Thursday, January 07, 2021

We The People

 So, here's an interesting bit of legal maneuvering: Attorneys for Travis and Gregory McMichael are requesting that the man they shot and killed with a shotgun, Ahmaud Arbery, not be referred to in court as "the victim." If you are unfamiliar with the case, this is the father and son who were captured on video chasing down Ahmaud Arbery, the victim, in their trucks and murdering him. Additional video shows that no medical attention was give to the victim, Ahmaud Arbery, as he lay on the street bleeding to death. Attorneys for the McMichaels, the murderers, are asking that prosecutors be prevented from referring to Arbery as a victim in order to prevent the jury from reaching a conclusion before the matter is deliberated upon. William “Roddie” Bryan, the man who recorded the incident and was also subsequently charged with murder, said that Travis said, “f—ing n—–” after firing his shotgun. The use of those epithets will, no doubt be obscured from the jury's hearing as well. The victims in this case will be kept free of all that prejudicial evidence. Evidence of prejudice. Like the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. 

Meanwhile, a million miles away in a kingdom created by a former game show host, the victim card is being played with reckless and shameless abandon. A great portion of the country, millions of Americans, are willing to swallow the pill that says that the loser of November's presidential election is the real victim here. Not the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have died from COVID-19. Not the millions who have waited for government relief or those who face eviction while the emperor dances around naked with his fiddle. The former game show host who bet it all on the limited attention span of his followers is the victim here. At leas that's what his attorneys would like us to believe. His attorneys would, while we're at it, like us to believe that they are the victims as well. Flouncing about from one super-spreader even to another, complaining loudly and clearly because their mouths are unobscured by masks, that when it comes to victims, they are at the top of the heap. 

Meanwhile, the true victims, including Ahmaud Arbery, continue to suffer just out of range of the cameras and microphones. Attorneys for these folks continue to wish that they had access to the same network coverage that the former game show host and his attorneys get. I looked it up. Here is the definition: "a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime, accident, or other event or action." Add the American people for the past four years to the list, but let it start with Ahmaud Arbery. 


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