You may have noticed that I haven’t delved too deeply into the Jussie Smollet trial
That’s because it seems to me that his claims are ludicrous, and accounts I’ve read of the trial only confirm that (see for example this as well as this).
The jury will do what it will do. There seems no question that the verdict should be “guilty,” but that doesn’t mean that the verdict will be guilty.
I wonder why Smollet has decided to humiliate himself like this. It might be that he thinks taking the stand with a ridiculous story is less humiliating that admitting that he is guilty. Or he might just be a habitual liar who is so used to lying that he has trouble telling the difference at this point, and thinks other people will have the same difficulty. He may live in a bubble of supporters who reinforce this belief.
[NOTE: By the way, Legal Insurrection’s Andrew Branca continues to cover the Kim Potter “Taser taser taser!” trial. See this, plus there is usually a review at the end of each day.]
Two interesting facts have emerged from this legal farce, the first being that, like the trial of Ghislaine (whose closest friend/partner in crime did not, in all likelihood, commit suicide) it was not televised (why not?), although the entertainment value of such an absurd and preposterous spectacle would have been considerable. The second is that it seems as though none of the politicians (including the cackling hyena) or athletes or celebrities or entertainers (all brainless, as well as very rich and privileged) have seen fit to withdraw their former sympathy for a race-hoaxer in comparison to whom even Tawana Brawley seems believable. Meanwhile, the victims of the J6 heretic-hunt endure wretched incarceration in DC’s Guantanamo, abandoned by most and defended by only a handful of Republicans.
I believe he’s one of those exceptionally stupid people who are convinced they’re the smartest in the room. I admit I guffawed at his objection to the prosecutor reading his texts aloud.
Random rumblings.
Who besides Jussie Smollett has suffered negative consequences for a fake hate crime? (Took decades to catch up with Tawana Bradley.) In that sense, he “might” have a grievance. I am reminded of NUMEROUS junior high kids, through the years, all bent out of shape because, though they were caught, they weren’t the only ones misbehaving.
(I am reminded of Ethel Rosenberg. I considered her execution to be just- especially as IIRC she could have lived if she had admitted guilt. But there were a lot of people involved in atomic spying for the Soviet Union who had committed more grievous crimes than Ethel Rosenberg did, but didn’t lose their lives as a result.)
Seems to me that universities have a disproportionate amount of fake hate crimes. Universities tend to have minimal punishment for fake hate crimes.
Huxley, I believe, has pointed out that Jussie probably did the fake hate crime to drum up support for a Kamala Harris bill for whatever. As Kamala’s bill got passed soon after Jussie did his deed, but before he got caught, it could be said that Jussie’s deed helped get Kamala’s bill passed. Has anyone ever asked Kamala her opinion about a fake hate crime helping her bill get passed?
We’ve been talking about sociopaths in other contexts recently. It’s possible this guy lives in such a tight bubble that he actually thinks his story will be accepted because he says so.
Or, he’s really an idiot.
I haven’t followed it too much; but there are a couple things that I noticed:
1. A while back I read an article about it being a hoax and one of the cops who responded was quoted as saying that when the cops arrived Smollett was still wearing the noose around his neck. This cop then stated he knew something was “off” because as a black man himself he couldn’t understand why anyone would keep the noose around his neck – he (meaning the cop) would have taken that thing off immediately! Reading between the lines that really means Smollett was wearing it for “show.”
Even without the racial implications/evil history of blacks and racists lynching them, I would think anyone would try to avoid touching the weapon that someone just tried to kill them with – be it a gun, knife, or noose. Get that thing away from me! I, myself, wouldn’t keep it around my neck for a second longer than I had to.
2. If I now understand this, Smollett is not only claiming that it wasn’t a hoax; but, he is willing to “throw under the bus” the two African guys that he paid to do this? He is that much of a narcissist that his being the victim is more important than the well being or freedom of his two “friends”? OMG! If he is to be believed could those two end up in prison? That is just crazy.
What I’ve been able to gather so far from this somewhat less than edifying trial is that those two Nigerian brothers, one of whom has engaged in sexual relations with our hero, can now be branded genuine white supremacists.
