County Fair in Pomona, CA
Sometimes I see a graphic that’s a little goofy and think, “That’s going to be a story worth telling someday.” I was going to save this one for George. Turns out this is a story about George, but it’s about me, too (#metoo). I need you to settle an argument for me.
I don’t think a lot of men realize how carefully women are taught to avoid confrontations with predators. In the social “food chain”, women know they are prey to the stronger, hungerier sex, which are men. It’s just a fact and we accept it. It’s not fair, but the “fare is in Pomona,” i.e. there is no “fair” in this life.
I used to spend the summers with my grandparents in San Diego where my grandfather, my mother and I were all born. My male cousin, Jamie, who was a little older than me, would also stay with us and I remember pouting every night he would get up from the dinner table and join his friends to walk to Jack-in-Box for tacos. “Boys are always hungry,” I was told. That part I could see. Tacos weren’t the only things boys were hungry for, though. That I couldn’t see. Not yet, anyway. All I knew was that it didn’t make sense that Jamie could be out until 10:00, but I couldn’t go out after dark. It’s “not fair,” I complained.
There were other rules that didn’t make sense, either. Like how Jamie could fall out of bed, putting on the same t-shirt he had on the day before, the same jeans he had worn all week, and leave the house without shoes, especially if he was on his way to the beach. Not me. My grandparents would inspect me up and down like a drill sergeant when I left the house. They worried that my shorts were too tight or my skirt was too short. My grandfather would send me to my room, altogether, if I came out in an eyelet blouse, because he said that’s what prostitutes wore in France during WWI. Certainly, “not fair.”
When I was 15, my cousin had this cute friend who turned out to be my first love. It was 1969, the “summer of love,” and for me it was all that and then some. His name was Robert Martin Van Winkle and he was a lady’s man (even with a name like that). For whatever reason, he thought I was worth pursuing, actually asking me to marry him yet again in 2014. (He said I had 10 years to make up my mind and then the offer was off the table. I hope he isn’t still waiting.) — Not only did he have a mop of brown hair and a smile that earned him “top man on campus” status his senior year, he had a 1969 red Mustang and a boat his uncle had left him when he turned 16. My cousin and his friends had been on his boat many, many times. They always returned home safely and I could definitely swim if I had to, but I couldn’t go with them. No boat rides for me. Again, “not fair.”
It’s a “dog eat dog” world. When two dogs meet, there is always one who has to roll on its back and with a weird, little grin, nervously wag its tail as if to say: “I know you could hurt me but I’m doing everything possible not to provoke you.” The more dangerous one, BTW, is never the one on its back.
The sexes are like that, too. Women are taught that men are not to be provoked. We are figuratively “on our backs” from the get go. Our mere presence is often a disruption and we must be contained and swaddled in shrinkwrap packaging, because “something might happen.” Boy, did my grandparents drill that into my head. The “don’t go looking for trouble” was a common theme. Yet again, “not fair.” Why should I have to worry about provoking someone for being me.
You think those meddlesome street terrorists are everywhere? Try being a woman. Women have to worry about not provoking half the population. Let that sink in for a moment.
There was day when it was not uncommon for men at a construction site to gather together when a woman walked down the street, literally stretching their arms through a chain link fence, like a bunch of zombies looking to take a bite of your flesh, catcalling and whistling, and saying things like, “Hey, baby, where you going? I like those heels. Why don’t you walked them back to me so I can rub your feet?” This was alway followed by a raucous “hardy har har” at the woman’s expense.
My point? We women have had our share of people in our faces, grabbing and groping, but we don’t go looking for it. We do everything we can to avoid it. We don’t pack guns in our purses and hang out at construction sites so we can provoke a bunch of stupid men as an excuse to kill them.
So the question I have for you “Georges” out there is why does it make sense for a vigilante to walk into a powderkeg of a situation with a very visible AR-15? Is that not a provocation?
George has a lot to say about how vigilantism is reasonable. He says, “We should be able to be where we want and do what we want without people threatening us because it’s not fair.”
Yeah, I get it. I’ve lived with the “it’s not fair” thing all my life. But just like a matador who waves a red cape in front of a bull, or a woman who walks to her car in a tight red dress after the bar closes, waving an AR-15 in people’s faces is probably not the smartest thing to do unless you’re hoping someone is going to get hurt. Two people are dead, as in: “they’re not going to be waking up tomorrow or any other day after that.”
How does that make sense?
Was there a man with an AR-15 out there looking for an excuse to kill people? That’s motive and first degree murder.
