Dear Friends,
Me: “Charles, what should we talk about this week? COP26? CO2 pipelines? Infrastructure bill?”
Charles: “Nah, let’s talk about the Rittenhouse verdict.”
Me: “Sigh.”
File: A Kyle Rittenhouse supporter in Kenosha Wisconsin.jpg” by Lightburst is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
Perhaps nothing highlights the disfunction in our country more poignantly than the Kyle Rittenhouse homicide trial. Charles, callers, and I dissect the case during this week’s Forum. LISTEN HERE, FEEDBACK WELCOME.
Charles believes the verdict was the correct decision, and says, “How this case became a question of white supremacy or second amendment rights I’m unclear about. It’s a discussion that should revolve around the danger of this perversion of the notion of self defense.”
Yes, for sure, stand your ground, castle doctrine, and similar laws are part of the problem. But to me, the Rittenhouse case was as much about race as it was about guns. As one of our callers, Jon, points out, “This whole thing happened in the context of racial protests.”
On the flip side, another caller, Joel, argues, “It was very clearly a case of self defense. Rittenhouse was obviously being attacked. He was helping to protect his grandparents’ gas station after the local government told the police department to stand down and let the rioting proceed.”
Yeah, but, as caller Del points out, “What about the state of mind of the parents? Who would send a 17-year-old to a protest out of town with a gun?”
Back to Charles’ point, caller Tony asks, “How do we fix the law?”
That’s a good question, and a tough nut to crack politically. Charles says, “The gun lobby and the NRA have blood on their hands, and it’s a fantasy that more guns will make us safer.”
Me: “Is there a silver lining in this cloud?”
Charles: “I’m waiting to see what happens in Georgia with the Ahmaud Arbery case. I don’t see how the jury can not convict.”
Yes, regardless of whether you feel racism played a role in the Rittenhouse case, it was clearly pivotal in the killing of Arbery. While the Rittenhouse trial should be instructive on the need to reform America’s gun laws, the jury’s ruling in the Arbery case will say volumes about our country’s progress on addressing the scourge of systemic racism.
Also on this week’s program, Kathy Byrnes joins me for our Food and Farm segment: Children of the corn, and asparagus, and okra, etc. That segment begins at the 53:14-minute mark.
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Ed Fallon