On the Larger Goals of the Left in Bringing Rittenhouse to Trial
Stamping out the right to self-defense
It’s jury deliberation time in the Rittenhouse trial, and while we wait I’ve been reflecting on the big picture of where we are right now. I don’t think there’s any way a case as weak as that against Rittenhouse would have been brought ten years ago and certainly not twenty years ago, and the fact that he was charged at all is a bad sign.
Not that we need any more bad signs. But this trial is a reflection of the ways in which the left has gained power lately, despite the fact that there’s been a current backlash against it.
The left wants power to be invested in the state and the state only, and they intend to be the ones in control of the state – and by “state” I don’t just mean an individual state such as Wisconsin. Their preferred repository of power is the federal government, and they want that power strengthened. That means that the right to bear arms and the right to self-defense must be quashed or at least greatly weakened and that only certain people will be allowed to have that right.
The message is that someone such as Kyle Rittenhouse – a young white man of conservative leanings – is not allowed to have that right. But this trial isn’t primarily about Rittenhouse himself nor is it really about the situation in which he found himself that August night in 2020 in Kenosha. That’s just the pretext. The fact that there is an enormous amount of evidence that would overwhelmingly support his claim of self-defense is just a small obstacle easily brushed aside with a combination of media lies, prosecution lies, and threats to destroy the city if Rittenhouse is acquitted.
To the left, Rittenhouse the person is just a vehicle for delivering the message, which goes like this:
(1) Rioters in causes that the left deems righteous are allowed to destroy cities, and ordinary citizens must lay low and take it. They may not defend property or even their lives.
(2) The most they can do if attacked is take a beating and hope to not be killed, throwing themselves on the tender mercies of the mob screaming for their destruction.
(3) The prosecution of those who would defend themselves goes hand in hand with the lack of prosecution, for the most part, of the rioters. This has the intended result of emboldening rioters.
(4) The MSM and the left will mount a defamatory campaign against their designated enemies (in this case Rittenhouse, but it could be anyone who meets their criteria). That will attempt to taint jury pools so badly that a lack of evidence to bolster the prosecution’s case won’t matter. This is especially true if the goal isn’t necessarily conviction (although that’s desired), because a hung jury will do for the purpose. The principle is that the process is the punishment, and the state will not relent in its pursuit of its quarry – multiple trials if necessary in the case of a hung jury.
Do the prosecutors realize Rittenhouse is not guilty? They may or may not, but they simply don’t care about his actual innocence. He is guilty of being who he is, and that’s enough. Rittenhouse is useful to them as an object against which to stir up hatred and to deter future self-defense from anyone not on the left, which is their larger goal. The individual is nothing; the goal is everything.
[Neo is a writer with degrees in law and family therapy, who blogs at the new neo.]
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Comments
It all started with Zimmerman v Florida in 2013……the case which gave birth to the false narrative of BLM.
It’s called the “illusory truth effect,” a glitch in the human psyche that equates repetition with truth.
“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth” was used very effectively by the Nazis and has been taken over by leftists and is widely used on a daily basis in our country.
Nazi’s and Communists – two sides of the same coin.
Both are socialists.
Both oppose personal freedoms & liberty – they want all power vested in the State..
Both lie – presenting the people with false utopian goals.
Both want to control the world – centralize power.
Both hate any group outside their control.
I wonder which party they belong to. Democrats? No, couldn’t be, CNN says all Republicans are bad with the exception of nice fair, upright, morally superior people like Mitt R. and Lizz C. and a couple dozen other in-name-only bleeding heart people.
Obama did this to the country
In point of fact the NAZIS were – and still are – Leftists, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei AKA National Socialist German Workers’ Party tells us all we need to know.
And they haven’t gone away, as the behaviour of today’s Left demonstrates all too clearly.
Bernhard Goetz
NYC has been keeping its citizens down for a long time. It was ahead of the curve.
Yes. Of course they do.
But that’s irrelevant to them. That’s an objective evaluation and when it conflicts with the preferred neo-communist narrative objectivity is discarded. Because it’s racist, or something. And all that really matters, above all else, is advancing The Cause.
“But that’s irrelevant to them.”
That’s all you need to know. The truth is irrelevant to the people in power in our country.
Quick Question: Is it possible to Overdose on Red Pills?
Asking for a friend.
Carl Drega did. The prognosis is invariably fatal, but fortunately more often than not is accompanied by a satisfying and well-deserved level of collateral damage.
FOCUS ON WHAT THEY DO – NOT WHAT THEY SAY
Progressives are masters of propaganda. Double-speak.
What They Do What They Say
Historic # cross border Border is closed
Promote race centrality Let’s fight racism
Silence during riots We never said we are “for” riots
FBI investigate parents We are not against parents
Censureship of Hunter B. We are for first amendment
Promote neo-racism in schools CRT is not taught in schools
Debacle in Afghanistan Withdrawal operation was a success
There are hundreds more examples.
The question is when is the FBI going to fuel the next riot and how? What is the focus of this. Is it another squirrel moment while they rob the store?
It’s a surprise.
The left wanted a trial and a guilty verdict with the not so subtle threat of riots if there was an acquittal to feed its narrative about “systemic racism”
For a case where the accused and all of the victims were white.
For a case where the accused and all of the victims were white.
BUT – all of the ‘victims’ (wrong word – they were violently rioting as stooges of BLM/Antifa, encouraged by the deliberate absence of police) may have been white, as well as a fourth whom Rittenhouse missed, after his flying kick to Rittenhouse. BUT, it also turns out that all four were veterans of the criminal justice system as well – so each had victimized one or more victims, whom our progressive media go to some lengths not to mention. All the media will ‘see’ is that Rittenhouse was acting to damage those sacred victimizers as they tried to vicitimize him.