Because (some) BLM.
(I guess that means that Americans are FINALLY colorblind. FINALLY!!!)
Yep, only in America….
The foul fruit of a rotten tree.
“By their fruits, shall ye know them” an obscure 1st century carpenter
I think Smollet decided to double down because he knows there is a market for his BS. Yes, he is obviously guilty but as you say that doesn’t mean the jury will find him guilty.
At another blog an online friend posted this partial list:
Joe Biden
“What happened to Jussie Smollett must never be tolerated in this country.”
Kamala Harris
“This was an attempted modern day lynching.”
Nancy Pelosi
“The racist, homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett is an affront to our humanity.”
Elizabeth Warren
“The fight for equality isn’t over—no one should have to live in fear of being beaten on the street because of who they are.”
Bernie Sanders
“The racist and homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett is a horrific instance of the surging hostility toward minorities around the country.”
Cory Booker
“The vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching. I’m glad he’s safe.”
Kirsten Gillibrand
“This is a sickening and outrageous attack, and horribly, it’s the latest of too many hate crimes against LGBTQ people and people of color. We are all responsible for condemning this behavior and every person who enables or normalizes it.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
“There is no such thing as ‘racially charged.’ This attack was not ‘possibly’ homophobic. It was a racist and homophobic attack.”
Eric Swalwell
“What happened to Jussie Smollett is vile and tragic; thankfully, he will recover. But hate crimes like this are happening more frequently, egged on by careless hate-filled rhetoric.”
Al Sharpton
The notorious anti-Semite compared the Smollett incident to the 2015 mass shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. “We can’t make people love each other, but we can sure hold them accountable if they harm each other.”
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Promoted tweet that asserted Smollett “was attacked because he is both black and gay at the same time.”
Brian Stelter
“We may never know what really happened.”
Human Rights Campaign
Cited Smollett’s allegations as evidence for why “we must address the epidemic of violence that disproportionately targets Black LGBTQ people.”
American Civil Liberties Union
“This isn’t the America we want to live in. Our thoughts are with Jussie Smollett and all survivors.”
I think he has a better than 50% chance of getting away with a not guilty verdict and taking the stand in his own defense will help that cause.
It seems obvious to me they are playing to whatever jurors on the jury will be moved by claims of racism, and racism impacting the way the police acted and how the trial itself is being managed. And, knowing the Chicago jury pool and the fact that his team would have done their best to stack the deck during voir dire his odds are good.
There are almost certainly a few jurors who will use his testimony as fact, even though it blatantly contradicts evidence and is logically impossible based on irrefutable facts. One has to be able to hold multiple, complex thoughts in one’s mind to comprehend that Smollett’s version of events violates the laws of the Universe, space and time, and I’m fairly certain there are one or two jurors that will avoid thinking that deeply and simply rely on their intuitive knowledge that he seems honest and clearly stated he was attacked and it was not a hoax.
Chicago has a long, embarrassing history of this. I will be stunned if he is found guilty of anything.
IIRC The people who were the most upset about the Smollett hoax were the Chicago cops, who knew it was B.S. from the start and said so, and were ignored and abused for doing their jobs, and had to watch while the BS was treated as serious stuff by the MSM, who roundly criticized the cops for failing to track down the evil MAGA types who had perpetrated the horror, and were blaming the poor victim.
I don’t know if Smollett was offered a plea. It may be that the cops are demanding that Smollett be prosecuted, and the prosecutors, lefty though they may be, are willing to accommodate them in the interests of political harmony. Smollett’s case is so ludicrous that any plea would be seen as a sham (not that that ever bothered the lefties).
Not to worry.. All the more time to focus one’s attentions and energies on the Ghislaine Maxwell trial.
Smollet Trial is a “Look! Ponies!” thang. Or Bronies. Hopefully he gets a huge fine and some arduous community service in the homo-tolerant hood — prison might be a… Cake Walk.
noose
I have read that it was not a noose but a rope tied as you would a necktie.
