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The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict

Of Guns and Protests - Unintended Consequences
Black Lives Matter Protest
Black Lives Matter Protest

Kyle Rittenhouse is a metaphor for the state of the United States today. That is, corrupted almost beyond repair. That is, describable only in the expletive deleted parlance of contemporary American entertainment.

Not guilty on all charges. This is the final fruit of a tree so diseased as to be almost unrecognizable. The deepest root of this tree is the completely unforgivable attempted murder of Jacob Blake in August of 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Blake, unarmed, was shot four times in the back while reaching into his vehicle in response to a police demand for identification. This is just one of a number of police shootings of blacks, so frequent as to almost seem like a perk.

Duh! So people protested. Thank God someone somewhere finds this objectionable. Of course, protests, especially those in reaction to grievous mischief by the police, tend to get out of hand. Indiscriminate damage is often done, and opportunists take the cover of the event to behave in a criminal way.

Never mind. To the rescue comes a macho teen who thinks assault weapons are "cool," and it would be ever-so-neat to carry one into the middle of this maelstrom to aah, let's see now, hmmm, protect property! Yeah, that's it. And maybe render some first aid. So he arranges to have a weapon bought for him because it is illegal, (oh please say it's illegal) and has a friend stash it for him so he can play in the protest with his great big, very cool persuader and be able to protect himself while he is saving the world. Let's be clear. There would be no killings, no arrest, no trial, no "self-defence," but for the existence of the AR15, the provoking element in everything, unless you count the child deciding to mind other people's business in another state, but I get ahead of myself.

Well, don't you suppose some folks took exception to this teener slinging military hardware around and acting all puffed up to the point where folks want to strip this damned stupid thing away from him. WHO THE…sorry, I lost it there for a minute. What is this kid doing with this beastly weapon? (For that matter, what is ANYONE doing with this, I digress.) So in the course of the ensuing action, ALL driven by the fact of the gun, little Kyle shoots three people, killing two and grievously wounding one, then parades down the street brandishing the killing tool and NOT CRYING crocodile tears. That comes later.

He is arrested and tried, which immediately brings out the shower, the haircut, the new suit, white shirt and tie and faux-respectful behaviour, just a, I don't know, kid next door? He prances into the courtroom with his SURPRISE new best friend. Here come the Judge. Here come the Judge.

The Judge, the friendly Mr. McGoo, opines that the dead people who were trying to disarm the LITTLE BOY with the killing machine are NOT TO BE CALLED VICTIMS! Call them whatever else you want. The Judge, who wants every kid in America to have his or her very own AR15, rules out the charge of a minor having such a weapon, just in case it would give the jury any ideas about guilt. The Judge, very nearly an accessory to murder, also decides to berate the prosecutor at every turn, so everyone will know whose side he is on. And after the boy takes the stand and NOW cries and sobs and puts on a blubbering show that exceeds anything I have seen in my too close to a century on this earth, his pal the Judge thinks it would be nice for Kyle, like the son he maybe never had, (Oh Hollywood, where are you?), to get to pick his jurors names out of a bowl just like Alice in Wonderland's favourite Tea Party. So charming. Sweet boy.

So after three days and some, the jury decides to encourage every teenager with a little excess testosterone, or who has been snubbed by the cheerleading queen, or who didn't get a passing grade in Gym or whose father left his mother or who is sick of having to take out the garbage once a week or just has too many zits, to coax a willing and sufficiently stupid adult to buy him some murder mayhem so that he can instantly turn himself from Little Boy to Big Man and teach those parents and cheerleaders and goddam zits a lesson or three.

Who would think this could take place in America where there are EIGHTY MILLION MORE GUNS THAN PEOPLE, where Texas wants to eliminate gun licences but keep driver's licences and, for all I know, fishing licences. Where a citizen is seven times more likely to be shot to death by police than in sweet, pleasant, sorry for being here, Canada.

They asked for it, and they are getting it. How many Kyles are we going to see, all scrubbed up with their haircuts and skinny ties saying yes Sir, yes M'am in order to squeeze out an acquittal? Now let's see if lynching is still just folks in Georgia. This mess has a long, long history, but in other ways, it's just beginning. Good luck America. Probably not.