Getting Off

LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, I live in a Facebook bubble, a rather large on in my case, consisting of progressives. One thing you have to say about those Facebook or other social media bubbles, you ed up confined in a very limited self reinforcing situation, which limits intellectual growh, maybe, but, it sure does cut down on the amount of arguing and conflict. There is something to be said for hanging with people that you agree with. Many of the many people on my "frend" list oredicted that the little bastard" as they tended to describe him, would walk, would "get off", would be found not guilty of gunning down two people with an assault rifle in the street of a Wisconsin town. Many people were convinced of it, and already angry about it, before the verict came down. I have no idea how they knew, but,they seemed to know. Maybe it was the way the judge costantly berated the prosecutors and seemed to side with the defense,, or the fact that the defense lawyers did a great job of making the kid look like a victm. "Not guilty" is almost certainlly the proper verdict, based on what information the jurors had at their disposal, which was evidently considerable, inclding video recordings, thanks to smart phones. I recall thirty years ago saying on television that the cops who beat up Rodney King were probably technically not guilty, and boy, did I ever take heat for that opinion, mainly from the African-American community. I assume that the same people who were mad at the accused's impending exoneration are even more angry now, now that the exoneration is a fact. I'm still angry about it, even though, like I said, I accept the very strong likelihood that the verdict, under the circumstances, was the correct one. Many people have asked, quite reasonably, that if a black teenager with an AR15 got into arguments at a Trump MAGA rally and killed a couple of people, would he be found "not guilty?" Most amazing of all, as seeems to often be the case these days, is the reacton by America's conservative community to the situation. If they're not careful, they're gonna turn the little punk into a national hero, and chisel him on Mt. Rushmore, maybe in between Washington and Jefferson. I guess anybody with enough cahonies to show up at a Black Lives Matter protest and blow away a couple of libs is enough to make an ordinary white kid a hero among America's right. Rittenhouse is likely to either become a superstar of FOX News, a Congressperson, or both. Lacking attention is what seems to be the most shocking aspect of the whole bizarre situation of all: that a seventeen year old kid got a fully automatic assault rifle, and got parental assistance in traveling to a Black Lives Matter protest rally carryng the rifle. Nobody tried to stop him or talk him out of it. Whether he had the weapon legally or not seems to be a bit blurry; evidently, basically, he did. To me its alarming that any garden variety high school student can get access to a powerful assault rifle, carry it to a protest rally, and be allowed to do so. The quetion is which is more insane: Rittenhous taking the AR15 to the protest, our society and his parents letting him do it, or the reaction to our society now that the whole episode has been resolved? And of course the most urgent question of all: How many good ole white boyz'll start showing up at future Black Lives Matter rallies, or at other progressive events, openly carrying deadly weapons, fully loaded, ready to go off while protecting businesses, serving as medics, helping little old ladies across the street, or whatever they come for.