CONNECT
NationofChange / Op-Ed
Published: Saturday 31 March 2012
The women, one white and one Latina, say flatly they don’t believe Zimmerman’s story of how Martin had suddenly attacked him, punched him in the face, broke his nose — and that when Zimmerman — larger than Martin — feels he's being overpowered, he pulls out the gun and shoots Martin through the chest.
Trayvon Martin and the Doom of the Republican Party
Like most things that happen in America these days, the Trayvon Martin case is turning into yet another hearse trundling the Republican Party to its doom in November.
Here's a brief outline of the facts. It's Feb. 26. Trayvon Martin is a 17-year-old black kid watching a big basketball game in the home of his father's fiancée in Sanford, a small-town outlier of Orlando, Fla. Sanford has a population of 55,000, about a third black. The fiancée lives in a mixed-race, gated community. At halftime Martin goes to the corner store and buys an iced tea and a bag of Skittles.
It's raining, and Martin has his hood up over his head and is talking to his girlfriend on his cellphone. On his way back, he is spotted by 28-year-old George Zimmerman, a cop wannabe, self-appointed neighborhood crime watcher. Apparently, he has pestered the police station for months with reports of "suspicious 12-year-olds" walking through the neighborhood. Zimmerman — white dad, Latina mother — is wearing a red jacket and blue jeans. In his pocket is a Kel-Tec 9 mm automatic pistol.
Zimmerman calls the local station and says he's following a suspicious character. He describes Martin as black and says he's acting strangely and could be on drugs. The teenager starts to run, Zimmerman says. A 911 dispatcher asks Zimmerman whether he's following Martin, and Zimmerman says he is. The dispatcher says clearly that Zimmerman doesn't need to do that.
There's a lull in the transmission, and you can hear Zimmerman mutter clearly to himself, "These assholes, they always get away." On the call between Zimmerman and the 911 dispatcher, he also says "fucking coons." CNN says the words are indistinct, which they aren't. CNN also says the case is "complicated," which it isn't.
Later, the Martin family lawyer relays Trayvon's girlfriend's account of her last call with him. She says he told her that he was being followed. She says: 'Run.' He says, 'I'm not going to run; I'm just going to walk fast,'" The girl later heard Martin say, "Why are you following me?" and then another man — Zimmerman — saying, "What are you doing around here?" The girl thinks she heard a scuffle because his voice changes as if something interrupted his speech.
Mary Cutcher was in her kitchen making coffee that night with her roommate, Selma Mora Lamilla. The window was open, she said. "We heard a whining. Not like a crying, boohoo, but like a whining, someone in distress, and then the gunshot," she tells Anderson Cooper on CNN's 360.
They looked out the window but saw nothing. It was dark. They ran out the sliding glass door, and within seconds, they saw Zimmerman.
"Zimmerman was standing over the body with — basically straddling the body with his hands on Trayvon's back," Cutcher said. "And it didn't seem to me that he was trying to help him in any way. I didn't hear any struggle prior to the gunshot.
"And I feel like it was Trayvon Martin that was crying out, because the minute that the gunshot went off, the whining stopped."
The two women said they could not see whether Zimmerman was bruised or hurt. It was too dark.
"Selma asked him three times, 'What's going on over there?'" Cutcher said. "He looks back and doesn't say anything. She asks him again, 'Everything OK? What's going on?' Same thing: looked at us, looked back. Finally, the third time, he said, 'Just call the police.'"
The women, one white and one Latina, say flatly they don't believe Zimmerman's story of how Martin had suddenly attacked him, punched him in the face, broke his nose — and that when Zimmerman — larger than Martin — feels he's being overpowered, he pulls out the gun and shoots Martin through the chest.
(Later Zimmerman declined medical attention.)
Zimmerman takes his defense on Chapter 776.013 of the Florida criminal statute on home protection and the use of deadline force. Paragraph 3 states, "A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony."
