This is a two-track story: 1) the facts and 2) the emotional aspect of what happened.

Let's look at the facts first.

A grand jury comprised of 12 American citizens heard 70 hours of testimony from about 60 witnesses.

They also examined forensic reports, medical documents and police radio logs.

The conclusion that police officer Darren Wilson was not guilty of a crime when he shot Michael Brown to death on August 9th.

In a moment, Is It Legal? will examine the evidence, but in a nutshell Mr. Brown, close to 300 pounds, became involved in a physical altercation with the officer and was shot six times by Mr. Wilson, who fired 12 shots in all.

On the face of it, that seems to be a lot of shots.

But again, the grand jury is our system and these folks decided no crime was committed.

After the decision, there was looting and destruction -- more than 80 people arrested, hundreds of thousands in damage.

At least 16 people were treated for injuries.

My question is, where was the National Guard?  Why were they not protecting the businesses in Ferguson?

Where were they?

And the lieutenant governor of Missouri wants to know the same thing.

MISSOURI LT. GOV. PETER KINDER (R): “And here’s my question that the governor must answer: Is the reason that the National Guard was not in there because the Obama administration and the Holder Justice Department leaned on you to keep them out?  I cannot imagine any other reason why the governor, who mobilized the National Guard, would not have them in there to stop this before it started.”

Now Mr. Kinder's opinion is speculation, but certainly Governor Nixon, who held a press conference today, must explain why the businesses were left unprotected so the looters could run wild.

This afternoon the mayor of Ferguson blamed Nixon for not deploying the Guard.  If that is found to be true, Nixon should resign his office.

The lack of proper protection by the Guard put responders, fire fighters and police officers, in physical jeopardy.  The property loss was inexcusable if it could have been prevented.

Most Americans despise these looters, who have dishonored the Brown family.

Then again, Michael Brown's own stepfather was captured on tape soon after the decision was announced doing this:

LOUIS HEAD, MICHAEL BROWN’S STEPFATHER: “Burn this mother(bleep) down!  Burn this bitch down!  Give me the mic, give me the mic!  Burn this bitch down! Burn this bitch down! Burn this bitch down!”

Michael Brown’s stepfather, Louis Head.

That is extremely disturbing. 

Again people who loot and burn after an 18-year-old American has been killed dishonor the man's legacy.

If you want to protest peacefully, fine.  If you sincerely believe there is injustice in the system, let your feelings be known.

But these looters could not care less about Michael Brown.  They are criminals; that was obvious last night. 

And then there are the pundits.

The usual group of charlatans, who will say anything to get attention.

PAUL BUTLER, GEORGETOWN LAW PROFESSOR: “It really does seem like the fix was in.  And there's a tradition here.  There's a tragic tradition with this prosecutor.  He's now 0-5 in cases in which he's taken to the grand jury, cops who shot unarmed people.”

MARK GERAGOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: “I'll make the statement right now. I'll bet you his two assistants did not ask for an indictment.  He showed exactly what his predisposition was.  This was a foregone conclusion.  This was a rigged game.”

By saying the grand jury process was rigged, Mark Geragos is calling the jurors liars and worse.

You can say you disagree with the grand jurors, but to call them corrupt is an outrageous smear.

The whole case makes America look bad.  There is nothing good about it, and last night's exposition in Missouri was flat-out disgraceful.

Period.

And that's the memo.