Hello again, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of Freedom's Creed. Today is November thirtieth, twenty twenty one, and I hope you're having an incredibly fabulous day. I really do. I have actually been inconsistent with the podcast over the last probably six weeks or so, and for that I apologize. The reason for this inconsistency, and it's no excuse, but it's just reality, is that I moved. I moved from one state to another. Yes, I crossed state lines. Great, isn't it? That's the beauty of America. We can pick up and move and go to another place whenever we want to. It had been 12 years since we last moved, and so time was a great healer, I guess, because it caused us to forget what it's actually like to move. And frankly, how much I just despise moving. It's a lot of work, it's a lot of planning. And no matter if you have a company move your belongings or you do it yourself, it's still a very challenging time and a very difficult time, just getting to the point where you can reestablish your new residence, which is what we've now done. And so for that reason, I should be more consistent with the podcast, devoting Tuesday and Friday as the days that I will publish episodes of the podcast. And so I know how I like to be consistent in the things that I do day to day. And I know you're probably no different. You like to plan for the things that you do from day to day. And I hope that as you plan to listen to the podcast, that it's something that you're doing on a consistent basis, either Tuesday or Friday or both, and that you're actually enjoying the podcast, and that it's something that you look forward to listening to, because I certainly look forward to actually producing them and publishing the episode. So thank you very much for listening. I've thought a lot about this episode, and as you'll notice from the title, if small word, often huge consequences. It is true. And we often look at the things that we do on a daily or weekly or regular basis, from year to year, even, and who hasn't thought to themselves, you know, if I had just done this, that may not have happened, or if I had chosen to do this, that probably wouldn't have happened. We've all done that. We've all taken the time to sort of second guess or say, hmm, if I just hadn't done that, and I may not have had that problem. It's one of those things where we just can't live our lives second guessing the choices that we make on a daily basis. We just can't live our lives that way. But I get it. It's human nature, I suppose. We tend to second guess some things, not necessarily everything that we do. If we're second guessing everything that we do, then there may be a deeper-seated problem that we're not aware of or just not conscious to, or we just haven't allowed someone to make that uh point to us or to point that out to us, I should say. Nevertheless, really, no matter who you are, you've had a situation, at least once in your life, where you second-guessed yourself and said, Hmm, if I hadn't done that, it happens. We do it sometimes. And you know what? Life goes on. It doesn't mean it's the end of our existence. We just try to do better and we try to minimize the times where we have to go back and analyze what we have done by saying, if I had only made that choice. What I want to talk about right now and for the rest of the podcast is actually something that was in the news, very prominent. Most everybody heard about it, and that is not just the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict, but what led to the verdict in that case. As an individual looking at this particular case, I sort of in my mind played out these different scenarios, which undoubtedly any defendant in our judicial system has done. Such as, what if he had just not shown up in Kenosha, Rittenhouse, that is, if he had showed up maybe with out a firearm, or if other people hadn't approached him and actually assaulted him, what would have happened? There's a lot of if scenarios here, and I'm sure he played those out in his mind as well as other people played those if scenarios out in their minds as well. When things happen in our lives, as I said before, we can't live our lives second-guessing everything we do, saying, Oh, what if? It just doesn't help us in any way, which is not to say that you don't regret some of the decisions that you made, but all of us make dozens and dozens of choices on a daily basis. When we choose to do something, we accept the consequences, whether they're intentional or even the unintended consequences of our actions. We simply can't control outcomes, generally speaking. If there is unrest or rioting or looting or violent demonstrations, etc., and we choose to be involved, we accept the unintended consequences of that choice. And evidently in the state of Wisconsin, it's not against the law to open carry, to open carry a firearm, which obviously Rittenhouse had a firearm that night. And if he hadn't, he would probably be dead right now. One thing is for sure, we cannot know all the potentialities of everything we choose to do, even when we're doing something that is an everyday occurrence, whether we're working or shopping, driving, staying at home, or a hundred other different choices. And what about the fact that we can't control the choices or the actions of other people? Life can be very unfair. People get hurt, even killed, every day through no fault of their own. My sister is just one example. Over seven years ago, she made a choice to visit her two new grandkids and help out her son and daughter in law. She may still be alive had she not made that choice. She died in a head on car accident on her way to be with those new grandchildren. You don't think I asked myself questions about that particular incident, that horrible accident? Yeah, I did. If she had left five minutes earlier or five minutes later, if she had chosen to go on a different day, at a different time. If it's never ending, ladies and gentlemen, we have to at some point stop beating ourselves up over the fact that if this hadn't happened, then this may not have happened. In the end, we just don't know. If again, if but if a certain thing didn't happen, who's to say that another choice would have caused something else to happen that was equally tragic and something that you just could not have prepared yourself for? Life delivers some of the most potent and heart-wrenching consequences. And for us to second-guess decisions that were made, or to say, if I had just done this, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Life's too short, ladies and gentlemen. We just can't afford to do that. And if we are doing that on a consistent and regular basis, then I urge you to talk to someone. Talk to someone who knows you, talk to someone who doesn't know you. If you need professional counseling or help, then get it. There's no shame in that. But we should all be able to have somebody to talk to so that we can realize that we're being too hard on ourselves, and that hopefully another individual can reinforce the positive and the good that happens in our lives, and just