Yes, I know the story is unfolding. And yes, I heard Rittenhouse was a self-proclaimed “medic” out there to help people, blah, blah, blah. I say “blah, blah, blah,” because real medics wear clothing that identify themselves as such and they are prohibited from carrying weapons. Rittenhouse did not identify himself as a medic and he could not (would not) hide that rifle. That kind of weapon is perceived by the greater population as capable of leaving a massive amount of carnage in its wake, as almost every mass shooting we’ve heard about as of late has been associated with it. I could see people believing he was out there to mow people down and in an attempt to disarm him, hit over the head with a skateboard, throw a bag of something (anything) in his face, try to grab his rifle or even pull a gun on him to stop him before he shot up the street. I’m not saying that’s what happened. I’m saying I could see it happening that way.
Frankly, George, had you been there, I could see you trying to disarm him, too. But enough about that.
I also say Rand Paul and his wife were tempting fate when they separated from the crowd and walked down that isolated street, stopping to answer questions, giving the building crowd an opportunity to inform the nearest mercenaries where they were, putting himself, his wife, and all those police officers in danger. I bet his wife gave him an earful when they got home. Couldn’t they have gotten out of there without incident like all the other invited guests? Did the have to take “the road less traveled” this particular night? Could it have been a deliberate act on his part to garner attention? I seem to recall a bizarre incident he had with a neighbor. Does Rand Paul make a habit of inciting violence in others and then deliberately put himself in harm’s way so he can cry foul? There is something “off” about all this.
But my bigger question, however, is this: Is it fair to provoke violence and then claim you’re the victim?
Because George would argue that it isn’t fair for men to have to live within boundaries imposed by hoodlums and he’ll fight to the death to remove them. – For me, the fair is in Pomona, i.e. there is no fair.
So what say you, my friends? Is the fair in Pomona?
Mrs. Monomakhos
[Editor Note George: This conversation is not over, My Dear. We are going to continue this discussion via Vlog and if you can manage it, we are going to allow the the members of our Blog family to join in to help us settle this matter. More to follow . . .)
More (positive) information on Kyle Rittenhouse: https://youtu.be/AS6s264kAMA .
https://thefederalist.com/2020/08/28/c-span-had-so-many-democrats-calling-in-support-for-trump-that-they-had-to-change-their-protocol/
I think we hit critical mass the last night of the RNC convention. The convention, Kenosha and the assaults on Sen. Paul, etc., I believe, have sealed the deal.
It was bad enough when the Attorney General could not get House Democrats to condemn attempts by rioters to burn the federal court house in Portland. They have incited these people to riot and refused to condemn them up until moments ago when they felt the earth move.
And it did move. The sight of a sitting U.S. Senator being accosted by a mob incited openly by the opposing party – especially given his history – I dare say is a bridge too far. No one has condemned it. Pelosi was calling the opposition “enemies of the state”.
At this rate, Biden will be lucky to carry Delaware.
For men to be effective we must be in a hierarchical ordered brotherhood that is devoted to a set of principles that are worthy and virtuous. Ronin are dangerous to themselves, other men and the rest of society no matter how they are lionized in today’s anti-culture. Vigilantes are not good. Even if they start out OK, they will always end up destroying, not building or defending. Men need to be under obedience to remain virtuous.
Proper restraints on behavior for the safety and benefit of all are neither fair nor unfair. They are restraints that simply exist. They are fulfilled only through obedience. In Christ they can be transformative and transforming of the individual will.
Rittenhouse was not interested in killing anyone and was fleeing most of the time as you can see on the videos taken. He was armed because he was going into a dangerous area intending to protect businesses. Mostly he was handing out water and delivering first aid.
The police knew him and had no problem with him being out there though they declined to deputize him.
That being said, I think he could have found better ways to spend his time at the ripe old age of 17 than defending businesses and rendering first aid in the midst of riots outside of his home state. The only 17 year old I would trust in a situation like that is one under the command of a military superior. He probably lacked the judgment to be anywhere near that area with the AR.
Nonetheless, I absolutely refuse to blame him for anything. I don’t think his possession of the AR indicated that he was itching for a fight, just that he knew that he couldn’t stop rioters from burning and looting with his good looks. Usually a show of force is all that is necessary. If rioters see that you are armed and are standing your ground, generally they will move on.
He was being assaulted during both incidences when he fired. He will not be convicted of intentional murder. Anybody in the legal field knows that charge was laid on him to keep the peace for the time being. Regarding the second assailant, the armed one, he clearly has a self defense argument. I don’t know the law in that state well enough to say about the first assailant, but the idiot was chasing him and trying to wrestle away his rifle. Not smart.
