We are a Nation of Laws, Not Men

What does mob rule look like?

This is what mob rule might look like: https://vine.co/AntonioFrench

I say 'might,' because, so far, this mob hasn't exerted rule over anything, other than the airwaves.

For now, they have few tangible results, other than a visit from a self-described 'activist' U.S. Attorney General, and a Federal investigation into the August 8, 2014, shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson.

But if local authorities are ultimately pressured into arresting Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, without sufficient evidence of his guilt, only then does the mob become truly dangerous.

We already know that many in our Country have long-since embraced the notion of 'trial by media.' The shooting death of Michael Brown is just the most recent example. 

But if trial by mob actually exerts influence to the point where evidence no longer the paramount item in an investigation, it means that Mr. French's videos will no longer simply depict a jeering gathering of folks expressing their First Amendment rights. It means that the mob, and whatever meandering sense of justice they propel forward at any given moment, will have actual legal traction.

I don't pretend to know what will ultimately happen in this case. I hope justice is served, that's all. What I do know, however, is that the Federal authorities doing  the 'independent investigation' into the shooting of Michael Brown need to stay in their lane and stick with the facts. They must use facts only, and all of the facts. They cannot be selective in which facts they implement.

If the Feds decide they want to prosecute Officer Wilson, and local Ferguson prosecutors disagree with the Feds based on evidence or lack thereof, but are overruled, it means that the mob will have gained far more legal traction than it could have ever dreamed of on its own.

My thoughts turn to Ben Franklin. As he exited the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he responded to a woman who asked him, "Sir, what have you given us?"

He said, "A Republic Ma'am, if you can keep it."

If Mr. French, his mob, or the left-wing media gets what they want in the end - which is a total disregard for real evidence - we will have the answer to Mr. Franklin's insinuated question. We will no longer be Citizens in a Republic.

And if the act of removing the blindfold from Lady Justice becomes routine procedure at the federal level in the coming years? What then? What do we do?

Answer: arm yourselves. With knowledge, wisdom, principles, and very solid restraint.