ROGER KIMBALL: The Right Outcome for Rittenhouse, But…:

In the aftermath of the verdict, the meme was supercharged by all the usual suspects. Rep. Jerry “the Waddler” Nadler (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was among the first to suggest the U.S. Justice Department bring federal charges against Rittenhouse since the state charges didn’t stick. I’m sure the ghoulish Merrick “the Moderate” Garland is considering it if only he can peel off enough agents from harassing parents attending school board meetings for the task.

For his part, Biden, though acknowledging his disappointment that the 18-year old wasn’t going to be thrown in prison for the rest of his life, did at first say that the trial vindicated the judicial process and that “the jury system works.” Aides soon began walking that back, however, perhaps in preparation for the Nadler gambit of trying the boy twice.

Neither response, I think, is right. The second response is simply surreal, if offered earnestly, and contemptibly cynical if offered as a Machiavellian ploy in the game of power politics. Overwhelming evidence, including abundant video and first-hand testimony, shows that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense. Had he not shot the three men who were attacking him, first Rosenbaum, a seriously deranged chap, and then Huber and Grosskreutz, he would almost certainly have been killed.

But the first response, the “hallelujah chorus,” is not quite right either. Yes, it’s a good thing that the jury found as it did because any other verdict would have been a horrible miscarriage of justice. The trouble is, by the time that Rittenhouse was put on trial, a horrible miscarriage of justice had already been perpetrated.

Rittenhouse had already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion. One swamp entity, GoFundMe, canceled a campaign to raise funds to pay for Rittenhouse’s bail and legal fees because, according to CEO Tim Cadogan, the company doesn’t support people charged with violent crimes. What about the presumption of innocence? GoFundMe said nothing about that.

Speaking of which: GoFundMe Denied Rittenhouse Fundraising While Crowdsourcing Funds For BLM Rioters.