On Kyle Rittenhouse and Excusing Shitty Behavior

I wish I could say that I was surprised. I’m not. It ended exactly as I expected it: with a full acquittal.

I know: I should have expected more. Been a little more hopeful. Been a bit more positive. But I knew better. Because this kind of thing has been happening for years. Hell, it’s even happened in my family, for Primus’ sake.

We’ve seen this for years: a white guy does something completely shitty and everyone rushes to absolve him. “He was having a bad day.” “That’s not how he really is.” “He had to have been radicalized.” A thousand different excuses. The same garbage behavior. You might have heard the same justifications in your own home when it came to your racist uncle or abusive grandpa: victims of their times, others will say. It’s not their fault. They just don’t know any better.

We’ve seen it all before, with the Planned Parenthood murders. With every young white man who picks up a gun. With every domestic abuser who chokes the life out of his partner. With every guy who kicks the family dog until it’s lying in a bloody heap on the floor. With every drunken frat boy who assaults an unconscious victim.

It’s not their fault. Have a little sympathy for them.

This is the end result. This is where it all leads. I could see it coming, simply because I’ve seen it before.

I’ve lost friends because of this. I had one of my closest friends from high school claim I was being whiny when I started to peel back the layers and reveal some of my mother’s abuse. “At least you had one” was her quip.

You can see why I finally dropped her. I’ve dealt with a lot of toxic people. I don’t think I should deal with them anymore. But I could see the decision, the jury’s verdict, from miles away. Because I’ve seen it before.

There’s some hope, at least. There will be civil suits. On top of that, this guy had his behavior excused; he’s probably going to do something else that will ping law enforcement’s radar. Or, he’ll pick a fight he can’t win. These guys don’t know how to quit when they’re ahead and just keep pushing until all sympathy is lost. By that time, it’ll be a bit too late for him.

Human justice sucks. Sometimes, it’s the universe itself that figures shit out. Just ask Rush Limbaugh.