FINALLY, A WHINER'S TALE FIT FOR THE SILVER SCREEN!

Santa Barbara's perpetually aggrieved film scene is once again gracing us with its particular brand of intellectual honesty, as producer Kevin McKiernan, apparently still stuck in 1970, unpacks his latest cinematic masterpiece: a documentary, spawned from an article in the venerable Santa Barbara Independent, lionizing none other than Leonard Peltier. Yes, *that* Leonard Peltier. The one who, despite what Hollywood or McKiernan wants you to believe, was convicted for the murders of two FBI agents. Because nothing screams 'justice' quite like turning a convicted criminal into a folk hero, especially when there are actual, compelling stories of brave law enforcement officers being overlooked daily.

One has to wonder at the peculiar obsession certain elements of our local media have with rehabilitating figures who, let's just say, don't exactly inspire confidence in law and order. While our actual police officers and sheriffs put their lives on the line protecting the community, these filmmakers and their cheerleaders are busy polishing the image of someone who actively opposed them. Perhaps the next 'Independent' story will be a deep dive into how bank robbers are simply 'misunderstood entrepreneurs,' or how career politicians are just 'benevolent benefactors.' The opportunities for this kind of inverted moral compass are truly endless in Santa Barbara.

It takes a special kind of myopia to gaze at decades of evidence and come away convinced that the true victim here is the one behind bars. This isn't groundbreaking journalism; it's just another tired retread of the 'establishment bad, criminal good' narrative that sells so well in certain coastal enclaves. Meanwhile, the actual cost to taxpayers for housing such 'victims' continues, while the families of the true victims, those FBI agents, are once again forced to endure this revisionist history. Truly, a cinematic triumph for those who prefer their truth heavily airbrushed and conveniently selective.