Randy Cohen, author of the NYT Mag “Ethicist” column—which, like most things in the NYT Mag, has gone about about five years too long—argues that Skip Gates should sue the Cambridge Police Department.

Gates should enjoy a cool one and then file suit, assuming he has legal grounds to do so….

[Blogger: Yes, that whole “legal grounds” thing. Important.]

I am not encouraging frivolous lawsuits or those inspired by TV pitchmen who use the words “slip and fall” as if invoking El Dorado. Rather, I refer to suits filed to oppose systemic injustice, for the benefit of the larger community,often at some personal risk and expense. This is not opportunism; it’s altruism, not self-interest but civic virtue. A lawsuit by Gates could lead to a formal examination of the troubled history of police interactions with African-Americans and hence would meet this standard.

Could there be a more perfect definition of knee-jerk liberalism?

Cohen admits that he doesn’t even know, doesn’t even appear to have considered, whether Gates has a legal basis for a lawsuit. He simply wants Gates to sue so that a larger liberal goal can be pursued. “A formal examination of the troubled history of police interactions….”

A formal examination! Wow—that’ll solve everything. Especially if it’s through the courts!

This isn’t thinking, it’s self-parody….