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I Will Be The Bearer Of Reasonable Bad News

I was over at Power Line blog. Every political conservative has read something good from there at some point in the last dozen years, give or take. Those are smart guys, good guys. Here's my thought, re: Freddie Gray: Can I have one human thought about a guy that died under circumstances that he shouldn't have, before I take my position on the highly-polarized battle-lines of American politics?

I mean, really. The comments. I just feel so dirty.

I'm not even averse to believing:

A. Gray was a really bad guy;

B. The prosecutor is trying to do more than the evidence warrants;

C. She is incompetent;

D. So is Obama.

But let's take a step back, because we're missing one key point. Feel free to sit down. You'll need to. Are you ready?

People aren't supposed to die in the custody of the police. Ever. If the Boston bomber now convicted died while awaiting trial, wouldn't you be alarmed? This is America, right? Let's take another example, shall we?

Atticus Finch. Let us forget a couple of things, firstly, that Atticus acted heroically in a completely righteous cause, and that he's fictional. Isn't part of Atticus' heroism not only that he'd defend the dignity of a black man in the cause of justice, but that he would do it in spite of the fact that most everyone thinks he shouldn't? He is willing to sacrifice his own name among men, because justice is more important than reputation. We're not supposed to be OK with the vigilantes that come to kill Tom Robinson, even if he were guilty as sin.

So...

What relevance does Freddie Gray's police record have for the fact that agents of the US government have killed someone in their custody? And your grievance against the relative influence of left-liberalism has no bearing on the dignity of this person. It just doesn't.
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