I find myself feeling bleak on what could be a perfect day. The sun is shining, and the wind is lacking in the ugliness we saw from it last week. It should be an occasion to celebrate. Yet, I find myself wondering if the pleasantries of the day are wasted upon our species. Homosapien. We bask in the beauty of the world before reducing it to artificial lawns, ash, golf courses and state-run prisons.

Indeed. We’ve taken a paradise and within a few centuries, reduced it to a dying celestial being. Of course, you can’t talk about climate change in this country without experiencing a tantrum from those who believe the world is only a few thousand years old. These were the same types who fought to keep evolutionary theory out of the schools, and they are the same legion who would rather see children die in mass shootings than lift a finger to their lord and savior, the AR-15.

Sure, this is only one model, but if I took the time to list every weapon favored by the Right, I’d have reached my word limit, accomplishing nothing more than creating a bizarre and rather violent sexual fantasy for all of the gun-crazed masses.

Owning a gun is one thing. Hell, I’ve fired a few in my lifetime. The difference between us and them is the fact that they favor the survival of the weapon over the life that it’s helped to take.

That is unless your name is Rittenhouse. Then, both you and the weapon avoid any punishment.

Ah yes, we’ve stumbled into that rat’s nest, folks. The Rittenhouse trial is nothing short of a disaster in morality. Without a conviction, we’re allowing the nation to embrace a vicious sense of vigilantism. The nation won’t need a well-provisioned militia, but instead it will simply rely on the mob mentality. Rather than organized, well-trained units moving under orders, we’ll have the insane, roving death squads that resemble something out of Escape from Los Angeles or the killing fields of Cambodia and Haiti. Today’s America would look appealing to the Khmer Rouge and the Tonton Macoute.

While I find myself angered by this disaster of our judicial system, I can’t say I’m surprised. How often have we seen white gunmen apprehended alive? How many of the capitol rioters have gone with merely a slap on the wrist? How many times have we seen the Brock Turners of the world get away with rape?

It’s the 21st century, and yet we still see race as a controlling factor on crime and punishment. George Floyd and Breonna Taylor lost their lives. Rittenhouse is being handled with the care one might take with a precious item. Two may have been connected in questionable circumstances, but the other went across state lines with one goal in mind—to take lives.

Sure, we may not be a nation willing to learn about Critical Race Theory, but here we are, watching it in action. Another day in paradise upon this dying planet.