Jacob Blake was gunned down in the front of his car while his children watched in the back seat. Seven bullets tore through his body, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
Jacob Blake was unarmed. And black.
The shooter was a white officer of the Kenosha, WI police department.
Oh hell no. Not this again.
Protestors took to the streets.
So too did Kyle Rittenhouse.
Kyle Rittenhouse is not a policeman or a National Guardsman. No, Kyle is just some white guy with a gun who took up his rifle and joined a militia effort to protect the good people and the property of Kenosha, WI.
The results of Kyle Rittenhouse's efforts to protect the good people and the property of Kenosha, WI were to shoot three protestors, 2 of them fatally.
Fox News and other right wing mouth pieces are hailing Rittenhouse as a patriot, a hero.
"Thank you, Kyle Rittenhouse, for defending Kenosha, WI."
By the way, Kyle Rittenhouse is 17 years old and had to be driven to the protests in Kenosha by his mother.
"Mom! Can you drive me to Kenosha? And have you seen my rifle?"
Kyle got all worked up about the threat the protestors posed to the good people and the property of Kenosha, WI after watching Fox News and listening to Donald Trump.
Speaking of that lying sack of lard...
Donald Trump decided to go to Kenosha even though the mayor of Kenosha said not to go there.
Donald Trump did not meet with Jacob Blake and his family. Apparently the Blake family wanted their lawyer present for any such meeting and Trump has an aversion to any lawyer that isn't there to work for him.
Trump did claim to meet with the Blake family's pastor. The Blake family issued a statement they don't have a pastor.
Jacob Blake has received calls from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, offering their sympathy for his plight and promising justice will be done.
Trump's sympathies are with the police who put 7 bullets in Jacob Blake's body.
Despite the fact that Kyle Rittenhouse killed 2 people and had no legal authority to act as a protector of the good people and the property of Kenosha, WI, Trump has not denounced Rittenhouse for killing 2 people but has offered his sympathies to the 17 year old who was apparently under threat when he killed those 2 people.
Apparently a protestor threw a plastic bag at him or something?
What's happening in Kenosha WI captures in one place and time what is happening across a nation rivened by racial disparity and under the alleged leadership of a tone deaf "president" failing to grasp the problem or the solution.
The shooting of Jacob Blake is the latest example of the egregious and disproportionate use of force by the police against people of color.
I am reminded of a sequence from Life, the Universe and Everything, the 3rd book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. We are introduced to Agrajag who has run into a peculiar recurring problem with reincarnation. In each life, Agrajag's demise is the result of some action taken by Arthur Dent. Such details are normally lost to time and memory in the normal course of reincarnation. But when the same damn thing keeps happening every single damn time, it's hard not to notice and it's expected one might become rather upset by it. Agrajag has decided he will have his revenge on Arthur Dent.
It doesn't go well. Agrajag dies again. And yeah, it's kind of Arthur Dent's fault.
Back to the real world, for African Americans being shot by the police, well, when the same damn thing keeps happening every single damn time, it's hard not to notice and it's expected one might become rather upset by it.
Of course, people are going to be angry.
Of course, people are going to rise up and protest.
Except...
If you're Donald Trump and his legion of snivelling sycophants, the protests are the problem, not the shootings that prompt them. This is why pundits like Tucker Carlson were on TV pleading for mercy and understanding on behalf of Kyle Rittenhouse. It's not his fault that protestors were out on the street endangering the good people and the property of Kenosha, WI. If the protestors would just stay home, then Kyle Rittenhouse could've stayed home too. The two people who were killed by Rittenhouse are the ones responsible for their deaths.
Jacob Blake gets shot 7 times by the police and somehow it's his fault.
Kyle Rittenhouse shoots 3 people, killing 2 of them and somehow it's not his fault.
We're living in a world turned upside down and I wonder if we can ever get it back right side up again.
__________________________
Here is something from legendary comic book writer, artist and editor Larry Hama with some questions for would be militia types who would take it upon themselves to be protectors of life and property.
I'm pretty sure Kyle Rittenhouse couldn't answer yes to any of those questions.