This is what's colloquially known as the Stand-Your-Ground law. Thirty states, including my own state of California, have versions of this old-English legal concept of "my home is my castle." Since I live in a remote, rural area inhabited by well-armed people, not all of them on the side of the angels, I've read our statute from time to time trying to determine what exactly would be the circumstances under which — if an armed individual was heading for my house, 10 yards from the deck and showing no signs of slowing after my challenges — I could justifiably shoot him with my 12-gauge shotgun. It's always struck me as a really hard call. The state may have a Stand-Your-Ground law, but it really doesn't want people using it.
Not so in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman, the son of a local judge, is not charged and walks away free. Outrage about the case builds across the first two weeks of March. By the third week, it's a national scandal. Political pressure forces the appointment of Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, to determine whether to charge Zimmerman. If she does so, it will probably be for second-degree manslaughter.
President Obama speaks on March 23 about the killing of Trayvon, saying, "If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon ... I think (Trayvon's parents) are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves, and we are going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened."
Two Republican candidates for their party's nomination to the presidency promptly bring out the hearse. Newt Gingrich states that Obama's comments are "disgraceful" and that "Any young American of any ethnic background should be safe, period. We should all be horrified, no matter what the ethnic background. Is the president suggesting that if it had been a white who'd been shot, that would be OK because it wouldn't look like him? That's just nonsense..."
Then Rick Santorum chimes in, stating that Obama should "not use these types of horrible and tragic individual cases to try to drive a wedge in America." This unleashes Rush Limbaugh who says that Obama is using the case as a "political opportunity." Geraldo Rivera suggests Martin brought it on himself by wearing a hood.
At which point, the conservative columnist William Tucker has had enough. In the hard-right American Spectator he writes, "Republicans have no reason to intervene in this fight. Seventy-five percent of the public thinks Zimmerman should be charged with something. ... Personally, I can't wait until Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum get offstage so we can start running a presidential campaign that isn't based on trying to alienate the vast majority of Americans over irrelevant issues."
What is it that prompts Republicans to try so hard to alienate women, blacks, Hispanics, independents, and all those millions and millions to the left of the Tea Party that they'll need to beat Obama. Maybe they feel it's their last throw. All the demographics look unfavorable for any future Republican majority. So there is a desperate effort to get everything they can right now. Conning working-class whites with racism, sexism, anti-gay/anti-immigrant rhetoric, etc., has worked so well since Nixon that it's become an addiction.
I'd say the chances of George Zimmerman spending a day behind bars for killing Trayvon Martin are about the same as Sergeant Robert Bales doing time for killing those 16 Afghan villagers the night of March 11.
Alexander Cockburn is co-editor with Jeffrey St. Clair of the muckraking newsletter Counterpunch. He is also co-author of the new book "Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils," available through www.counterpunch.com. To find out more about Alexander Cockburn and read features by other columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
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ABOUT Alexander Cockburn
Alexander Cockburn is co-editor with Jeffrey St. Clair of the muckraking newsletter CounterPunch. He is also co-author of the new book "Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils," available through www.counterpunch.com. To find out more about Alexander Cockburn and read features by other columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
81 comments on "Trayvon Martin and the Doom of the Republican Party"