Basically, he showed no aggression except when he turned to fire and was fleeing for his life throughout the entire episode. I can’t see how he provoked anything. And, truthfully, I suspect that the only thing that is going to make an impression on the rioters is when private citizens start killing them. Not hurting them. Killing them.
They get that.
PS: If he’s smart, he’ll just keep demanding a jury trial until they give it to him or drop all charges. You’re not going to find 12 people up there that are going to convict him of anything.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
If these idiots continue to riot, more and more of them are going to die from lead poisoning.
“He probably lacked the judgment to be anywhere near that area with the AR.”
On the contrary, he had attended police camps and appears to have been well trained, both in discipline and in using his weapon.
If you watch the video carefully, the third guy hesitated and Kyle relaxed his stance, but then the guy stupidly re-committed and that’s when Kyle shot him in the arm.
This kid had his wits about him as much as any soldier I would wager. His age means nothing, 17 year olds have fought in every war in history, and not all were trained. Even some trained ones didn’t have such good results.
I agree with everything else. They overcharged him to try and get him to plead to a lesser charge. Don’t do it. Demand a jury until the end. He will get off scot free, as he should. He deserves the Medal of Freedom though.
Having read more about his situation, I take your point. There may even be an exception to the minimum age limit on carrying there as I’ve read in which case he would be 100% in the clear.
There’s a reason the local police had no interest in detaining him even after the shootings.
The analogy with a girl dressing provocatively doesn’t hold water. Though it is sexist, it is also right to say that women have a responsibility to dress modestly but that men have no corresponding duty to avoid provoking other men by not bearing arms. Christ told his followers to buy swords in the Gospel of Luke, for example. Men are expected to be men. The standards are not analogous, except in a feminist worldview.
I think the caution expressed by her is very wise.
It brings to mind an old saying of Froggie origin (possibly from Boulay, Fouche, or Talleyrand) which went, “It was worse than a crime, it was a blunder.”
Everyone needs to cool it.
“It was worse than a crime,
it was a blunder.”
Talleyrand on the execution of Louis Seize.
I don’t disagree with you at all, John. The problem is that one side doesn’t want to “cool it”.
The side that does not cool it will be the one to be more likely get popular disapproval.
I feel bad for the kid, but he should have stayed home. Kill two communist goons and four more will take their place. You’re both kind of right, but I think Mrs. Monomakhos is more right, though I wouldn’t call this murder. Perhaps “premeditated self defense”, if that’s a thing.
Really, the fault lies in the baby boomers who talk up about defending freedoms with homegrown militias and make idiotic Facebook pages like the III%ers with no intention of ever backing that up. Kids take ideology to its fullest extreme. The kid was probably just doing what his elders had romanticized.
I definitely don’t feel bad for the people he shot. They got what they deserved. Good riddance.
Bringing guns to these protests is an all around bad idea. The media and Democrats are just salivating at the idea of someone getting killed so that they can blaze “white supremacist domestic terrorist” across the headlines and forever put it in all the textbooks as though it was something that happened every day. Just look at how they distorted Charlottesville. You look at the way they talk about the Klan, and you would think that the Klan killed hundreds of people and are still hiding in the woods.
And yet we’ve all forgotten about the Steve Scalise attempted assassination in 2017. One would think shooting opposing congressmen would bring the full weight of the justice department down. Same with Maxine “developmentally delayed” Waters calling for people to harass Trump’s staff in restaurants.
So yes, it’s not fair, and it’s not going to change. The leftwing can get away with domestic terrorism, because they are the FBI’s rent-a-mob. It’s better to adapt to the situation than do something stupid to prove a point that things should be fair. Mrs Monkmakhos is (mostly) right. The kid had a bad strategy that can only be counterproductive.
Why should citizens of this country have to adapt to lawlessness? I wish there were a hundred Kyle Rittenhouses in every city. There would have been a generation or two ago, and this would not even be a story.
We are way beyond the point of optics mattering.
AS, you write that “a generation or two ago” there would have been a hundred Kyle Rittenhouses. I fervently believe that in about a decade, there will be a thousand Rittenhouses throughout our land.
To all, I ask that you please understand, that what I just wrote was not something I look forward to all things being equal. It is certainly not ideal. But when Blue-State governors refuse to enforce the law, the natural result is vigilantism. It’s not right, but it’s inevitable.
As Malcolm X said: “by any means necessary”.
That you quote Malcolm X shows how wrong you are. He was a race terrorist whose ideology lives on in BLM. If you want to see the fruit of his ideology, every American city has a part of town that used to be a thriving black business district and is now full of crack houses.
