So Vox, Slate, and the Intercept got it (mostly) wrong, while the New York Times Magazine and The New Yorker got it (mostly) right? That's a fair criticism, but falls a bit short of what should convince conservatives that because "the media" (misleadingly construed as singular) weren't "treating this case fairly", conservatives "would have to turn to alternative news sources."

The invocation of white supremacy is not off the mark. Yes, the people Rittenhouse shot were white; and no, there's no evidence that Rittenhouse had ex ante connections to white supremacists. But the civil disturbance into which Rittenhouse injected himself was an explosion of anger over racial injustice. Rittenhouse raised $2 million for bail from "supporters", and enjoyed the kind of high-end legal defense that could impanel a couple of mock juries to field test whether or not he should testify in his trial. Not everyone gets that kind of support, and the notion that race had absolutely nothing to do with getting it seems fanciful. Just imagine the fate of a 17-year-old Black kid who goes, toting an AR-15, not to protect the Kenosha Jiffy Lube, but to protect the seat of our nation's government, on January 6, and kills a few people in the process. It is not delusional to see racial disparities in the likely outcome.

Looking at the videos, I am struck by how young Rittenhouse looks. He's 17, but looks more like 15. A kid. "I'm an EMT," he says, falsely, running around with his AR-15. The impression is less one of malice than of a young boy enthralled with being a hero, a firefighter, a crimefighter -- the kind of games that engage boys before puberty, when thoughts turn to other games.

Mr. Rittenhouse is discovering the joys and challenges of becoming a national Rorschach test. Some will see a civic-minded, heroic young man, bravely volunteering to help his community before being set upon by thugs. Others will see somebody who went, armed with a lethal weapon, looking to stir up trouble, and succeeded. Rather than look at the blot on the paper, we would be better served by looking in the mirror and asking what kind of society lets a child arm himself with a high-powered weapon and drive to a riot, unsupervised, to be helpful. And what it means when, after the wholly foreseeable ensuing tragedy, that child is lionized.