11-21-2021, 05:26 PM
While I personally disagree with some of the verdicts, I feel he is suffering and going to continue to, for what he did. (I live in SE Wisconsin, so this is fairly local for me. I don't really want to discuss my disagreement with the verdict with those who aren't also locals, so let's leave that part here, and get to my main point is below.)
Rittenhouse no longer has the same set of choices most 18 year-olds do. Sure, some rare opportunities have been opened up to him, but they're all basically the same opportunity (virtue-signaling with a trophy-level political intern by whichever politician gets him), and everyone wants to use him to further a cause. He had to agree to these media deals with Fox to fund his defense--his lawyer's statement--so now he's indebted to them. Talk about a lack of freedom, it's worse than being saddled with an upper 5 figure college debt. His life is basically being run for him right now and the near future.
What percentage of people are going to see him as anything other than either a right-wing symbol for gun rights, or the face of white privilege being efficiently capable of tearing apart a town even further than a police shooting of a black man and the ensuing unrest over fears of racism?
Consider how many universities are likely to come up with a reason to deny him because they don't want the attention. (I'm sure they'll have other reasons, much like when getting rid of a trouble employee who really isn't performing worse than peers and follows company policies, but just irritates the boss.) How many companies will never consider hiring him? Again, there will be a handful that will open up to him, but far more have closed, at least in the short term. His options for life have really thinned for now. Unfortunately for him, the more he lets himself be a symbol of a cause-celebre, the longer these doors will stay closed, and the more likely it becomes permanent. I wonder how long will it be before he really has control of his own life again, if ever.
By the way, anyone remember OJ? And his civil case? Acquitted by a jury for a criminal act doesn't mean Kyle's completely off the hook. He's gonna need that money to defend the civil cases that will be coming. Burden of proof is a lot lower and so is the bar for admission of evidence. Even if Kyle isn't worth much, a civil case judgement could put a lien against future earnings. My point is, these donations are likely to pay for lawyers and a good chance they may turn into a victim's compensation fund.
And he's the one that's going to be dealing with the lawsuits for wrongful death for however long that takes. I don't know if any of you have been sued for injuring or killing someone at that age, but as someone who spent my entire high school years and the start of my college years with a wrongful injury lawsuit hanging over me from a clear-cut situation of defending another person (there were no charges, but if there had been, they wouldn't have been against me), it can be hellish. I expect those suing Rittenhouse to be far more vehement and zealous than those that sued me, so it's likely to drag out for some time.
He's gonna have to keep reliving it because there will be more depositions from different lawyers. We all saw the way he broke down on the stand. He's gonna be forced by interviews and depositions to keep reliving it. Even if he was in the right, it is traumatizing to relive a memory like that. I hope he has some good psychological help ready, to whatever extent he needs it, to survive the next few years.
Rittenhouse no longer has the same set of choices most 18 year-olds do. Sure, some rare opportunities have been opened up to him, but they're all basically the same opportunity (virtue-signaling with a trophy-level political intern by whichever politician gets him), and everyone wants to use him to further a cause. He had to agree to these media deals with Fox to fund his defense--his lawyer's statement--so now he's indebted to them. Talk about a lack of freedom, it's worse than being saddled with an upper 5 figure college debt. His life is basically being run for him right now and the near future.
What percentage of people are going to see him as anything other than either a right-wing symbol for gun rights, or the face of white privilege being efficiently capable of tearing apart a town even further than a police shooting of a black man and the ensuing unrest over fears of racism?
Consider how many universities are likely to come up with a reason to deny him because they don't want the attention. (I'm sure they'll have other reasons, much like when getting rid of a trouble employee who really isn't performing worse than peers and follows company policies, but just irritates the boss.) How many companies will never consider hiring him? Again, there will be a handful that will open up to him, but far more have closed, at least in the short term. His options for life have really thinned for now. Unfortunately for him, the more he lets himself be a symbol of a cause-celebre, the longer these doors will stay closed, and the more likely it becomes permanent. I wonder how long will it be before he really has control of his own life again, if ever.
By the way, anyone remember OJ? And his civil case? Acquitted by a jury for a criminal act doesn't mean Kyle's completely off the hook. He's gonna need that money to defend the civil cases that will be coming. Burden of proof is a lot lower and so is the bar for admission of evidence. Even if Kyle isn't worth much, a civil case judgement could put a lien against future earnings. My point is, these donations are likely to pay for lawyers and a good chance they may turn into a victim's compensation fund.
And he's the one that's going to be dealing with the lawsuits for wrongful death for however long that takes. I don't know if any of you have been sued for injuring or killing someone at that age, but as someone who spent my entire high school years and the start of my college years with a wrongful injury lawsuit hanging over me from a clear-cut situation of defending another person (there were no charges, but if there had been, they wouldn't have been against me), it can be hellish. I expect those suing Rittenhouse to be far more vehement and zealous than those that sued me, so it's likely to drag out for some time.
He's gonna have to keep reliving it because there will be more depositions from different lawyers. We all saw the way he broke down on the stand. He's gonna be forced by interviews and depositions to keep reliving it. Even if he was in the right, it is traumatizing to relive a memory like that. I hope he has some good psychological help ready, to whatever extent he needs it, to survive the next few years.