That George quotes Malky Ten does not mean he agrees with him.
To clarify, I don’t mean I wish for a hundred vigilantes or the conditions required for a hundred Kyles to be necessary, but rather a hundred men who are willing to take up the slack that the state has left behind.
If that means policing the streets, the responsibility for the outcome lies with the state, not the citizen who fills the vacuum. They created the conditions for this to happen.
Somebody should let Rand Paul and others know that there are Democrats and Republicans who are buying guns not to shoot at one another but at all the politicians and the ruling class. There are multiple fronts that should be noticed, that can happen when lives are destroyed by the government.
How to weaponize 500 cheap drones on auto-flight in the suburbs by by real suburbanites heading for the homes of the hoodlum politicians is off the radar.
I am a big defender of the 2nd amendment…but my prayer is to never have to fire a weapon if I don’t need to. The leftist Marxists would have to be threatening my home and family…but that’s just me. I feel the kid should have stayed home.
The trouble was he was at work.
He worked at the car dealership?
And what about antifa and blm that was out past curfew, who were out there rioting,, looting and burning innocent peoples homes and business’s who came up behind Kyle with a molotov cocktail and hit him in the head, then hit him in the head with a skateboard and went to do it again while another was grabbing at his gun….he had great control and shot only to defend himself ..when one thug seemed to act as though he was backing off Kyle relaxed…when the guy jumped at him Kyle shot him in his arm. So, if Kyle shouldn’t have been out. There…none of them should have been out there…people are victim blaming on this one
Kyle is a hero. Period.
Since the mid to late 19th century, the people have largely relinquished their right to personally defend their homes and property and entrusted the maintenance of law and order to the police.
The police are now standing down across the country, even while mobs are rising up. The people are taking back their natural and historical role of defending the homes and property of themselves and others.
The right to bear arms is natural and needs no defense, especially in the defense of lives and property. The fault lies with those who harass and attack an armed person, probably expecting they won’t use it.
A person who carries a gun as a prop can be criticized, but not one who carries it as a promise.
Kyle Rittenhouse is a hero and deserves a statue. He did everything right and is a model citizen. He was obviously trained with his weapon and used it only to neutralize threats to the degree necessary. He spared the life of the third guy. He retreated as much as possible before using it, which he was not legally obligated to do.
The fault ultimately lies with the mayors who are allowing the lawless conditions which necessitate the citizens to defend their own cities. In these circumstances, it is never the fault of the citizen defenders in my view.
Sorry, I’m not a George. 🙂
But I completely and empathetically concur with what you wrote here, Gail, about what it’s like to be a woman in a dog-eat-dog world.
I have said to women what you just said about Rittenhouse. If you want to be safer and you don’t want to attract a lot of unwanted attention, then don’t wear that, and don’t go there.
Ever said that to a feminist? I can wear whatever I want. I can go wherever I want. Don’t blame the victim if I get into trouble…
But I digress.
I agree that young Rittenhouse should have stayed at home. But my question is where are his mom and dad? He’s not even an adult yet. How come he even has a gun? It may be legal, and for sure if he has a dad worth his salt, his dad got him a gun and taught him how to use it.
But where is his dad now? As a mom, that’s my question. Where were his mom and dad? How did it come about that he could even be out to attempt to protect businesses, which is what he told Elijah Schaeffer he intended to do in an interview just minutes before the incident…?
https://ussanews.com/News1/2020/08/27/watch-interview-with-kyle-rittenhouse-before-the-shooting-shows-he-was-there-to-help/
Rhonda, this argument is myopic. We have ceded too much ground to the barbarians. We can argue whether Rittenhouse was in the right (and I most emphatically do believe he was in the right) but what do you then say to that poor woman who was minding her own business and eating at a sidewalk cafe in Washington, DC the other day. She was literally mobbed by BLMers who surrounded her and forced her to give the BLM salute. What provocation was she displaying? Nothing.
I would go further and bet $100 right now that she is a liberal Democrat. You see, it doesn’t matter anymore. The golem has been created and unfortunately for its master, it has slipped its leash and is now going on an indiscriminate rampage.
For years now, I’ve been telling people who live in Blue States to move to Red States. That’s not bad advice at all; in fact, it’s quite prudential. Kinda like telling a pretty young woman to not wear a tight red dress as she goes to some bar on the seedy side of town. But why do ordinary Normies who live in LA or Seattle have to up and sell their property and “move to Utah”? Do they have the guarantee that they’ll have a job awaiting them? Why can’t they live in their cities?