I agree with your sentiments and blveeie, as the Law and Prophets are summarized, race relations can be dealt with by loving the Lord Our God with all we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves.And because we like to talk text quite a bit, particularly what it meant to the original audience, I'll push back a little on your use of Eph 2:14ff in this case. In short, this pericope has little to do with racial reconciliation as we talk about it today. Additionally, I don't blveeie it is referencing all of humanity. Theologically and contextually speaking, Eph 2:11ff has to do with Israel (near) and Pagans (far away). Paul puts all races in one of two groups here: those who are without God (not Israel) and those who are with God (Israel). Thus, the two humanities are 1) Israel and 2) everybody else. I think what Paul is really concerned about is that there is a danger of having a Gentile Christianity not thinking they are now in Israel. There is the battle of remaining hostility, enmity, and fundamental hatred on both sides of the two humanities. That hostility was on display in the fact that those who are near had the commands and regulations whereas those who were far off did not (Paul writes of this same advantage for the near in Romans 9:4-5).Thus, in v.19 we see the reversing of v.12. Because of Christ tearing down the barrier of the Law (which here includes more than just ceremonial aspects; also moral ones), no longer are the Gentile (believers) strangers and foreigners but they are fellow-citizens. They are now saints and are of the elect of God in Christ (which were first the Jewish Christians in the early history; i.e. to the Jew first ). So now Gentile Christians are members of Israel (συμπολιται). This is what must be stressed today. All who blveeie in Christ are Israelites, have a Davidic King, are Jews (by being circumcised of heart, not merely of the flesh 2:11), and are true children of Abraham. It is not about humanity in general.I'll stop there, but I know you like discussing this stuff! Grace be with you -Jr
April 03, 2012 5:18am
The facts: Rainy evening. Visibility poor. Young man flees unknown suspicious person. Young man is pursued by unknown assailant. Young man defends self from unknown armed assailant. Young man killed by unknown armed assailant. Assailant local judges son. Assailant goes free with out charge.
The moral of story: NEVER go to a gun fight armed only with a bag of skittles in a state where murder is legalized. I hope guns for self defense will be available at Florida's borders, air, sea and train terminals for anyone going to that shoot 'em up. We have to arm ourselves against all those armed do-gooders out there.
June 11, 2012 5:42pm
I live in the same county in Florida - Seminole - and was run off the road three months ago by a volunteer cop wannabe in his enormous pick-up truck by climbing onto my Prius' back and blotting out my rearview mirrors. I was terrified, and turned into a strip mall to run into a store and get help. The creep who ran me off the road called the local police and said I was weaving all over the road at 1 pm on a sunny, dry afternoon. The police arrived and never asked me a darn thing, thanked the vehicular assailant, and arrested me for DUI. My blood alcohol level was .000, so they tested me for drugs. That test also came back negative. The police report described me as stinking drunk (literally), barely able to stand up. The entire thing was so bogus, I am still waiting to wake up from this nightmare. Tallying the bail bondsmen, court fees, attorney fees, car damage, etc., the whole thing cost me about $10,000!!!! And no telling what this will do to my insurance, even though of course the State's Attorney decided "not to prosecute" - couldn't even bring themselves to drop the charges. Everyone (DMV, Probation Officer, Judge, et al) urge me to file a complaint with the police department, and I want to sue this vigilante for ruining my life - but, OF COURSE, I am afraid of these crazy cops, volunteer and otherwise, and their possible retribution. You would not believe the fear local citizens have of this County's law enforcement, prosecutorial, and judicial systems - a thorough investigation of the ENTIRE good ol' boy system is desperately needed here, and I am delighted Trayvon's family had the connections and resources to bring his tragic case to light. But this kind of thing is not limited to Trayvon - Zimmerman and his ilk, with the support of the police and courts, have us all under their jack boots. HELP!!!!
April 03, 2012 4:03am
Where was the social justice when my sister-in-law was murdered by and 18 year old black male? Where was the social justice when my wife's cousin was shot in the neck and left for dead by another 18 year old black male? "Social justice" is code for "Revenge" these days and nothing more. Folks are waking up to the hypocrisy as the media only censors hate crimes perpetrated by blacks, admitted by AP censor, which leads to inciting only that anything remotely "white" is a "Hate crime" when the FBI crime stats tell a different story. Maybe more journalists should learn integrity in reporting from a neutral stance for unbiased stories instead of bending to their personal tendencies.
Zimmerman's own father is perplexed at his son being called "White" when he is Latino and has black family members.
April 03, 2012 5:23am
Maybe you don't realize that this article is labeled an op/ed ????