And by the way, Larry Hama knows where of he speaks. Before writing a recording setting number of G I Joe comics, Hama did his time with the United States Army Corps of Engineers from 1969 to 1971 during the Vietnam War, in the 18th Engineer Brigade as a firearms and explosives expert.
And I'm fairly certain Larry Hama didn't need his mom to drive him to Vietnam.
__________________________
A lot of this debate seems sadly familiar. Like what happened in Charlottesville VA when a right wing nut case killed a protestor and all Trump could bring himself to say was there was "violence on many sides".
I'm linking up to a clip of Tina Fey talking about Charlottesville but it's sadly relevant to what's happening in Kenosha today.
Donald Trump decided to go to Kenosha even though the mayor of Kenosha said not to go there.
Donald Trump did not meet with Jacob Blake and his family. Apparently the Blake family wanted their lawyer present for any such meeting and Trump has an aversion to any lawyer that isn't there to work for him.
Trump did claim to meet with the Blake family's pastor. The Blake family issued a statement they don't have a pastor.
Jacob Blake has received calls from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, offering their sympathy for his plight and promising justice will be done.
Trump's sympathies are with the police who put 7 bullets in Jacob Blake's body.
Despite the fact that Kyle Rittenhouse killed 2 people and had no legal authority to act as a protector of the good people and the property of Kenosha, WI, Trump has not denounced Rittenhouse for killing 2 people but has offered his sympathies to the 17 year old who was apparently under threat when he killed those 2 people.
Apparently a protestor threw a plastic bag at him or something?
What's happening in Kenosha WI captures in one place and time what is happening across a nation rivened by racial disparity and under the alleged leadership of a tone deaf "president" failing to grasp the problem or the solution.
The shooting of Jacob Blake is the latest example of the egregious and disproportionate use of force by the police against people of color.
I am reminded of a sequence from Life, the Universe and Everything, the 3rd book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. We are introduced to Agrajag who has run into a peculiar recurring problem with reincarnation. In each life, Agrajag's demise is the result of some action taken by Arthur Dent. Such details are normally lost to time and memory in the normal course of reincarnation. But when the same damn thing keeps happening every single damn time, it's hard not to notice and it's expected one might become rather upset by it. Agrajag has decided he will have his revenge on Arthur Dent.
It doesn't go well. Agrajag dies again. And yeah, it's kind of Arthur Dent's fault.
Back to the real world, for African Americans being shot by the police, well, when the same damn thing keeps happening every single damn time, it's hard not to notice and it's expected one might become rather upset by it.
Of course, people are going to be angry.
Of course, people are going to rise up and protest.
Except...
If you're Donald Trump and his legion of snivelling sycophants, the protests are the problem, not the shootings that prompt them. This is why pundits like Tucker Carlson were on TV pleading for mercy and understanding on behalf of Kyle Rittenhouse. It's not his fault that protestors were out on the street endangering the good people and the property of Kenosha, WI. If the protestors would just stay home, then Kyle Rittenhouse could've stayed home too. The two people who were killed by Rittenhouse are the ones responsible for their deaths.
Jacob Blake gets shot 7 times by the police and somehow it's his fault.
Kyle Rittenhouse shoots 3 people, killing 2 of them and somehow it's not his fault.
We're living in a world turned upside down and I wonder if we can ever get it back right side up again.
__________________________
Here is something from legendary comic book writer, artist and editor Larry Hama with some questions for would be militia types who would take it upon themselves to be protectors of life and property.
I'm pretty sure Kyle Rittenhouse couldn't answer yes to any of those questions.
And by the way, Larry Hama knows where of he speaks. Before writing a recording setting number of G I Joe comics, Hama did his time with the United States Army Corps of Engineers from 1969 to 1971 during the Vietnam War, in the 18th Engineer Brigade as a firearms and explosives expert.
And I'm fairly certain Larry Hama didn't need his mom to drive him to Vietnam.
__________________________
A lot of this debate seems sadly familiar. Like what happened in Charlottesville VA when a right wing nut case killed a protestor and all Trump could bring himself to say was there was "violence on many sides".
I'm linking up to a clip of Tina Fey talking about Charlottesville but it's sadly relevant to what's happening in Kenosha today.
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