Kenosha is a humdrum upper Midwest burg of no known notoriety. Quite Blue in all actuality. And yet the Communists took the fight to them. What good does it do to “escape from New York” when New York will follow you wherever you go.
Rittenhouse is the William Wallace of our movement. Stand and fight. (If you want to move to a Red State, by all means do so, just don’t bring your former politics with you. That’s all we ask.)
George, how can you say that “Kenosha is a humdrum upper Midwest burg of no known notoriety”? I went to college in Kenosha many moons ago and know these interesting facts: Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin; it’s the home of Jockey International, Inc. (many Monomakhos readers probably wear their underwear products!); also the home to Frank’s Diner—the oldest continuously operating lunch car diner in the USA; and, who could forget such famous celebrities like Orson Welles, Mark Ruffalo, Al Molinaro, Daniel J. Travanti, Don Ameche; Nick Van Exel and Alan Ameche? They all were born in Kenosha! So, to be fair, let’s upgrade ‘humdrum’ to ‘borderline humdrum’! 😉
https://hotair.com/archives/john-s-2/2020/08/27/details-revealed-state-vs-kyle-rittenhouse-criminal-complaint/
Rittenhouse’s problem, if he has one, is going to be that he used lethal force defending himself against unarmed attackers. In some places, that’s a no-no. Wisconsin does not have a stand your ground law, but “stand your ground” laws simply relieve a person of the obligation to retreat to avoid using deadly force. Rittenhouse was in constant retreat throughout the entire episode. Wisconsin does have a Castle Doctrine, but Rittenhouse was not defending his home or business during the shootings.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/939/III/48
In Wisconsin, you may use deadly force in defense if you believe that you or a third person is imminent danger of death or “great bodily harm”. That will be his defense and given that he was being chased down during a riot, given the images of violent assault and even murder we have all seen occurring during these events, it will be very difficult to get twelve jurors to unanimously find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The first guy threw something that was interpreted as a Molotov cocktail or IED by bystanders. The second guy was armed with a skateboard (antifa’s second weapon of choice after the bike lock), and the third with a gun. All deadly weapons used without provocation.
He has the natural right to defend the property of another person as well as himself, so it’s a pretty open and shut case.
He should be pardoned and given a medal.
Well, after Rittenhouse killed 2 people, the antifa killed a Joeie’ prayer breakfast member in Portland. Now, of course the violence is on both sides. As for the Pomona fair. I went to the Orange County fairgrounds, and never went there.
well….sorry Mrs., I see a problem with your argument.If a woman dresses provocatively and is raped, do we blame her for the rape?
IMHO, whether a woman is dressed provocatively, if she is raped, a crime still happened and it needs to be prosecuted.
Feminine modesty is always the correct way for a woman to comport herself in public, but that is another conversation.
When politicians hamstring the police to prevent them feom stopping terrorists and thugs then it has become a civil war even if there are periods of civility between the riots. The fault is with the rioters who think they can turn this country into beirut. Your fair analogy is misplaced.
What you have to ask yourself is, whose side are you on? Are you truly excusing the attack of Kyle Rittenhouse? He had it coming? He was asking for it? So using that logic, we could say that all of the recent attacks against the Police were justified. After all, they’re armed. They’re just asking for trouble. I believe Ted Wheeler has been using that same logic in Portland all Summer, and look how well that’s worked out for him. Carrying a gun is not a provocation, it’s a warning. The warning says, “Watch out! I’m dangerous. Don’t mess with me, because you *will* get hurt.”
Have a listen to what was being said in Washington D.C. just last night. You don’t want to defend this kind of thinking.
https://www.theblaze.com/news/blm-leader-calls-for-violence-against-police
Oh boy… First of all, Kenosha is basically in my backyard, and we went to the OCA parish in Kenosha until the bishop let it fall apart. (They’re down to a weekly attendance of about nine, when even the bishop will “let” them have 20 in these Covid-19 days).
Secondly, Kenosha may be the last “suburb” of Chicago, but being in Wisconsin, it’s a different culture. A lot of former Chicago people move to Kenosha because of that, and while the city of Kenosha is relatively blue because of this, the surrounding area definitely is not. No, it’s not Coeur d’Alene, with 200 guys standing around with rifles when the BLM people came to town, but there’s still a streak of self-reliance and love for the outdoors and such in the area. There’s nothing inherently scary about seeing a kid with a rifle in this neck of the woods, because a lot of people have learned young how to use them responsibly. (Ask me about rifle team at 14 in Chicago!)
