Empty Seats At The Thanksgiving Table

Empty Seats At The Thanksgiving Table

– By Ed Kociela –

When the nation sits down to Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday there will be 19,379 empty chairs as a result of the most gun violence killings in two decades in the United States last year.

Even a pandemic was not powerful enough to bring America to its senses and stop the killing.

There will again be one less serving of turkey and the fixings for the families of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, both killed by a then-17-year-old vigilante named Kyle Rittenhouse who ostensibly took to the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin to protect a used car lot during a Black Lives Matter protest last year.

Now, it doesn’t really matter, apparently, that the cars were already moved and protected by the time the killer arrived. Rittenhouse was there in full video game drag — backwards hat, a backpack, sneakers, and blood in his eyes — as he marched on the dark streets to defend “Murica” with fellow vigilantes who took it upon themselves to hand out a little street justice to protesters assembled in outrage after a white Kenosha cop shot Jacob Blake, 29, a Black man seven times — four in the back, three in the side —  with his service revolver. The wounds paralyzed Blake.

It doesn’t really matter that Rittenhouse wasn’t solicited by the business owner to patrol the car lot. He inserted himself into the picture, crashing this violent party with an AR-15 style Smith and Wesson rifle with a fully loaded 30-round magazine.

And, it doesn’t really matter, I guess, that Rittenhouse tried to pass himself off as a medico. Of course, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that EMTs do not carry military-style weapons into the streets when they try to save lives.

What mattered, apparently, was the fact that some fresh-faced punk was willing to go out into the streets and do something about “those people” who had the nerve to protest the horror and vulgarity of a cop shooting a man seven times.

Of course, we know what became of Kyle Rittenhouse.

Thanks to a huge assist from a clearly deranged judge who laid down vicious attacks on a prosecutor trying to bring justice to Rittenhouse for cutting down Rosenbaum and Huber the kid got off last Friday when a like-minded jury found him not guilty of murder charges. They bought into Rittenhouse’s faux tears and bad acting when he claimed he shot the men in self-defense, all the while casting sideways glances at the judge and jury as he went through his act to make sure they noticed his breakdown.

I’m not buying it.

None of it.

The kid knew what he was getting into when he loaded his weapon, took to the streets, and started looking for a target. He knew damn well that he was going to drop the hammer at the slightest provocation, that he would become an instant hero in redneck circles.

So, he placed himself in harm’s way.

He walked the streets, stalking his prey.

He carried his weapon in a threatening, harassing manner and…and…and…when the time was right, started squeezing off the rounds that killed Rosenbaum and Huber and severely injured Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, who was armed with a handgun, but had enough wits about him to not take any lives.

“That’s not the kind of person I am,” Grosskreutz said during testimony. “That’s not why I was out there. That’s not someone I am and not someone whom I’d want to become.”

His good judgment cost him 90 percent of his bicep when Rittenhouse shot him.

Rittenhouse, however, hit the jackpot. He is the new poster boy for the MAGA-crazed right, getting offers of intern jobs from House members Madison Cawthorn, North Carolina, Matt Gaetz, Georgia, and Paul Gosar, Arizona.

Cawthorn, in offering the job, told his Instagram followers to “be armed, be dangerous, and be moral.”

Gaetz said Rittenhouse would be a pretty good Congressional intern, that he “might reach out to him to see if he would be interested in helping the country in additional ways.”

Gosar, who received a House censure for posting an anime video on Twitter about killing liberal Congressional colleagues, said he would arm wrestle Gaetz to get dibs on Rittenhouse as a Congressional intern.

Of course, Rittenhouse was also the darling of militia groups like The Proud Boys, with who he partied while out on bail. There was also video evidence of him being part of the self-proclaimed militia that took to the streets of Kenosha during the unrest.

Yeah, we need somebody like that walking the halls of the House of Representatives.

What Rittenhouse does with the remainder of his life remains to be seen, but I would imagine there are police departments across the country eager to recruit him. Or, he could go the profitable route with books, a movie, and speaking engagements for far-right events and organizations. Sort of a one-man MAGA geek show, if you will. Who knows, he might also surface at Fox News, where he could become a commentator or even host. It wouldn’t take much brainpower to share a stage with Sean Hannity or Tucker Carlson.

I don’t think the military will come knocking on this wannabe’s door. Today’s military has standards and I doubt Rittenhouse would measure up.

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a day when we express how grateful we are for the blessings in our life, large and small.

It is supposed to remind us of our responsibility to love and share with our brothers and sisters, how to live in peace, love, and harmony.

But, for the families of 19,379 victims of gun violence — including the kin of Rosenbaum and Huber — the empty chair at the table Thursday will be a harsh and shattering reminder of how we have violated our contract with decency, our link to humanity, our commitment to morality.

And, all the turkey and pumpkin pie in the world will do nothing to erase that hollow feeling.

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