I am on the press release mailing list of a number of organizations. I don’t know how I got on some of them as they are far afield from what this blog deals with. For example, I get a lot from the Council on American Islamic Relations dealing with Confederate statues in North Carolina which they want removed. I don’t quite get the connection between Muslims and the Confederacy but so be it.
One group who has been sending me press releases on a regular basis is the League of Women Voters. In my naivete, I had long assumed they were interested in getting people out to vote and urging a fair examination of the issues on the ballot. That may have been the case years ago but it is not the case now. If the press releases I have been getting over the last few years are an indication, they have moved from the middle of the political spectrum much (much!) further to the left.
The latest press release I received from them involved the Kyle Rittenhouse trial and the verdict of not guilty on all counts. After pondering why they were even sending out a release on an issue far removed from voting, voting districts, or gerrymandering, I read it.
From their release:
“Today justice was not served for Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, who should still be alive.
“We are saddened and disappointed, but not surprised. Too often our justice system fails to hold accountable wealthy or white antagonizers while disproportionately over-policing and incarcerating people in Black and brown communities.
“Our justice system is in desperate need of repair. Our national obsession with firearms is out of control. Today sets a dangerous precedent that armed civilians can take to the streets and incite violence. America has had yet another wake up call. How many more lives must be lost unnecessarily?”
Excuse me? WTF?
Rosenbaum and Huber were both convicted felons whose crimes led them to serve time in prison. That they intended to kill Rittenhouse or cause him severe bodily injury was established by the evidence.
The rule of law worked in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. A jury listened to the evidence and deliberated for almost four days. In the end, they decided that he defended himself as is allowed by law. The only incitement to violence was done by the rioters.
The only thing the League of Women Voters has shown by this ridiculous press release is that they are far removed from middle America. That and they have no use for the rule of law which is the basis of this American republic.