Third… the whole “across state lines” thing is stupid. Throughout the Chicago suburbs, and especially along Lake Michigan, you’ve got a bunch of small cities or larger suburbs that serve as the smaller local hub. Kenosha is one of the larger ones, and is surrounded by Winthrop Harbor, Antioch, and Zion in Illinois and Pleasant Prairie in Wisconsin that belong to the “Kenosha group” of municipalities. Further south, the municipalities kind of center around Waukegan, further north, Racine. So although Rittenhouse was from Antioch, Illinois, he worked in Kenosha (having worked there earlier that day). The people he killed, although residents of Wisconsin, lived much further away. West Allis is west of Milwaukee, at least 45 minutes away, and Paddock Lake, while not ridiculously far, is probably at least as far as Antioch. Rittenhouse had more of a reason to be in Kenosha in the first place than any of them.
As for the line of thought that says “don’t attract trouble”. As a female, I get that, and it’s not a bad line of first defense in normal times. However, by that line of reasoning, there’s some excusal of bad behavior when trouble does come looking, and there are times when it inevitably does. Did Rittenhouse have to be there? No. Did he do anything illegal when he was there? From all looks of it, also no. That is what the court case must be about. The Pauls? Second-guessing them here shifts blame from real violence to the choice of street to walk on? Is that how we want to live our lives?
The fact of the matter is, we can spend all our lives trying to avoid trouble, and still end up with it following us. Your grandfather’s eyelet blouse is another’s headscarf, is another’s burqa. Who is correct? Who makes those rules?
FWIW, my friends in Kenosha are scared, but many of them are the types who have armed up as well. I don’t expect that they will be patrolling the streets like Rittenhouse, but they’re not going to step aside if and when the mob comes knocking. And eventually they do come knocking.
Another thing, Rittenhouse is only 17 and they did chase him. Probably, he should not have came with a shot gun. Also, the murders at Chaz/Chop which had less covered by the media were done by other guys. The left blames the Joey’s prayer boys coming to Portland why one got shot by a leftist on the other side.
Cynthia, I don’t disagree with you about him not having sported a rifle in public. But where was the outrage when Field Marshall Chaz Cinque (whatever) of CHAZ/CHOP was patrolling his little caliphate in Seattle? The dumb-ass mayorette of Seattle said that that little foray in secession was more like a “block party” which might turn into a “summer of love”.
A little consistency would be much appreciated.
The fact that we’re not going to get it from the corporate media and the Blue zone authorities is a problem, isn’t it?
George and AS “A generation or two ago” there would have been no need. Order is being broken down. We have relied too much on government especially federal government. The solution is not more federal government but the reestablishment of sound local government. That is exactly, of course, what has failed.
The remedy is not individual vigilante action but a common LOCAL response to restore proper order.
Michael, I don’t disagree with you at all. My Muse and I have been having this discussion as well. The question is not: should we have vigilant societies but why do we have them?
Or more apropos: why isn’t the legally constituted governments of the various states and localities not enforcing order?
We could go on: why are the DAs of the many Blue cities not enforcing bail regulations and treating the whole bail procedure as a revolving door?
We know why the DAs are doing that, because that horrible, evil person Soros spent millions of dollars in the last election cycles making sure that commie-lib-pinkos won election to these offices.
At the end of the day, vigilantism is like halitosis –it’s better than no breath at all.
As if 2019 stats, there are 18.66 million concealed carry permits in the US. In my town of 10,000 there’s a backlog of 2300 new permits to be issued (all the way out to late November). That’s not counting those who already have them. I’m in a solidly blue state and a blue county and a purple city. This is also an open carry state but you will only see it in the more rural areas.
That said, if this young man is prosecuted for being armed as premeditated, the ramifications for all those who carry, openly or concealed, will be broad.
To me it seems more like a “well armed militia” that had to use those arms because the local and state authorities abandoned their posts. Perhaps he should not have been there but has he not, who else would have suffered?
The good news, Fr, is that the MSM narrative against Rittenhouse is collapsing on all fronts. Also, Lin Wood, the heroic lawyer who represented Nick Sandmann is going to represent Rittenhouse pro bono.
I imagine when all is said and done, young Mr Rittenhouse is going to be a very wealthy man.
Good.
Having looked at the indictment, going to disagree. He is going to need a serious criminal defense team. Lin Wood belongs on such a team about as much as George Brett.
Kyle’s defense team would not have released a several page press release giving away their whole defense strategy if they weren’t certain they would succeed. The funds are pouring in to his legal defense fund, last I heard it was just shy of 1 million dollars.
