Excellent Helter-Skelter And Summer Swelter You Didn't Ask...But : You Didn't Ask...But-#18-Houten by Brett Matthew West Artwork by supergold at FanArtReview.com

Okay. Fess up. Where were you in August of 1969? I remember my whereabouts well. I was a whopping ten years old, and probably getting my tail feathers lashed severely by King Tubbo's not-so-vaunted leather castigator Big Bertha. I depicted some of those horrors in my autobiography Unwanted Dog. What other earth-shattering events occurred in 1969? The Concorde test flight in France was one feature of that time. About 400,000 music fans flocking to Woodstock was another. Some people will even tell you Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon. I will not offer my opinion of that storied occurrence because I have my doubts. They are some of the same ones astronaut Buzz Aldrin, of the Apollo 11 mission, raised. So, I will let that rest where it is at. Oh yea, and, the Charles Manson morons murdered nine innocent victims on August 9 and 10, 1969. They were suspected in about twelve others as well. Today is July 10, 2023. Let's go back to the 7th of July, this past Friday, for a moment. That was when Gavin Newsom, the somewhat controversial Governor of California, stated he would not ask that state's Supreme Court to block the parole of Leslie Van Houten. Although she had been recommended for parole five times since 2016, he and Jerry Browne, the Governor before him, had rejected all those recommendations. Governor Newsome did claim to be disappointed in the approved parole and released a statement that read in part, "More than 50 years after the Manson cult committed these brutal killings, the victims' families still feel the impact." Then, why in the hell is he not contending Van Houten's parole? Governor Newsome's piss poor decision has paved the way for this cold-blooded killer, and disciple of Charles Manson, to be freed from prison after serving 53 years where she belongs for the savage slaughter of the Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca, and his wife Rosemary, for no apparent reason. These two infamous butcherings rocked the United States and left open wounds remaining on LaBianca family members, who have not had them in their lives all these years. Guess Van Houten's parole has become another prime example of bleeding hearts gaining her freedom at the expense of her victims' relatives still suffering from her atrocious actions. According to her attorney Nancy Tetreault, Van Houten could be freed from prison in as little as two weeks. All that appears in her way is for the parole board to review her record and process the paperwork for her release from the California Institution for Women in Corona. A California state appeals court ruled in May of 2023 to release Van Houten based on what they called, "her extraordinary rehabilitative efforts, insight, remorse, realistic parole plans, support from family and friends, and favorable behavior reports while in prison." In regards to the parole board's ruling, in her attorny Tetreault's words, "She's [Van Houten] thrilled and she's overwhelmed. She's just grateful that people are recognizing that she's not the same person that she was when she committed the murders. Don't all convicted criminals attempt to pass these lies to whoever's ears they think will believe them? That, and the claim they are innocent of the crimes they were convicted of. Give me a frigging break! Here is exactly how Leslie Van Houten remains to this day. Not once did she take her trial seriously. She admitted to being on LSD during the legal proceedings. She laughed out loud during testimony about the murders. She confessed to committing the killings. And, when asked if she felt any remorse at all about the murders her response was a curt: "Sorry is only a five-letter word." She said nothing more and nothing less. Still the parole board approved her for release? Obviously pleased by what she had partaken in, Van Houten aggressively implicated herself during her trial. She went so far as to be gleeful about snapping Rosemary LaBianca's spine. For her actions, Van Houten was originally sentenced to death. An imposition that should have been fulfilled. Twenty years old at the time of her sentencing, Van Houten became the youngest woman ever condemned to death in California. Because there was no Death Row for women in the state at that time, a special unit was constructed to accommodate her for that purpose. And, this wildebeest is being uncaged? Somehow, do believe there is something dramatically incorrect about the parole board's decision. Moreover, Van Houten held a pillowcase over Rosemary LaBianca's head as others involved in the attack stabbed the defenseless victim. Not satisfied with that, Van Houten stabbed Rosemary LaBianca more than a dozen times herself. Can somebody say overkill? When they finished the executions, Van Houten and her co-killers wrote such things as "PIGS!" and "HELTER-SKELTER!" on the walls inside the LaBianca house. In a telephone interview, Leno LaBianca's daughter Cory said, "My family and I are heartbroken because we're once again reminded of all the years that we have not had my father and my stepmother with us. My children and my grandchildren never got an opportunity to get to know either of them, which has been a huge void for my family." Typical story isn't it? The victims of these types of murders continue to constantly suffer. Does the parole board seem to give one iota of rat's caca how crimes affect these victims? I will let you draw your own conclusion on that issue. According to Tetreault, after Van Houten is released she is expected to spend almost a year in a halfway house where she will have to learn basic life skills like get a debit card and go to a grocery store. Perhaps she will not find her next victim in the first one she enters. Time will answer that question. Tetreault further claimed, "She's been in prison for 53 years. She just needs to learn how to use an ATM machine, let alone a cellphone, let alone a computer." Oh, boo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Cry me a freaking river! The only thing Leslie Van Houten needs to fill every single second of the rest of her worthless life with is being thankful she got released from where she belongs forever through the ignorance of the parole board. And, the fact she was not barbecued for her crimes. You didn't ask...but! Author Notes the guillotine, by supergold, selected to complement my commentary.

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