The advantage to doing what I do here at Twitchy is I get to be online a lot and, thanks to the handy device I carry in my pocket, I get to watch news unfold in real-time.
This past week was a case study in not only criminal justice, but how the Left and Right view the men who would shape society.
On one hand, we have Daniel Penny, the Marine vet in New York who restrained violent career criminal Jordan Neely when Neely was harassing men, women, and children on a NYC subway. For his actions, Penny was arrested, given $200,000 bail, and put on trial.
The charge of manslaughter was dropped last week, and yesterday a jury acquitted him of criminally negligent homicide. Daniel Penny is a free man. That hasn't stopped the Left, including politicians like AOC, from calling Penny a racist, wanton killer.
Last week, Brian Thompson -- the CEO of UnitedHealthcare -- was shot and killed as he walked along the streets of New York City. His alleged killer, Luigi Mangione, was arrested yesterday in Altoona, PA and charged with murder. Authorities found a manifesto with Mangione when he was arrested.
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In that manifesto, Mangione says it 'had to be done' and 'these parasites had it coming.' And here's Mangione screaming as he's led into court:
Enraged accused killer Luigi Mangione screamed as he was led into a Pennsylvania courthouse for his extradition hearing Tuesday, shouting to reporters, "It’s extremely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and the lived experience." pic.twitter.com/3BC5z2u7pB
— New York Post (@nypost) December 10, 2024
One of these men is lionized by the Left, and the other treated as a one-man KKK.
You can probably guess who is which one.
I'd argue Daniel Penny is more of a danger to society than Luigi Mangione pic.twitter.com/dv8DbTNuTI
— John Ryan E (@RyanElward) December 9, 2024
AOC argued something similar, saying Penny's 'lack of remorse' makes him the bigger threat than Jordan Neely -- a man with 40+ arrests to his name including for attempted kidnapping and unprovoked assaults on three different people. We doubt Neely was remorseful for his crimes (nor does Magione appear to be sorry).
According to AOC, the subway is less safe with Daniel Penny riding it than violent, mentally ill felons who threaten and assault passengers.
— Angela Belcamino (@AngelaBelcamino) December 10, 2024
Make it make sense.
I can't, because it's wholly nonsensical.
If there's a risk that what happened with Neely will happen again, it's because politicians like AOC made it very easy for guys like Neely to harass innocent subway riders without fear of consequences and without any meaningful help from the state. There is no bail, no prison time, no state-mandated treatment for his schizophrenia.
The best the state did was, as part of a plea deal for one of his many crimes, send Neely to a facility for help with his mental health issues and homelessness. He stayed there 13 days and left.
Meanwhile, it is the AOCs of the world who laid the groundwork for guys like Mangione to murder a husband and father in cold blood by fomenting class warfare, blaming billionaires and CEOs for the world's problems. Which is especially ironic given that 15 years ago the federal government got into the health insurance business with the promise to make it more 'affordable' (the implications of this is fodder for another article).
The Left believes that which they dislike should be verboten, and what they do like mandatory. So too with people: those whose ideologies they agree with -- in this case Mangione -- are heroes, while those they disagree with are demons and villains, like Penny.
But it is guys like Magione, spoiled, wealthy champagne socialists who are the danger to society. They think they can murder in cold blood for the 'crime' of expensive health insurance and that they are somehow, miraculously, still the victims in all this. They have no consideration for rule of law, just their political ideology. If the two contradict, politics win, and they'll kill to achieve their goals.
The Daniel Pennys of the world, on the other hand, are what we need from men: strong, unafraid to defend themselves and others, and willing to face a corrupt, biased system in order to do so. He is the best of them, and the fact that he's now free is good for society at large. Men like Penny are good and necessary for the survival of society.
And if I had to choose, I'd choose a subway car full of men like Penny over one guy like Magione every day of the week and twice on Sundays.