What, exactly, is Rodney King’s legacy? He represented, more than any other person, America’s obsession with what I call the Cult of the Victim.

Let’s face some brutal truths. The only reason King is famous is that he got a beatdown from Los Angeles cops that was recorded on video. And he got that beating, let’s recall, because he’d led police on a high-speed chase while driving under the influence. He was on parole for a robbery conviction at the time.