The Kyle Rittenhouse trial reveals the inversion of our justice system.

The 17-year-old was attacked by a man yelling the “N” word and threatening to kill him. An attacker tried to grab his rifle. Another attacker knocked him down, hit him with a skateboard, and tried to kick him in the head. A third attacker pointed a gun at him at close range. A reasonable person would believe he was in danger of death or great bodily injury, and therefore was justified in using deadly force to defend himself. This used to be the law, based on centuries of English common law.

But under our current inverted system, rioters and arsonists are presumed to be justified if they claim to be rioting for leftist ideas. On the other hand, people claiming self-defense are presumed to be unjustified and criminal. The end result of this line of reasoning is all too clear: What now passes for the Democratic Party is employing street thugs as its enforcement arm. Like the Nazi SA Storm Troopers, they run through the streets creating havoc and beating up political opponents. And anyone brave enough to fight them is hauled off to jail.

If you think a constitutional republic like ours can long survive chaos like that, you need many years of therapy.

Kyle Rittenhouse was naive, perhaps foolish. But he was doing our job for us. It is our responsibility to elect mayors, city councils, and district attorneys, and appoint police chiefs, who maintain law and order. But if we shirk this responsibility and allow looting and arson, we have no right – repeat, no right – to punish anyone courageous and civic-minded enough to fill the vacuum we created and attempt to restore order.

Law and order are not the opposites of freedom, they are prerequisites for freedom. Lady Justice is holding scales in one hand, but she is holding a sword in the other. We forgot that. Kyle Rittenhouse reminded us.