History may or may not repeat itself, but crisis-stricken politicians certainly do. Two weeks ago, Governor Jay Nixon, of Missouri, announced the swearing in of sixteen members of a commission to examine police procedures and community relations in Ferguson. The announcement was made in advance of the grand-jury decision in the death of Michael Brown, which resulted in renewed rioting in the city and demonstrations across the country. Nixon, whose handling of the situation had already been severely criticized, holds the distinction of creating a commission whose existence preceded the unrest that it will presumably be charged with addressing. This was a sign of either governmental prescience or resignation—or, possibly, both. A defining achievement of American bureaucracy is that even assaults on its authority wind up generating more bureaucracy.
[For more of this story, written by Jelani Cobb, go to http://www.newyorker.com/magaz...8/crimes-commissions]
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