WTF???
WTF???!!! (What The Fake)???!!! Yesterday, prosecutors in Chicago DROPPED all charges on hoaxer Jussie Smollett???!!! Charges were dropped after Smollett carried out a hoax in which he was, ostensibly, attacked by white men in MAGA hats while spewing anti gay and anti black epithets. The hoax was designed to provide Smollett with victimhood bonafides, smear President Trump, promote his career and, as a consequence, inflame racial tensions. And, in the face of all this, they dropped all charges???!!!
As hard as it is to believe, apparently this is so. And it’s not because the case against Smollett was weak. The two “assailants” identified in the surveillance video, Abel and Ola Osundairo, brothers from Nigeria, turned out to be well known to Smollett. And, they have both testified, UNDER OATH, that they were hired by Smollett himself to stage an “attack”. Not only do prosecutors have the brothers’ sworn testimony, they have other material evidence as well. A check in the amount of $3,500 dollars payable to the brothers two days before the “attack” has been recovered. (Smollett claims the $3,500 was “prepayment” for PERSONAL TRAINER WORKOUTS with the brothers (!), a claim that NO ONE finds credible. Then there are captured emails documenting the scheme. Further, a threatening letter addressed to Smollett a couple of weeks earlier was traced back to Smollett himself. It was decorated with MAGA scribbled on it and contained a white powder later identified as crushed aspirin. Apparently, Smollett faked the threat letter and sent it to himself. When it didn’t generate ENOUGH publicity, he followed through with the fake “attack”! In short, prosecutors had both eyewitness accounts (from the brothers) as well as ample physical evidence to support sixteen felony charges, an open and shut case.
So, WHY were the charges dropped? Well, according to statements from the prosecutors, Smollett is really a good guy, you see. He does work in his community, don’t you know. And, he advocates for LGBTQ rights. Well, that makes it all better, doesn’t it? And, the prosecutors note, Smollett’s crime was a first time offense. (So was Bernie Madoff’s!). And, instead of prosecuting Smollett, the prosecutors say they want to “concentrate” on gun violence! Well, okay then! In Chicago, apparently, filing a false report, committing fraud, slander, robbery and other crimes are OKAY, as long as you don’t use a gun! Go TO it boys! It’s Open Season for crime in the Windy City! Just leave your guns at home!
Now, I think the reader will agree that there is much to say about this very strange case. But, where to start?
Well, first off, many commentators have down played the significance of Smollett’s ruse. “A big publicity stunt” is a phrase I’ve heard bandied about by Smollett supporters. Well, yes, apparently it WAS a big publicity stunt… But, unfortunately, it was much more than that. It was, without exaggeration, a BIAS CRIME. And the bias, in this case, was directed against white people in general, white conservatives in particular, and, via his description of the MAGA hats worn by his “assailants”, Trump supporters. Further, by inference, it was directed against President Trump himself. The hoax was, at its core, racist and vile. And, worse than that, it was DESIGNED to fan the flames of racial hatred. And, in the city of Chicago, which has become America’s murder capitol, fanning the flames of racial hatred is a dangerous thing. The prosecutors say they are dropping the case in order to allow them to “concentrate” on gun violence, but, what they’re forgetting is that anything that deliberately stokes racial hatred in that already dangerous city, could very well LEAD to gun violence.
Another aspect of this bizarre story is the willingness of our media and many other, perhaps somewhat idealistic and/or naive citizens, to BELIEVE the hoax. The idea that a couple or red necks, in bright red MAGA hats no less, were prowling the dangerous and frigid streets of Chicago in the middle of the night in the dead of winter with the intent of assaulting a TV actor SHOULD have raised everyone’s suspicions straight away. But, our gullible media as well as many (well meaning) Americans swallowed the bait, as they say, hook, line and sinker. Because many individuals in the media WANT to see evidence of, what they believe is ubiquitous “right wing terrorism”, skeptical analysis is thrown to the wind, and implausible stories like Smollett’s are given credence.
An unfortunate consequence of hoaxes like Smollett’s, however, is that they cast suspicion on other claims of bias attacks that may be genuine. Smollett has done a huge disservice to the true victims of racial and gender related violence.
