times higher than white men. Maybe the blame for all of the conflicts between young black men and police officers lies at the feet of the young black men. Maybe the blame for crime lies at the feet of the criminals. Is that possible?
Fourth, Mrs. Clinton and the New York Times talk about “one and a half million missing black men.…” They are not missing. We know where they are. They are in jail or prison for committing crimes. They haven’t been taken away by space aliens. They’re here, in prison. When they learn to work and participate in the labor force in an honest way, they won’t be missing anymore.
By the way, I fully agree with the protesters that treatment and recovery are far better for the drug plague than prison. But the law is the law for blacks and for whites until the day we as a nation endorse turning to God as a replacement for iron bars.
Next, I was uplifted by many of the men and women of the poor parts of Baltimore. They were sensible. They were prayerful. They didn’t play games around calling a thug a thug. Impressive. The “leaders” are morally far behind the rank and file.
Next, I turn to the greatest cure all for the problems of Baltimore and Ferguson. WORK. People with honest jobs are not robbing liquor stores. People who work all day long are too tired to loot. The people who get ahead in every society are not the ones who throw Molotov cocktails. They are the ones who actually work, study, add to their human capital and make a life for themselves and their families. Have you ever seen Vietnamese immigrants rioting? Or Chinese immigrants? No, because they are working. There is a lesson here about idle hands and the devil’s playthings. The Asians’ kids will be at Harvard. The rioters’ kids will be “missing.”
Meanwhile, the media should be ashamed for using their power to kowtow to the mob, to tell young thugs that if you throw bricks at cops we will not call you thugs, and we will make you stars on TV. Shame. Turn off the cameras, lock up the vodka, and we will see how many turn out for “political protest.”
