What does it say about Republicans that their new hero is an out-of-shape 17-year-old white kid who armed himself with a borrowed semi-automatic weapon that he didn’t have the training, discipline, or emotional maturity necessary to handle effectively, and who inserted himself into an intensely chaotic, emotionally charged, violent situation he lacked the experience and situational awareness to handle, and who panicked when he was overtaken by events he wasn’t prepared to deal with?
I suppose it makes some sense. I mean, these same Republicans support an out-of-shape president who doesn’t have the training, discipline, or emotional maturity to handle his office effectively, and whose lack of experience creates intensely chaotic, emotionally charged, violent situations, and who panics when faced with situations he’s not prepared to deal with.

Kyle Rittenhouse and Donald Trump have a lot in common. They both seem to believe they’re more competent than they actually are. They both seem to share fantasies of being heroic. They both have issues with women. And they both adore Trump. In his defense, Rittenhouse is at least willing to get his hands dirty (no, I don’t mean by shooting people; I mean Rittenhouse spent some time cleaning graffiti off a building — can you imagine Trump doing that?).
What happened in Kenosha is perfectly on-brand for Trump. He values loyalty above competence and expertise (and by ‘loyalty’ I mean ‘boot-licking’ and ‘groveling’ and ‘hero worship’). It’s hardly surprising, then, that Trump and his followers would praise a 17-year-old loyalist for picking up an AR-15 and heading to Kenosha to help ‘maintain order’ in a situation that’s confounded trained police officers. It’s not surprising that Trump, when mayors and governors refuse his unwanted offers of assistance, will encourage caravans of truck-drivers and motorcyclists to invade a community to help ‘maintain order’. Trump is less interested in results than he is in having people follow his orders, whatever they are.
This is the Bizarro world we live in. It’s a world in which Trump can tweet ‘Law and Order!‘ as he fights a subpoena to provide DNA in an alleged rape case (which, if he was innocent, would clear him). It’s a world in which Trump shouts about election fraud even as he refuses to act against a hostile foreign nation that’s actively rat-fucking the election in Trump’s favor.

If Kyle Rittenhouse doesn’t spend the next few years in prison, he’ll very likely have a successful political career with the Republican Party. This is just a guess, but I suspect Kyle is probably more articulate than the president. A few days ago, when asked by the NY Times what his plans were for a second term, Trump said,
“But so I think, I think it would be, I think it would be very, very, I think we’d have a very, very solid, we would continue what we’re doing, we’d solidify what we’ve done, and we have other things on our plate that we want to get done.”
There you go. If you were looking for a reason to vote for Trump, now you have one. He has a plate, and that plate has things on it. One of those things is a 17-year-old boy who’s killed two people. Vote Trump 2020. MAGA.
Wow, talk about petty and childish. What is this Greg, a 12 year old girl’s blog from middle school where she bitches and wines about Sharon’s big butt and choice of clothes? Do you realize how childish you sound here?
You are more concerned about the weight of President Trump and this 17 year old kid than you are about the well documented cognitive decline of the man you do support for president.
You make a TON of assumptions about this kid. You have no clue about his training or how often he used that gun. In the videos I have seen he was carrying it properly and was able to get off shots to stop his attackers while on the ground being attacked, I find that some pretty amazing marksmanship for a young man. Lets not forget he was 100% attacked, he did not go after anyone. Lets also remember these are the same people asking to defund the police in favor of community policing, which is what he was doing, defending his community against destruction. He put out a fire that was going to destroy a business and this is why he was attacked.
But you go ahead and continue the attack on a 17 year old child Greg, it suits you.
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To the claim of Biden’s “well-documented” cognitive decline I will simply argue, “Person man woman camera TV.” (Plus, please show me documentation. Not random opinions, but some sort of test results, please.)
As for the stellar evidence of Rittenhouse’s ability to use a gun, SO WHAT? He had no business taking such a weapon–100% illegally–to such a public gathering. If he hadn’t done so, he wouldn’t have had to shoot anyone in “self-defense.”
I shudder to think what another four years of Trump’s bully pulpit will bring–and when I say that, I especially point to the “bully” part of the term.
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First off Anne, I did not say “Clinically” documented. But you can ask the White House DR. from the Obama years and he has stated that he sees the cognitive decline in Biden. You can turns a blinds eye to the evidence in front of you and hold your nose and vote for the brain dead Biden all you want but you know damn well you are lying to yourself if you think for a second he has all his faculties. If he did he would be front and center daily. he is being hidden by his handlers, nearly all of his talking is script based now and even people are trying to cancel the debates because they are scare shitless of Biden unscripted for 2 hours.
And as for the illegality of Kyle’s gun. What law did he break? You need to be 18 to open carry a gun. Kyle was 17. There are exemptions in the law for long guns, like the one Kyle had, for those under 18 and older than 15. He did not have a hand gun, he had a long gun and it was perfectly legal for him to open carry it.
So you sound like you are blaming the victim. So if a woman walked down the street naked and got raped, you would of course blame her for walking down the street naked and getting raped. You just ignore the fact that Kyle was ATTACKED FIRST. that bit of truth you just 100% ignore.
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Well, what I have seen, open carry for a 17yo in WI is okay for hunting or in the company of a certified adult. But yeah, the laws are so convoluted, who knows? Plus, part of the argument that he was in his rights is that he didn’t carry a gun over state lines (which would have been illegal)–the gun never left WI. But who would just “lend” somebody a long gun?
As for Biden vs. Trump, I’ll gamble on Biden’s cognitive abilities, even if they’re no longer a 40 or even 50yo’s. Trump is barely intelligible–and don’t tell me you actually understand his rambling incoherence. Plus, Biden will not be ruling like a king, as Trump seems to enjoy doing. He barely even mentioned the Congress in his acceptance speech the other night. Who needs ’em? He can do it all by his lonesome! He knows what Amerika needs!