Of course there are no longer any journalists who would know what any knot was, or who could tell the difference between a noose and any loop in a rope…
Smollett might just be a preview of Alec Baldwin’s trial. I doubt actors can bring themselves not to act in front of an audience. It will be interesting to see if he gets convicted. The local DA had the case taken away from her. She is a Soros creature who was nonetheless re-elected.
I doubt Smollett will do time. However, it looks like his story is even disintegrating for the left (though not BLM). From the Daily Beast:
_______________________________
After Jussie Smollett spilled all the tea he could on Monday, Special Prosecutor Dan Webb put the focus back on the attack on the Empire star that the actor allegedly staged in a brutal cross examination on Tuesday.
–“After Monday’s juicy testimony from the Empire star, the prosecution didn’t pull its punches as the celebrity trial of the year nears its end”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jussie-smollett-got-totally-nailed-in-his-cross-examination
_______________________________
Smollett’s testimony was so lacking in credibility, he may even have opened himself to perjury charges.
My take-away is that Smollet may skate with little legal consequence, but he has damaged his career and life irrevocably. He is now lying and blaming two obviously naive black Africans for his pathetic fake hate crime plot.
Who, even on the left, is going to trust Smollet now? He is behaving like a punk.
Smollett’s case is a disgrace and a blow to the whole CRT agenda. The left notices this.
huxley,
We’ve already established we disagree on this topic, but don’t you recall the O.J. verdict and how many black Americans celebrated? O.J. was obviously guilty and his alibi was as full of holes as Smollett’s. O.J. and J.C. Collins all but admitted he was guilty when he fled arrest. It had nothing to do with facts or evidence. It was vindication for all the unjust trials of blacks that came before. O.J. was a hero with many blacks for sticking it to “the man.”
Why will Smollett be any different?
Rufus T. Firefly:
That was 1995, OJ’s lawyers made a better case (I had a white conservative friend who was persuaded), and OJ wasn’t a punk. Snitches get stitches.
No one except BLM is speaking up for Smollett. Dave Chappelle, a black, made Smollett into a national joke,
Plus, as I also mentioned, Smollett’s fake hate crime implicates Kamala Harris and Cory Booker.
All this seems different to me. Watch and see.
I watched the afternoon sessions of the OJ trial and was not convinced he was guilty. It was the civil trial that convinced me. The two ADAs were pitiful.
I should add that blacks did celebrate but it was more hate toward the white woman who “stole” their black man. I think black females were more stirred up about it.
Pretty good contrast with the innocence if Kyle Rittenhouse, proving why typically its a bad idea to take the stand in your own defense.
Smollett is coming off like an ass in his interactions with the prosecutor, making it seem virtually impossible that the jury would actually believe his bullshit story.
“a habitual liar who is so used to lying that he has trouble telling the difference at this point, and thinks other people will have the same difficulty. He may live in a bubble of supporters who reinforce this belief.”
Could just as easily describe Hillary, Bubba, Slow Joe and Obama.
Someone who worked very closely with the Clintons in Arkansas told me that to really understand Bill you had to realize that he really believed his lies when he told them. The auto tag tax was the biggest issue in the race for governor. In a headline speech to the car dealer convention, he thrilled the car dealers by pledging that his single most important priority as governor would be to stop the passage of the tag tax. Several days later in a headline speech at the teachers convention, he got a standing ovation for pledging that he would work tirelessly on his most important priority — gaining passage of the tag tax.
This former prominent figure in Ark politics insisted — to understand Bill you have to understand that he really, really believed he was telling the truth both speeches. If you had called him a liar, he would have been greatly offended.
Stating the obvious. Court TV not too interested in Smollet or Brooks cases. It simply falls outside the concocted narrow confines of the media sacred “narrative”. An entertainer with personal links to Angela Davis and Michelle Obama will receive slap on the wrist. Liberal elites hold sway so much that I doubt even this absurd nefarious farce will damage his career, ultimately.
Objectively though most see the privileged audacious liar for what he is, disgusting. Nigerian friends are disposable exploitable and said Elites merely yawn. A twisted legacy of our pandemic woke times. Personally, I perceive him as a not-so-bright obnoxious “connected” clown show, but with license to “excuse” his derangement.
