Michael Brown The Martyr

Images Taken From Michael Brown's (apparent) Robbery of a Cigar Store (Earlier the day he was shot)

As Ferguson boils (the National Guard was called in and (BREAKING) Obama didn't know about it) the political discourse has shattered over continuing revelations and events. For example:

1. Brown was shot six times
2. He was not shot in the back (so says the autopsy)
3. Mike Brown had marijuana in his system when he died
4. He'd committed a robbery earlier that day--but the officer in question (the one who shot him) didn't suspect him of it when they encountered him (Brown was accosted for walking in the middle of the street)
5. There has been continued violence during the protests. Some (peaceful) protesters have tried to prevent looting by, well, looters
6. Now the officially militarized national guard has been called in to maintain order
7. Texas Governor Rick Perry was (in a grossly partisan manner) charged with crimes seemingly having to do with playing political hardball (okay, that has nothing to with Ferguson--but it can't be helping things, can it?)

This thing is not shaping up well.

Competing Narratives

When something happens (any major event) there is always a rush to build a partisan narrative around it. Sometimes that narrative more or less holds up. Sometimes it doesn't. Usually, as facts trickle out, people become distanced from it and new information misses them. As such, it's key to understand what these narratives are in their Ur state (their beginning format) and less about what happened.

It's also important to understand what the specific talking points are--what are the lessons that the observer is supposed to take away from the story? All of this--far moreso than the facts--is what the meaning or impact of the event is in the national consciousness.

On the Right

Right now the Republicans are a bit split on how they're reacting to Ferguson. Actually, there are two splits.

Republican Narrative One: Law and Order

In this narrative (which could also be titled Michael Brown got what he deserved) the story is that HERO COP accosted a thug who, thinking the jig was up (that he was caught for his latest strong arm robbery) first ran--but then charged the police officer who then fired in self-defense.

The Aesop (the moral): Times have changed and now we need militarized police. Brave New World.

Republican Narrative 2: Police State Rising

In this narrative the police-state whose fin crested the water at the Bundy Ranch is now starting to rear its head. The masses of bullets bought by Homeland Security are part of a new wave of warrior-cops who will eventually be turned on us (white people) to maybe take our guns. This is, of course, the left's doing.

The Aesop (the moral): Liberals will always show their true (fascist) colors.

On The Left

The left is having a more-or-less easier time of it since to the left this breaks down to a simple racial narrative: white cops shot an unarmed black teenager and then tear-gassed police. This, without any nuance, at least, has the benefit of all being factually (to the degree we have undisputed facts) correct.

The basic idea is that (a) The police are acting as thugs and (b) the killing was utterly unjustified. In this formulation it's a white governance group who is ruthlessly (and lethally) oppressing a minority.

The left is largely silent on what should be done to restore order (in unrelated--but maybe symbolically similar news, Gawker maybe thinks letting children just rob you is better than running them down and apprehending them).

The Aesop (the moral): White privilege is oppressive and destroys society.

The Middle Ground

Let's get one thing really clear: all these summations are necessarily stark and are taken from a huge variety of sources (and The Omnivore's interpretation). Reality is complicated. It's also true that there's a very easily found middle ground that, in fact, many people actually hold:

1. Let's wait until the investigation clears before passing too much judgment
2. The police doing things like tear-gassing news crews and pointing weapons directly at peaceful protesters was bad policy (so was releasing the Brown robbing video--it's political positioning and it makes the police look like spin-doctors, something that you should really never want).
3. Brown certainly didn't deserve to die for anything we know he did (uncontested elements such as smoking pot, robbing a shopkeeper, walking in the middle of the street) but we may never know what went down with the cop. The original story held, to The Omnivore's read, that he was shot in the back--something the independent autopsy falsified. On the other hand, if killed a good distance from the vehicle, Brown was clearly not right on top of the officer either.

This isn't hard. In this case we need reasonable force for the riots (the National Guard may well provide that) and regular cops for the protesters (during the day, etc.). We need to recognize that Brown's shooting was a personal tragedy for his family and has taken on larger meaning in the community.

The question then is this: is that larger meaning legitimate?

The Legitimacy of Brown As Martyr

Although unspoken, the above world-views orbit an epicenter questioning whether or not it is legitimate for the community to see the killing of Michael Brown as a symbolic part of a larger picture. Attempts to try to derive that (in order: NO, MAYBE, YES) all fall against an objective realization: it has already happened.

Indeed, The Omnivore thinks you (for group values of 'you') do, in fact, get to choose your martyrs. In other words: if the community sees Brown's death as meaningful beyond the bare facts of the case? That is legitimate. 

To argue otherwise is to need to (a) set up a standard by which the legitimacy is to be judged and then (b) persecute that case against either those who disagree (the left attacking the right) or those who have adopted him (the people of Ferguson). Both of these have a specific problem in that it assumes the rights on the part of the standard-holder that are, simply, not in evidence. The Omnivore knows of no one who he feels has the authority to say the people of Ferguson are wrong to protest what was done--indeed, if anything, the police's actions seem to have confirmed their worst fears whatever Brown actually did (remember: the police don't know either).

That's the real moral of the story: you don't get to objectively judge the people who are peacefully, if angrily, protesting his killing.

The Fallout: 12% Voter Turnout Is An Insult To Your Children