As the day went on yesterday in Baltimore, and the crowds became more unruly, and pockets of protestors split off to engage in massive looting and burning, Baltimore city officials from the mayor on down did little to react.  Their incompetent response led to escalating violence as protestors realized that the police were nowhere to be found. It began with Mayor Rawlings-Blake offering up the notion that Saturday's violence wasn't too bad because the city gave rioters "space" if they wanted to destroy and pillage.  She tried to walk back that comment later, but, as Michael Daly of the Daily Beast points out, "Yes, she said it." She uttered these words while explaining how she had sought to maintain “the very delicate balance” between the right to protest and the safety of police officers as a week of demonstrations over the death of Freddie Gray began to turn violent on Saturday. “We work very hard to keep that balance...(Read Full Post)