What the Callout of the Wisconsin National Guard Ahead of the Rittenhouse Verdict Tells Us About America Today

As noted here, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has sent 500 Wisconsin National Guard troops to Kenosha in anticipation of violent rioting there if Kyle Rittenhouse is acquitted. This news was expected by everyone and accepted as commonplace, because it is taken for granted virtually everywhere these days that when the anti-American Left doesn’t get its way, it resorts to violence. And so even as Biden’s handlers’ administration continues to insist that “white supremacists” are the biggest terror threat to the nation today, Leftists continue to prove that in reality, they are.

Evers, of course, gave no hint of this has he called out the Guard, issuing a statement that was full of the usual blather:

We continue to be in close contact with our partners at the local level to ensure the state provides support and resources to help keep the Kenosha community and greater area safe. The Kenosha community has been strong, resilient, and has come together through incredibly difficult times these past two years, and that healing is still ongoing. I urge folks who are otherwise not from the area to please respect the community by reconsidering any plans to travel there and encourage those who might choose to assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights to do so safely and peacefully.

One thing is certain: those who need to be implored to exercise their First Amendment rights “safely and peacefully” have no respect for Evans or his impotent exhortation, and they have no intention whatsoever of behaving in a safe and peaceful manner if Rittenhouse is not found guilty. They are of the same mindset as the Hollywood Leftists who have been busy condemning Rittenhouse over the last few days, regardless of the solid evidence that has been presented that he acted in self-defense.

As Breitbart noted Thursday, “stars including Dave Bautista, George Takei, Rosanna Arquette, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Bravo’s Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi have taken swipes at the 18-year-old defendant during his trial for the murder of two people during last year’s Black Lives Matter riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin.” Bautista tweeted: “Fuck that kid!” Arquette declared: “Kyle Rittenhouse is a murderer. The End.” Takei said of Judge Bruce Schroeder, who has repeatedly rebuked the prosecution for the shoddy job it is doing: “A deplorable example, indeed.”

These reactions indicate the fact that Rittenhouse, because he fought back against violent attacks by Leftist rioters, has earned the enduring hatred of the Leftist elites, and must be punished whether he is guilty or not, because he is a symbol of resistance. If he had been a black Leftist acting in self-defense against a gang of violent conservatives, one of those mythical gangs of MAGA-hat-wearing thugs that the Left conjures up in its paranoid fantasies, he would have been celebrated as a hero by the same Leftist elites who are calling for his head now.

As far as they’re concerned, the actual evidence in any given case takes a back seat to the identity of the people involved. Those who are members of one of the Left’s protected victim classes – a woman, or a racial minority, or a Muslim – is ipso facto in the right, and if the other party is a white male, he is in the wrong, no matter what.

If a white male such as Kyle Rittenhouse is found on the basis of the evidence not to be guilty after all, then comes the rioting, accompanied by claims that the verdict was rendered only in light of the defendant’s supposed “white privilege.”

In reality, the only privilege that exists in American society today is Leftist privilege. If you are a member of the Leftist political or media elite, or of one of the protected victim classes, then you are absolved of any responsibility for your actions. Think of Hillary Clinton and her emails, Hunter Biden’s obvious influence-peddling, Ilhan Omar and her marriage to her brother, and so very many other examples.

And backing up this privileged position above the law is the prospect of violent riots if the Left doesn’t get its way. So if Kyle Rittenhouse is indeed acquitted on Monday, watch for Leftist rioters in Kenosha to brutalize and victimize innocent people in the same way they accuse Rittenhouse of doing, and to avoid any prosecution as a result. It’s the way America works today.

Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch and a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He is author of 23 books including many bestsellers, such as The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades), The Truth About Muhammad and The History of Jihad. His latest book is The Critical Qur’an. Follow him on Twitter here. Like him on Facebook here.