This will not hold up in court. In a sane time (such as even 6 months ago) he wouldn’t have even been arrested.
These outpourings of support for people like Kyle will make DAs think twice about bringing such stupid charges in the future.
AS, much wisdom in your words. For the record, the police in Kenosha didn’t want to arrest Rittenhouse. They told him to “move along”. So he went back to Antioch, Ill (his hometown) and turned himself in there (as I understand it).
Yes, that is what I also have heard.
And it’s worth noting that Antioch IL and Kenosha WI are 15 minutes or so apart. No doubt he travels between the two towns like anyone travels around their own metro area. Much has been made of his “crossing state lines” but both are border towns. And in any case, the weapon never crossed state lines.
We shall see. Seriously, Flavius, you’ve got to stop believing the Corporate Media. At best they’re shills for the Oligarchs. At worst, they’re flat-out liars.
Haven’t we learned our lesson from the Passion Narrative of St George Floyd? Rayshaud Brooks, and now Jacob Blake?
Doesn’t the stunning silence about that young mother who was brutally murdered surprise you by now? Or Cannon Hinant? Or the poor fellow who was stabbed seven times in the neck because he was a random white person? Were there any riots? Was Don Limon on site 24/7?
No. Give it up Flavius, we’re being played, you know it and I know it.
Never forget Cannon Hinant or any of the other actual innocent victims of this violence.
These are generally not signs you’re making good choices for your legal team:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-pierce-the-lawyer-raising-money-for-kenosha-shooter-kyle-rittenhouse-was-sued-for-unpaid-debts?ref=scroll
O/T, but how does Archbishop +Paul get away saying such blatantly racist things?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=592&v=pjqqzRVJP8g&feature=emb_logo
Start at 9:40, a few seconds later, “I’ve always been kind of troubled by the fact that that most of our churches in the Diocese of the Midwest tend to just have Caucasian people…” He goes on, twice more bemoaning the fact that the churches are so “white”.
As if we don’t have enough tension between races as it is. As though he hasn’t been a Bishop for years already and done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about this. Ridiculous!
Imagine a bishop unhappy that his converts are the wrong color. What a loon.
Most people in the Midwest are white. With the Archbishop’s pronounced Michigan accent he should know that. Maybe he needs to get out of Chicago and move his diocese to Indianola or something.
AS, the problem with such posturing is that it is just that: posturing.
The bigger question these bishops need to ask themselves is “why?” Why aren’t they evangelizing in the black neighborhoods? Why can’t they set up missions in the inner cities? Land there is super=cheap. Empty storefronts are plentiful. Fr Moses Berry and his followers are treasured resources, all one has to do is ask.
Why indeed? In the linked video, no sooner does Abp Paul bemoan the whiteness of his flock, then he says, “I’m not saying we should intentionally go after Hispanics and African Americans.” I mean, why not? Would it feed into a “white savior” narrative?
If he’s posturing, he’s doing a bad job of it. He’s got a major case of cognitive dissonance pulling him in at least three directions just in the space of three sentences. Nobody wants to see their bishop looking like he doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.
He should at least get his narrative straight in his own head before putting out a video.
The truth is most of them are not one whit interested in evangelization. They don’t even evangelize their own churches – see how many of the children leave as soon as they are able! They whine about “lack of diversity” but refuse to change a single thing that they do, because they don’t want to challenge the “old-timers” at all. They want “diversity” that can be seen, but they only want it if everybody is willing to think the same way that they’d like
“Archbishop Paul get away saying such blatantly racist things?”
Diocese of the Midwest – OCA (49 subscribers).
Nobody wants to bother listening to lukewarm Democratic party whinging, the people who it is aimed at pleasing want scalding hot, and everyone else wants cold.
“What’s interferring with us being more of an option to people of different colors…”
Six months of Covid hoax restrictions for starters. Unless the goal is to accomplish racial parity by bringing down attendance to zero.
Six months of Covid hoax restrictions for starters. Unless the goal is to accomplish racial parity by bringing down attendance to zero.
In the case of the way Archbishop Paul is handling things, I wouldn’t be surprised. If we were still our old OCA parish, I don’t think we’d ever be allowed to come as a family with 5 kids. (Cap 20 people) Friends in the Diocese of the South are being forbidden from coming because the wife works part time in a hospital unit with Covid patients. They themselves have a kid with health issues. If it’s safe enough for her to work there and come home to her kid, who is the bishop to say that none of them can come to church for however long he feels like?
KJR, the Church is not racist but many people are. Quite willing to accept Ethiopians but not Afro-Americans.