As for your “blaming the victim” charge, um, no–that would be a strawman argument. He shouldn’t have had the damn gun in the first place.
But I already know there’s no sense discussing with you. We are firmly on opposite sides, and no sense will reach across the barrier. I’m sorry. I really am, because I wish we on opposites sides COULD listen to each other. But that’s hard enough to do in person, never mind on separate keyboards. So, over and out. You have a good one.
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Anne I am always happy to listen to truths. You listened to mine when I confirmed the truths that he legally was in possession and could carry the long gun. He had to borrow the gun because he cannot legally own it being under 18 but he can legally use it. So that’s why it is a “borrowed” gun.
And yes, Trump rambles and makes statements that are all over the place at times and this because he is nearly 90% of the off the cuff with not script or prompters.I 100% agree he is not a polished political speaker like Obama was but go back and look at any Obama speaking video when he was not on prompter or had to answer questions he was not prepared for. But that is a far cry different than a man who cannot remember what city he was in. A man who lies about being in jail during a march in Africa. A man who lied about his college degrees. A man who has been caught several times plagiarizing his speeches.
In the end Anne I am about results. If I thought for 1/2 a second that Biden was good for the country, would boost the economy, lower taxes, would put American and her citizens first he would have my vote. But he has stated clearly he will do the opposite of that. Trump is by far not a perfect man and surely not a perfect politician. But he made many promises as a candidate and he is delivering on nearly all of them so far and no other political leader in my lifetime has done that. The man gets results and there is no denying that.
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Wow, talk about petty and childish. What is this Greg, a 12 year old girl’s blog from middle school where she bitches and wines about Sharon’s big butt and choice of clothes? Do you realize how childish you sound here?
Billy, there was a time when I appreciated your willingness to read a blog you disagree with because you made me justify my positions. I’ve always tried to treat you respect and courtesy, even if I believed you were wildly wrong. But lately you’ve been resorting to personal insults and distractions. I have no patience for that.
If you’d like to have an adult discussion, I’ll be open to that. Otherwise, perhaps it’s time for you to move on.
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Greg, I am calling you out on your “non adult” comments in a manner that was equally non-adult. I guess I could burn down a Walgreens and loot a Target if you prefer to help get my message across.
You will notice in Anne’s post I stuck to facts and not childish name calling about one’s personal appearance.
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Woody, it wasn’t his community. The scariest person there was a 17 yo with a loaded assault rifle. The looters should be arrested and charged. By members of the police department. Not a kid.
The kid doesn’t go into that situation with a loaded weapon and two people are not dead and the kid’s life isn’t thrown away like a … Shit, can’t think of a good metaphor. The kid did not need to be there. And Jacob Blake did not need to be shot 7 times.
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The local government is not protecting businesses. The progressive leaders have shown time and time again they will allow the looters and rioters to destroy everything in their wake. They would have burned down a business had it not been for the kid putting out the dumpster fire.
The is NOTHING ILLEGAL in what Kyle did walking down that street with a gun trying to protect businesses. He did not just start shooting people for no reason. He was ATTACKED FIRST. I just love how you guys love to blame the victim.
Again, he was doing nothing illegal.
Jacob Blake should be dead. he is a lifetime criminal with tons of charges against him and he attempted to get a weapon to kill a cop. This is a most justified shooting. All that idiot had to do was stand there and listen but instead he had a knife in his hand and he threatened to get another weapon from the car when he took off.
I cannot get over how much you people love to identify with criminals. You love them all unless of course they are in your backyard then you want them gone. Floyd was another. A lifetime criminal who died from a drug overdose but do not let those facts get in the way of a good riot and looting, gotta get my free shit.
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No, wrong Woody. You are wrong. Forget Jacob Blake here for a second. If you saw an 17 year old black male armed with an assault weapon anywhere doing anything at any time at all you would have a lot of trouble with that. For you to say otherwise is just foolish.
That stupid kid did not have to be anywhere in public with a loaded assault rifle. You argue that the local government is not protecting businesses. The people of color in this country are marching because the federal government is not protecting them.
The protesters are to be protected. The looters and rioters are to be arrested and prosecuted. By police. Not by a 17 year old kid. The kid would not have been attacked if he had not been there and he did not have to be there. I do not identify with criminals. You are wrong. Get a clue.
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I guess you must be a racist then because I would not think that. If I saw a black man with a gun like that, putting out fires, trying to protect businesses from being destroyed I would support him or her 100%.
I guess you are showing your true colors here with your racist assumptions.
Oh and those people were not marching they were destroying. They attacked Kyle while he was expressing his 2nd amendment rights. You claim he had no right to be there, so what law did he break. The protestors had no right to be there as they were trespassing on private property and destroying it and looting it. But of course, you ignore the facts. Kyle was attacked first, you cannot even admit the fact that he was attacked first even though the video clearly shows him being attacked while just waking.
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It’s amazing to me how intellectuals can completely miss reality. But no amount of intellectual speak, rhetoric, and propaganda can cause people of understanding to unsee. For we do the readings, research, and talks with common sense, not waiting for others to think for ourselves.
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What reality has been missed? And who missed it? What propaganda? And ‘unsee’ what?
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That’s exactly the point. Speak and let those who are truly seeking understand. Those who refuse to understand, wish them well and wave goodbye.
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Greg, I hear there is a late contender for the presidency. Do you think he has a chance?
http://donmatthewspoetry.com/2020/10/26/a-late-contendent-for-the-presidency-richard-head/
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