American criminal law trials are decided in favor of whichever of the competing attorneys spins the most compelling story that resonates with the consensus bigotry of the jury. Now that Kyle Rittenhouse has been acquitted of three shootings with two murders of unarmed Black Lives Matter protestors, it is time for the US Attorney General, Merrick Garland, to file a federal civil suit against Rittenhouse, for violating the civil rights of the people Rittenhouse shot and killed. This is how the Ku Klux Klan killers of the four Voting Rights Workers, in Mississippi in 1964, were finally successfully prosecuted, after being acquitted of murder, which is a state charge. It is also how O. J. Simpson was successfully prosecuted to win large damages for the families of his murder victims. The previous criminal trial, even with an acquittal, establishes the fact of the taking of the lives and with them their civil rights. Why should the U.S. Attorney General do this? Because it would signal that the Federal Government is not irredeemably White Supremacist, and that it actually wants to be representative of all Americans. Allegiance is only justified to the extent this is true, and that extent is sorely lacking today.
(19 November 2021)

In a statement released today, President Biden said: “we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken.” This seems a pretty clear signal that no Civil Rights suit will be filed by the US Attorney General.
(19 November 2021)

The purpose of the American Police and Justice/Legal System is to preserve and protect the status quo of a white supremacy racist and patriarchal country. Besides outright oppression, there is much deception and P.R. applied to this purpose. But, it is also important to remember that though “villains” come in every shape, age, color, ethnicity and socio-economic ($) class, there are also “heroes” and “good people” from every one of those categories as well — just not enough of them by a long shot.
(17 November 2021)

Another triumph of American White Supremacy: the 14th Amendment (“equal protection”) is voided by the Color Line. I do not pledge allegiance, and I will remember all of this when next drafted into jury duty.
(19 November 2021)

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My wife and I have been binge watching the ABC series (2014-2020) ‘How To Get Away With Murder’, streaming on Netflix (a new thing for us, in 2020, after no TV of any kind since about 2004).

What I find intriguing about this show is that it is a chained murder soap opera heavily laced with extensive social justice stories and courtroom speeches, all made commercially viable and popular by liberal use of hyperactive sex scenes, fast-paced hyper-dramatic emotionalism, cast inclusivity by all parameters (black, white, Latino/Latina, Asian, Muslim, gay, straight, bi, every possible permutation of those), fast-paced “gritty” violence, glitzy ‘hip’ (sic) modernism/colloquialism/argot, with a crew of millennials front and center, along with an Academy Award winning actress (Viola Davis, the lead) who is also producer/executive producer (which undoubtedly was essential to getting the original ABC approval and funding), and – excellently – a large number of African-American actors/actresses who are: strong, pivotal, quick, sharp, superb with language (from the King’s English all the way to ghetto, downhome and jailhouse argot), eye-appealing when that is necessary for the stories, and both “heroes” and “villains.” Even with the many exaggerations and razzmatazz for commercial appeal, the show has managed to really blast away (mercilessly) at many injustices in American society. I think the show is a good example of the entertainers behind it using their professional skills to really put out strong and timely social justice messages while simultaneously cutting good paychecks for themselves. Of course, one could instead argue that they are somewhat cynically exploiting popular social justice hopes (of the Barack Obama type of “hope and change” longings) to capture “audience share,” but I don’t think that is the case.

Because of our binge watching of this show (6 seasons of 15 episodes each = 90), those social justice issues (as expressed really vividly in the show) have been much on my mind.

Viola Davis is the star and standout performer, the whole series is built around her as an actress, and around her character. She’s phenomenal. Excepting her, my favorite characters are “Frank Delfino” and “Bonnie Winterbottom,” they have enviable fortitude. My favorite hairstyle for “Annalise Keating” (Viola Davis) is her last one.

I’ll be thinking of this show the next time I’m called to jury duty.

https://www.netflix.com/title/80024057

(16 November 2021)

One of the biggest and recurring targets of the ‘Murder’ show was the large over-representation of African-Americans in America’s jails, and as America’s victims of homicide by police (and framing by the Justice system: local, state and federal).
(19 November 2021)

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How to Get Away With Depicting Social Justice in Hollywood
19 November 2021
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/11/19/how-to-get-away-with-depicting-social-justice-in-hollywood/

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