I am wondering when store and business owners will decide not to take it anymore and start shooting (back)?
They will look at Kyle Rittenhouse and decide that shooting back is too risky.
A pre-emptive strike on the DA offices might remedy that.
@UserPeabody: They will look at Kyle Rittenhouse and decide that shooting back is too risky.
That’s the purpose of this very trial, and the reason for the desperate misbehavior of the proecutors.
I would also point out that the prosecution has hinted – very strongly – that merely possessing a firearm is “provocation” and negates any claim of self-defense. This feed into the long-cherished dream of the Left of completely disarming the American public (except for the ruling Communist Party and brownshirt groups like Antifa and BLM).
We know their goals. The prosecutor said it openly in his closing arguments. This case is bigger than Kyle. They are trying to set the precedent that if you have a gun, you forfeit your right to self-defense. If they win and convict Kyle, they will run with that. Suddenly, you can’t use a gun for self-defense. So why would you even need a gun in the first place, unless you’re planning to overthrow the government. At which point, they can repeat that statement over and over and raise a generation of kids who believe guns are only evil insurrection tools. After that, it’s way easier to ban them.
This is bigger than one boy who defended himself. They are playing the long game, and their end goal is banning guns.
At this point I am expecting a hung jury, or possibly the jury reaches a compromise on lesser includeds. My money is on a hung jury. It only takes one or two progressives that “feel” Rittenhouse is guilty to have a hung jury. Then it will be interesting to see if ReichsGeneral Garland will prosecute for civil rights violations.
A Federal prosecution for the “Hate Crimes” Civil Rights statute seems pretty well off the table (a White Supremacist kills White males is a hate crime??).
IIRC that only leaves violation of civil rights “under color of law” statutes, which primarily apply to law enforcement and (stretching the statutes) any government official who can abuse the laws to violate a person’s civil rights.
What is the current recommendation for active shooters by the authorities?
“Run, Hide, Fight.”
What did the rioters do? Did they run? Most did. It is a natural reaction. A few, decided to chase and attack to their demise and injury.
Joseph Rosenbaum threatened Rittenhouse with death then chased him through a parking lot.
Anthony Huber used a skateboard to attack Rittenhouse when he was on the ground.
Gaige Grosskreutz armed with a Glock, started to point the Glock at Rittenhouse and was shot in the arm.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s recommendation: ‘Take a beating.’
Was there any indication that any of the three that attacked Rittenhouse were going to stop and end the assault with just a “beating?” Did I miss that part? The mob beatings that I have seen don’t normally stop once the person being beaten is down and out of the fight. The stomping, hitting, kicking continues until the mob becomes disinterested or the police finally show up. Remember Reginald Denny being pulled from his dump truck and nearly killed during the Rodney King riots. There are many more examples out there.
Is there any indication that any of the three would NOT have disarmed Rittenhouse and use the firearm against him?
Would the Prosecuting Attorney accept a beating and not defend himself?
Those are the expectations are in Kenosha, per the District Attorney’s Office: “Run, Hide, but don’t you dare fight!”
Mobs are both violent and inherently unstable. They present unique and volatile threats not posed by individuals nor by large groups of peaceable people.
I was thinking about Zimmerman the other day. He is probably happy, if you can say that, to have had his trial when he did because if it was today there would be no way in hell he would have been found not guilty.
PS. Zimmermans trial was also how I found LI 🙂
Me too.
Same.
I was going to inject some sense here, but then I remembered a rule: “Never interrupt a man while he’s drooling.” Carry on, then. LOL
Their preferred repository of power is the federal government, and they want that power strengthened.
Actually, their preferred repository of power is a global government — which they also want strengthened and in their own hands.
And if humanity ever colonizes space, I’m sure they’ll be wanting a galactic government.
“Miranda…”
Completely correct.
That is why anyone not intending to live in a totalitarian nightmare dystopia needs to fight back and preserve our basic God-given Rights.
Five years ago I said that the entire Oberlin-Gibsons battle was about maintaining the right to use “racist” as their ultimate weapon. Why else spend $10M in lawfare. So it is perfectly consistent to say that the entire Rittenhouse “persecution, not prosecution” was about eliminating the practical concept of self-defense. I think that the libs are about to discover that it has the opposite effect, because the most dangerous person is the one who is backed into a corner. The end result might become pre-emptive self-defense.
They brought it so that self defense could never be claimed against leftist thugs again.
Yet AGAIN, New Neo soundly nails it.
He is guilty of being who he is, and that’s enough. Rittenhouse is useful to them as an object against which to stir up hatred and to deter future self-defense from anyone not on the left, which is their larger goal.
Neo absolutely nails it. It’s dazzling in illuminating our current lefties conscripting the Lenin-Stalin method of derogating any dissidents from the Party line as Wrong Persons who must be put away, by preference permanently, to frighten any possible dissidents of the future.
Rittenhouse is useful to them as an object against which to stir up hatred and to deter future self-defense from anyone not on the left
The prosecution has also been inspired by the multi-billion dollar anti-Trump campaign, which used an elected President, who was supported by half the voting population of the United States, as a hate object. Not just the MSM, but for good measure by the fortunes of Mr. Zuckerberg, Mr. Soros and all their oh-so-progressive woke bazillionaire allies, ringing the gong of hate. A very effective tactic – if you agree with the concept of lynch mobs and mob rule in general.