Smollett has marinated in black grievance since he was born. He’s a little Al Sharpton who is not capable of conceiving that being black in America is anything other than ‘knee on the neck’. This ‘poetic truth’ is the lens through which he sees everything related to race. And it’s reinforced with everyone who loves him.
I think it possible Smollett may now actually believe his own story – it’s a disconnect sort of like in hypnosis. Somewhere in his brain he knows what really happened, but it’s repressed.
@ Zaphod > “All the more time to focus one’s attentions and energies on the Ghislaine Maxwell trial.”
That just got more difficult.
https://notthebee.com/article/so-uh-twitter-just-suspended-the-account-tracking-the-maxwell-trial-
Circling the wagons.
Jussie isn’t in the club.
Local Chicago news are quick to make clear that even if Smollett is found guilty he may just get community service work instead of jail time because he previously doesn’t have criminal record.
You see people, it ain’t that bad. /s
“Or he might just be a habitual liar who is so used to lying”
Well he is an actor. Actors do some weird stuff on stage and/or in front of the screen for the sake of art and “bringing truth” to the character or whatever.
Dwaz said “he’s one of those exceptionally stupid people who are convinced they’re the smartest in the room.”
An actor, basically.
@AesopFan:
“That just got more difficult.”
But of course.
I was being a bit witty when I said that.
The fix is well and truly in for the Maxwell trial. Doubtless she’ll do time, but the focus of the charges is very narrow. Can’t have the Cattle doing any free association on the bigger picture.
Once again, an American hired foreigners to do work they couldn’t get Americans to do.
It is Chicago. It is a show trial to distract the peasants. Even if there is a “conviction”, it will get a slap on the wrist and be used as part of the propagabda that a “Black man can’t get a fair shake”. Smollet is just the fool they need. Like Baldwin, he probably believes the B.S. That he is spilling. Another actor in another show…..
I believe his defense, likely conceived by his attorneys, is quite deliberate. Essentially, it is, “It doesn’t matter what really happened. Acquit me because society (and particularly the police) is racist. I’m the real victim here. Centuries of white oppression blah blah blah…”
Obviously, his ideal outcome is a “not guilty” verdict, but he only has to win over one juror who refuses to convict, resulting in a hung jury and a mistrial. If that happens, I very highly doubt the state would re-try him, deeming it a waste of time and resources.
I think that to understand Smolletts’ ludicrous testimony you have to look at the incident itself. He very carefully and with much thought and attention to detail constructed a wildly ridiculous scenario which he truly believed that the world would accept without question. Since he’s clearly stupid enough to believe that, he’s stupid enough to continue to believe it. Then you factor in his ingrained, intuitive feeling that since he’s black no one but a racist would disbelieve him and you end up with him sitting there on the stand lying his butt off. When he’s found guilty it will of course be because Amerikkka is so racist and homophobic, and the only question left will be how long it takes Hollywood to put him back up on a screen
I am reminded of Ethel Rosenberg. I considered her execution to be just- especially as IIRC she could have lived if she had admitted guilt.
Julius Rosenberg should have consented to being debriefed, but that’s another issue. Her brother testified she produced some typescripts for her husband. That’s the evidence against her and on that basis Irving Kaufman gave her a capital sentence. If I’m not mistaken, David Greenglass admitted before he died that he had one object: to protect his wife; if he had to shiv his sister in the process, so be it. I’m not a Rosenberg case buff. My rough understanding is that Stern, Radosh, and Milton provided ample evidence of gross misconduct on the part of Kaufman and the FBI. (I think their initial view ca. 1979 was that Ethel Rosenberg had been framed by the FBI; they later concluded there was reason to believe she provided some ancillary assistance). The Washington Post in 1996 scored an interview with a retired Soviet intelligence officer who claims to have been Julius Rosenberg’s contact. He was emphatic that Rosenberg was very careful to leave his wife out of it; he also said the atomic espionage his ring conducted was not of much consequence; his real utility as a spy was in stealing radio technology from his workplace.
AFAICT, about the only notables involved in the case who didn’t smell foul at the end of it were Mr. and Mrs. Meeropol, who took custody of the kids when the Rosenberg and Greenglass families crapped out.
