Jack Kerouac infamously wrote: ‘There was no end to the American sadness and the American madness’.
American exceptionalism has always been something that I strongly believe in. It is my belief that the United States of America created the greatest nation in human history.
I believe strongly in our ideals and freedom. I also believe that, despite all the strife and division of the last five years, there’s still no better place or time to be.
Having said that, 2020’s notorious summer of madness certainly tested my optimism.
The summer of Covid lockdowns saw the death of George Floyd and the subsequent destruction of American small-businesses and cities.
Journalists would stand in front of burning buildings and call it ‘mostly peaceful protesting’.
This week, there were many Wisconsin businesses that had been boarded up by the town in fear of further damage or rioting.
The verdict would be delivered later in the week. Protesters were seen arguing outside Kenosha County Courthouse Tuesday.
After Kyle Rittenhouse’s conviction of murder, protestors took to the streets on Friday
Covid was clearly and immediately a danger to our health. Unless you were protesting systematic racism in which case it may not have been a problem.
Violence was defined as speech, and speech was not. Rioters who set fire to property or businesses of innocent victims were given money by celebrities, while owners and workers of the wrecked business got nothing.
Statues were destroyed and not a single part of our historical past is to be appreciated.
The police stopped going to crime-ridden communities because they didn’t believe they would be supported either by their citizens or their city commanders.
Discussions on TV networks and liberal elite magazines included serious thoughts about defunding the police, with social workers being sent to the people who dial 9-1-1.
This was the year of total and complete madness. That was the year I lost all faith in my ability to live with my baby boy, soon to be born. This was the season I worried there wasn’t much left on which progressives could agree with me. It was the summer I my husband and I promised each other we would never pay taxes in a state where we couldn’t legally keep guns in our home.
It is an historical landmark that illustrates a gap between generations and cultures I cannot believe will be closed in the near future.
Even though many people have made progress in their lives, it’s hard to forget what this summer did to the country.
We relived the most dark and macabre moments from that summer’s Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial.
He is accused of killing two people and shooting the third in Kenosha last year, during Kenosha Riots.
Kyle Rittenhouse (17 years old) is seen with his gun in Kenosha, during the August 2020 riot.
The trial for the 18-year-old was held earlier in this week.
Rittenhouse wept during his testimony
As he was being swept from courthouse after Friday’s verdict, the teen smiled in his SUV.
Kyle’s lawyers claimed that Kyle acted in self defense. Prosecutors tried to portray him as a naive lunatic who had no respect for life.
He was portrayed by the liberal media as a white supremacist or militia member. That false portrayal was reinforced publicly even by Biden, then-candidate.
The video footage at Rittenhouse’s trial showed Rittenhouse being attacked by rioters, and not peaceful protestors. Every participant was also white. To put it bluntly, the event was a complete mess. This is the kind of mess that highlights the serious divisions in perspective, ideology, politics and the fact that the country has been divided in half.
At the time, I thought again about how Americans had neglected an entire section of America’s population.
Particularly, because of a culture rot that has ravaged America over the last decade, there are now a few Americans who feel that all other options to making their voices heard is to burn down buildings or destroy towns.
There are children who, like Kyle Rittenhouse, are deluded and lost. They believe they have the power to end violence by taking control of their lives – even if that means losing their lives.
The ‘protestors’ who destroyed Kenosha will never have my respect, understanding or compassion. Their logic was the same as that of terrorists attacking our country. I don’t see any reason, one or another that would convince me to think that destroying lives and businesses is the best option.
However, Kyle Rittenhouse, who was far too inexperienced and young to have been involved with that kind of riot, had a semi-automatic gun. I wonder what his parents and Rittenhouse thought would occur. It was evidently nothing positive.
The cops and authorities should have done this job, but politics made it difficult for American cities to offer peace-keeping help.
Why has common sense, which is a basic expression of common sense, become so political?
The right-leaning commentary is trying to portray Kyle Rittenhouse in a kind of hero vigilante. As if Rittenhouse knew that his victims had terrible criminal histories. Commentators from the left, on the other hand, are calling Kyle Rittenhouse racist, white supremacists, and psychopath. They are crying on stage for the jury.
Both sides are so repulsive to me, I cannot tell you.
Regardless of whether you are a Republican or Democrat, the events in Kenosha this summer will forever be etched into our collective history.
Even though Kyle Rittenhouse was cleared – and may enjoy some fame for a time – the truth is that his entire life has been ruined. While he may find a cure, this is the thing that will make him most famous for the rest his life.
This was an awful tragedy that affected all parties and a tragic loss for the country. There should not be any celebrations.