I have seen this in my own parish.
Really, Michael, I knew blacks that were like Louis Farrakin that disliked whites. I have read of blacks in Oakland on a school bus make fun of Chinese. This problem is not limited to whites.
Did not say it was. Indeed the people who founded my parish were called “west side Indians” in my town and spit on in the streets. So, I think, they had to look down on some one. It persists.
Such segregation and antipathy is common in the eorld, perhaps the norm. Just because it is common does not make it right. It seems
to be BLM hates whites.
“To hate all but the right folks is an old established rule.”
KJR, I watched that part of the video and I find nothing racist in Archbishop Paul’s comments. I think he handled the topic well. We seem to get our fair share of protestant converts, but what percentage are not european white?
There is a problem in our parishes. It takes perseverance to get thru the doors, as (in my experience) there is always someone with a stick trying to chase you away!
What Archbishop Paul says is plenty racist. Anyone who is “troubled” by the color of someone’s skin is.
However, your point about the parishes is correct. As someone who has been around a bunch of parishes over the years, for the most part, I’ve seen people, in general, bend over backwards to be open and friendly to people coming in and visiting churches. The larger issue is that most churches have their group of old-timers who believe that these churches are “their” churches, in the sense that since they’ve been there forever, they get to call all the shots. These are the people who are usually also kissing the posteriors of the hierarchy, and the hierarchy is generally receptive to this. Therefore, when there are problems in the parishes, these bishops tend to side with the old guard, and the problems never get addressed, the new people leave, including minorities, and the church dwindles down to nothing. Covid-19 has accelerated this process in many cases.
If you want an example of this, look at the OCA parish in Kenosha, which went from a growing parish with 60+ people every Sunday a year and a half ago, complete with catechumens, small children, to a parish with a Sunday attendance of 9 (20 being the Covid cap). How are you going to evangelize to the world if you don’t even care enough to foster harmony to the people already in the parishes?
It wasn’t just Rand Paul. Several people leaving the White House after the final night of the RNC convention reported that they were accosted by the BLM/Antifa mob.
Rep Vernon Jones
https://twitter.com/repvernonjones/status/1300233429825576960
Brandon Straka
https://twitter.com/brandonstraka/status/1299223473009631232
Alice Johnson
https://archive.is/t3Gtm
(This one isn’t coming from Alice herself, so I can’t vouch for it.)
Brandon Straka is the eponymous “liberal who was mugged by reality” –literally. Now, everyone to the right of George McGovern is being driven into the arms of the GOP.
Ironic after a GOP convention celebrating the pardon of Alice Marie Johnson, the “non-violent entrepreneur” who was the ringleader of importing 3000 kilos of cocaine into the country, destroying untold numbers of lives. (But she was well-behaved in prison.)
This from the same Donald Trump who in 2016 praised Rodrigo Duterte for executing drug dealers, but I digress. I’m not a fan of a lot of Trump’s post-2016 pivots on key issues.
Greetings: For much of the article I was thinking that George wrote it. I was wondering: “Why does he keep on speaking in a sort of feminine voice, from the point of view which a woman might see the world?” Then I finally deduced that it was Gailina who was the author. Joke was on me…
After all these years. . .
As for Rittenhouse he is a minor. This is forgotten by the left. In fact the left opposed the death penality years ago for those under 18 years old, but because Rittenhouse killed two black lives matter protesters instead of gang bangers they want to throw the book at him. If he is guilty of first degree murder, he should not be punished the same as a 30 year old. Two, the left ignores the murders that were done at Chop/Chaz. At first they were also blaming right wingers, but it turn out the two black teenagers were killed by those living in Chaz/Chop. Recently, as mention Joey Prayer Breakfast Caravan show up in Portland and blame a leftist came one of them. Granted, these two groups are known to have fought against each other. The left keeps talking about Rittenhouse but ignores the murders at Chop/Chaz and Portland.
CHOP/CHAZ has been totally memory-holed. Until I read your post I hadn’t even thought about it in weeks.
What is fair? I did a word search of the word fair in the Bible. Mostly the word meant beautiful, lovely, good looking. And only God was fair.
I remember as a child crying the “fair” word. And was told that nothing in life is fair. Looking back on 83 years that is now very noticeable. We are all different in many ways and yet the same in others. We can’t make laws based on fairness, because what is fair for one is unfair for another. Life is unfair at birth and remains so. Recently I read an article, can’t remember where, where the author discussed doing this. And he said “It doesn’t work.” So my conclusion is that it is a lie of Satan.