On Wednesday, while the fires in Baltimore were still smoldering, we were wondering what effect the events there would have on what I believe is the chimerical Republican commitment to criminal-justice reform. After all, criminal-justice begins on the street, and all reform has to begin there as well. For example, drug sentences are disproportionate, racist, and largely insane. But the initial encounter with the criminal-justice system that most people busted under those laws experience is with police officers. The Rockefeller Laws began with stop-and-frisk. So, naturally, any serious attempt by politicians to rectify the wrongs baked into the system should confront those interactions. How about it, Aqua Buddha.

"It's depressing, it's sad, it's scary. I came through the train on Baltimore last night, I'm glad the train didn't stop," Paul said, laughing at his own unfunny joke. He then pontificated of the unrest: "The thing is that really there's so many things we can talk about, it's something we talk about not in the immediate aftermath but over time: the breakdown of the family structure, the lack of fathers, the lack of sort of a moral code in our society. And this isn't just a racial thing, it goes across racial boundaries, but we do have problems in our country."

That's it? Freddie Gray walks into a police van and gets carried out with a broken back, and the best you have is some warmed-over Bell Curve bullshit? No call for an investigation? No acknowledgement that relations between the police and the African American communities around the country are at a conspicuous nadir? No bold pronouncements about the dangers of a militarized police force? And a cheap joke to kick things off? Hell, even Ted Cruz at least made a pass at discussing Gray's death as something untoward that happened.

"Every case deserves justice, and the facts surrounding Freddie Gray's death should be thoroughly and impartially investigated. But rioting and mayhem are not the answer," Cruz explained. "While we continue to pray for a peaceful conclusion to the events in Baltimore–and pray for the families of those injured–I hope we all remember that our nation's law enforcement consists of thousands of heroic officers who deeply respect the dignity of each person they serve to protect."

OK, it isn't much, but it's more than the bold brogressive hero could muster up. Turns out there are no libertarians in foxholes.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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