The ultimate outcome here, before all of the political speeches and handwringing, may have been correct. Should Professor Gates have mouthed off to a cop? No, it’s a really dumb and disrespectful thing to do. Should he have been prosecuted to the full extent authorized by the law? No, that would have been quite an overreaction.

Would arresting him and then dropping the charges have made the point that he was behaving improperly and should not do so in the future — while also not causing him serious consequences? Well, normally, yes it would, although it won’t here.