This, however, brings up another aspect of this matter that is a bit peculiar. I’m referring to the strange contemporary quest in America for victimhood. It used to be that people were vaguely embarrassed to be seen as victims. I’m not saying this was right, exactly, but the feeling seemed to be that you were supposed to be savvy enough to prevent yourself from BECOMING a victim. In other words, you were not supposed to be walking alone along the dark and empty streets of Chicago in the middle of the night in the middle of the winter, thereby setting yourself up to be a victim of one type of crime or another. As an alternative example, a young woman is supposed to know better that to go up unescorted to the hotel room of a man she does not know well, again to prevent herself from becoming a victim. This common sense attitude seems to have been forgotten, however, and it seems that victimhood has become the highest aspiration, at least for a certain type of person. The twinge of shame that people used to feel when they behaved injudiciously or irresponsibly has, for many people, vanished, and it’s now fashionable to shout from the roof tops how darn victimized you were. Strange.
Now, having discussed the hoax itself, let’s move on to yesterday’s amazing development: the prosecutors dropping all charges. While spokesmen for the DA tried to pawn the dismissal of charges off as a “run of the mill” procedure, it was anything but. Firstly, dismissal of charges in the pretrial interval, for whatever reason, is called a “diversion”. Diversions are rare, but when they occur, it’s usually at the end of a long process of negotiation between prosecutors and defense counsel, and is usually a year into the process or more. In this case, it was EIGHTEEN DAYS. Further, diversions usually involve admission of guilt and some type of restitution. In this case, Smollett not only failed to concede his guilt, he’s been doubling down on just how INNOCENT he is. He offered one of the most ridiculous lines in recent memory: “I wouldn’t be my mother’s son if I committed one tenth of what I’ve been accused of.”! Oh, REALLY, Jussie?… REALLY?… Apparently so!… No remorse…. No accountability. Just self serving and self righteous prattle from a very warped individual. And, as far as restitution goes, he was required to surrender his bail deposit ($10,000) but this didn’t begin to cover the $130,000 in expense his investigation caused the city of Chicago.
Now, another aspect of all this, is the TERRIBLE precedent it sets. For once, I must agree with Chicago’s mayor, Rahm Emmanuel, who stated that the dismissal of all charges against Smollett, tells everyone that, in America, if you are a celebrity or if you are wealthy, you will be treated by the law better than if you are not. And to that, I might add, that if you’re a liberal, you’ll be treated better than if, God forbid, you’re a conservative. A terrible precedent indeed.
Then again, for our youth, it teaches a terrible lesson: that actions, even criminal actions, sometimes DON’T have consequences. A terrible lesson, indeed.
Now, the last aspect of this case concerns what the REAL REASON is that Smollett’s charges were dropped. NO ONE is buying what the prosecutors has so far put forth. So WHAT was it? Now, although this aspect of the case will need much more investigation, there ARE some threads here that are, to say the least, quite SUSPICIOUS.
The most suspicious involves the lead prosecutor, Kim Foxx. It is known that lead prosecutor Foxx’s PAC received $333,000 during her campaign from uber-Liberal George Soros, as well as an additional $75,000 after she won the election. Pretty fishy, isn’t it? And, on top of this rather putrid state of affairs, another liberal operative makes an appearance: Michele Obama’s former Chief Of Staff, Tina Tchen, a FRIEND of the Smollett family, made some well placed texts and calls. Apparently, a number of Ms. Tchen’s texts have been recovered. One of these says how “upset” the Smollett family is with the proceedings, and that they (Tchen and Foxx) need to get together. What happens next is yet to be established, but another text from Foxx, this time to a Smollett relative, said: “I’ll keep you posted.” to which the relative replied: “Omg, this would be a huge victory”, then Foxx ended the dialogue by saying: “I make no guarantees, but I’m trying.” Trying WHAT, Ms. Foxx?… Trying to throw the case, Ms. Foxx?… Trying to get Smollett off, Ms. Foxx?… Something is indeed rotten in the city of Chicago. I expect, and HOPE we’ll hear more about this going forward.
I had planned to write a letter this evening to Attorney General Barr, as a concerned citizen, requesting that the Department Of Justice look into all of this without delay. Smollett’s actions, in my opinion, constitute a bias crime, which would come under federal jurisdiction, as would the fake threatening letter Smollett sent to himself, which would constitute mail fraud. I have recently learned that President Trump beat me to the punch, however, and has requested an investigation along similar lines. I hope that Mr. Barr gives this matter the attention it deserves.