The White Family Robinson 😛
Hizonner Judge Irv was there to make it all above board and didactically clear to one and all that McCarthy Era USA didn’t have any kind of problem with specifically White People spying for the Soviets up and down the land because look here’s a White person sentencing other White people to fry.
Now I’m off to read The Book of Daniel again. Closet Doctorow fan despite all! 😀
Hmm… just had a thought. Rosenberg Trial began just as the Doctors’ Plot purge was getting up steam.
I wonder how much the latter contributed to a decline in pro-Soviet Jewish espionage in the USA cf. the former? (*)
And I wonder how the Rosenbergs felt knowing they were dying for a regime which was happy to chew their people up and spit them out with a 7.62x38mm chaser when convenient.
* Mind you, once the State of Israel came on the scene, one would have needed a heart of stone to spy for the Soviets exclusively or at all 😛
7.62×39. Or 7.62×25 (more likely).
It’s my perception that pre-Bill Clinton, by and large, people admitted their guilt when the evidence was overwhelmingly against them. There was some element of shame that went with obvious lying. With Clinton, a light went on in all of our heads. The better course is never to admit guilt. “If you can’t prove it, I didn’t do it.” Maybe lawyers and the upper classes always knew that. But the average Jolene (or Jussie) now understand there’s no upside to admitting to anything. As far as punishment goes, what would be the purpose of sending Jussie to jail? More taxpayer funding for a bunch of legal shenanigans.
It’s my perception that pre-Bill Clinton, by and large, people admitted their guilt when the evidence was overwhelmingly against them.
So did Clinton. The DNA results came back and he admitted he’d been lying for a year and change.
Interesting assessments of Clinton by critics. Sen. Kerrey once said that Bill Clinton was ‘an unusually good liar”. Richard John Neuhaus disagreed. “An unusually good liar would not have a reputation for being an unusually good liar”. RM Kaus offered the opinion that Clinton lied with abandon but “I’ve had trouble finding an example of him lying about policy”.
What I’m recalling is that prior to Clinton, politicians seldom reacted to scandal by trying to brazen it out. I think some of the rage at Trump has been that his reaction to contrived media sh!tstorms was to concede nothing, and that takes away from the media a power they valued.
Hizonner Judge Irv was there to
He was there because his name had been picked off a daisy wheel.
Why will Smollett be any different?
Because no one ever heard of him, because he’s not someone an ordinary person would ever admire, and because his business at this point is calling two other black men liars.
I have NO interest in Smollett
Eva Marie,
Not to defend Bill Clinton, but I think you give humanity way too much credit. Our species were consummate and frequent liars eons before Virginia Clinton Kelly and William Jefferson Blythe even thought of conceiving.
Related:
Incentivizing victimhood sends a retrograde message—
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/jussie-smollett-case-cicely-davis
Jussie Smollett found guilty of 5 counts. Shapiro tweeted today, “Tonight, Jussie Smollett can rest knowing that his attacker has been convicted.”
Little Benny said something I agree with!
@ArtDeco:
Nope… This wasn’t a job for some Judge Fergus McSweeny or a Judge Algernon Choate III. National Security trials with domestic and foreign propaganda and morale import are not left to chance.
Bit like the Maxwell trial, now that I think of it. She just automagically randomly happens to have been Chosen. But then she is.
But good for Irv. An early Changer! 🙂
“delved”
When Adam dolve
And Eve span
Who was then
A gentleman?
Took me a while to figure out the first verb. I like it better.
“span” is taking liberties.
Nope… This wasn’t a job for some Judge Fergus McSweeny or a Judge Algernon Choate III. National Security trials with domestic and foreign propaganda and morale import are not left to chance.
The moderatrix puts up with you in spite of your pretenses and your logorhea . I don’t know why, but she does.
Unless there was some red haze twit hiding out in the Southern District of New York, the identity of the judge wasn’t of much consequence. There was ample evidence to put Julius Rosenberg away. In regard to his wife, they ran what they had up the flagpole and the jury was willing to salute. As far as their lawyer was concerned, their welfare was a secondary consideration. The wild card was the willingness of Irving Kaufman to impose a double death penalty, and that was not known beforehand.