helps us to realize that, hey, life happens. Sometimes things happen that are just out of our control, and there's nothing that we can do about it. It's yeah, it sucks, but it happens. So getting back to the Rittenhouse case, what does all this and so much more mean? I'm not a lawyer, and neither is most of the people who have commented on the Rittenhouse case since the verdict. Some people want to compare it to other cases, which for the most part, it just can't be done because every case is different. Yeah, there's precedence in cases, but in criminal cases like this, it seems to me that they're all different. They may have similarities to them, but they're all different. In all reality, the only people whose opinion mattered really was that of the jury in the Rittenhouse case. We have to be reasonably confident that the jury were not chosen to decide public opinion or whether there would be some kind of rioting if a certain decision wasn't reached, or what happened in previous, even similar cases. Their job was to decide the fate of one person based on the evidence that was presented. And the state's job was to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Rittenhouse was guilty of murder. According to the jury, the prosecution failed in its attempt to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Rittenhouse was guilty of murder, and that indeed, as the jury determined, his was a position of self-defense. Period. It's interesting to me that in cases like this, in this particular case as well, the way that a lot of people demonstrate or express themselves after the verdict, I'm forced to ask myself, what does the verdict of this individual, whether guilty or acquitted of a particular crime, have to do with you personally? It has nothing to do with anyone else. The only person that it impacts is that person, the person's family, the victims, and the victims' families. Now, you might say, well, no, it does impact society as a whole. Does it? And if it does, how does it? I'm not saying that there aren't consequences of such actions, but each of us are in a position to control what we think or say or do about anything, this Rittenhouse case included. If we simply give in to our rage and anger, then we're no different than the animal kingdom. And that's probably not the popular thing to say, but I don't care. What I care about is the truth. And the truth is that each of us needs to be in control of ourselves, not go out in the streets and act a fool, tearing up property, hurting other people, doing all the things that will not change the verdict one iota, but indeed will change the outcome of our society because people become more hardened. They become more aggressive in their attempts to make themselves known and to make their feelings known. Ignorance of the law and ignorance of our judicial system is no excuse to carry on like you have no sense at all. It it makes no sense at all. Our system of judicial governance guarantees that we have the right to have defense, we have the right to face our accusers, we have the right to have a jury by our peers, and let the facts lead where they may lead. But all of us, if we're alleged of a crime, have the right to be defended and have the right to have the facts come into play, and if those facts come out that we are indeed guilty, then so be it. If the facts come out and a jury decides that we are acquitted, then so be it. In either case, the rest of us need to live with that because it's the same system that we'll be judged by if we're a defendant and we're accused or alleged of a particular crime. So I would think that most of us would like to have the greatest leniency if we're the defendant. In other words, to have the system work on our behalf, indeed, if we are innocent, if we are proved guilty of a particular crime, then we live another day to appeal that verdict. I'll tell you what's amazing and incredible to me, post-Writtenhouse verdict, and that is, at least not that I've heard, maybe isolated cases, but I've not heard of any vandalism, any destruction of property, or any rioting that was associated with the outcome of that verdict. So hooray for us, I guess, right? I don't know why that didn't happen, but I'm very thankful that it didn't. And I'm sure the people in and around Kenosha, Wisconsin are grateful as well. I think all of us are grateful that none of these things took place. But here's the reality in this case. There's no real winner in this case, or any case like it. The families of the victims, the families of the defendant, and others will never be the same. And at the risk of being elementary, the lives of all the people involved have been altered forever because of one word. That word is, and you've probably guessed it, if. There's one if that I haven't touched on, and that's this. If all the people who went out to demonstrate in Kenosha, Wisconsin back in August of 2020 had decided to just stay home, to just do something else, none of this would have happened. Now, I get it. The amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment, guarantees the right of the people peaceably to assemble. We've talked about that before on this podcast. I'll continue to talk about it on podcasts going forward, because it's an important element of our liberty and of our freedom. But peaceably assembling is quite different than looting, destroying property or businesses, setting fires, and general mayhem. It wreaks havoc on a community and changes it forever going forward, that's to be sure. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to end this episode with a poem written by Rudyard Kipling, and I think it was written to his son, and it's entitled If and it goes like this If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too, if you can wait and not be tired by waiting, or being lied about, don't deal in lies, or being hated, don't give way to hating. And yet don't look too good nor talk too wise if you can dream and not make dreams your master, if you can think and not make thoughts your aim, if you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same, if you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken, twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, or watch the things you gave your life to broken, and stoop and build 'em up with worn out tools, if you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch and toss, and lose and start again at your beginnings, and never breathe a word about your loss, if you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn long after they are gone, and so hold on when there is nothing in you, except the will which says to them, Hold on. If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, or walk with kings, nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, if all men count with you, but none too much, if you can feel the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run, yours is the earth and everything that's in it. And which is more, you'll be a man, my son. End of quote. And as always, if you can think it, you can plan it. If you can plan it, you can do it.