April 02, 2012 10:25am
Trayvon Martin had the tragic misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, which would have been the same misfortune for any "suspicious" looking person that day. Zimmerman was on a mission to settle the score, inflicting vigilante justice. Whether the color of skin came in to play is only something he himself knows, he may (key word "may") have reacted the same way to anyone of any race. But the one common thread that runs along all of these incidents of violence, random or otherwise, is that the majority of these crimes are committed by males. Unless we address this issue first and foremost, we can keep finding peripheral reasons without ever getting to the core of the problem. Like putting a bandage on a cancer, without ever trying find to cures for the disease. Our American society is imploding from crimes against one another. We must educate our men from an early age, and re-educate adult males, on expressing their feelings without using force against others. Women are taught empathy early on which drives us throughout our lives to think of the impact of our actions on others. Until this is made a priority in rearing and teaching males, we will continue to have tragedies such as this.
April 02, 2012 9:00am
Mr. Cockburn:
I have admired your writings in the past and respected your analyses time and time again. However, to base your analysis on hearsay, other people's opinions, and innuendo is downright disappointing and disgraceful.
It is important to wait for the state and federal government investigations to bring out the facts and evidence, while simultaneously protecting the personal rights of all citizens, under the law.
As a civil libertarian we should be supporting and protecting due process, habeas corpus and taking an "innocent until proven guilty" approach on all matters, as we would want ourselves to be entitled to when under fire for our antiwar demonstrations, social protests and occupy efforts.
If it is determined, based on the facts, and not opinions, that Mr. Zimmerman is to be indicted and prosecuted, we then should hope that a fair and impartial trial is conducted. And we should also urge and speak out that justice will be served based on truth and facts, and not on partisan politics or threats of racial violence depending on the verdict.
You and your editors should have either waited for the facts to be collected and analyzed and for justice to grind slowly, or to have at least presented both sides of the case in a more fair and dispassionate manner.
Brian P. Moore
Spring Hill, Florida
April 03, 2012 5:26am
One thing is obvious here. Many of the readers of this piece do not know what an OP-ED is.
April 03, 2012 5:23am
Maybe you don't realize that this article is labeled an op/ed ????
April 01, 2012 7:09am
Pitiful attempt by the usual suspects to blame the victim and then an entire race; 'Zimmerman made several mistakes; he got scared and panicked. But the media is making even bigger mistakes. Stop trying to prove your liberal credentials and start trying the case in court.'
Yeah poor Zimmerman!
''Blacks are NOT!!!!!!! afraid of whites, they regard us as victims incapable of fighting back. Whites in general ARE!!!!! terrified of blacks, with good reason:''
Damn I must be a damn fool and my black frinds liars. THey tell me they are afraid of the police. Afraid to walk down the strets they live in because they get harassed for 'walking while black'
Despite a roughly equal proportion of drug users to white a black is 300% more likely to get arested and when sentenced the esentances are roughly 300% more. ANd then poverty, blah bla .
I'm not afraid of black people. I like them; most of my frinds are black and I love heavy metal and rap (all blues)
And then there is the 'stop politicisation of this tragedy' B S by racists who make comments about 'those people' (at least it's people these days). Who bring up what happened in the neighbourhood (robberies) as an excuse for Zimmermans behaviour (it doesn't excuse any murder!)
Horrible, wicked, pathetic! Justice NOW!
April 01, 2012 2:56pm
Trayvon Martin had the tragic misfortune of being at the wrong place at the wrong time....which would have been the same misfortune for any young male regardless of color. I believe that Zimmerman had a score to settle and a self-appointed justice to serve, and went about to prove it that day. Maybe he watched one to many Clint Eastwood or Death Wish films. Others have mentioned hate crimes and reverse discrimination resulting in tragedies. The common thread that runs through all of these random acts of violence is not that of racism, but that 98% of the perpetrators are male. Call me sexist, but until we start educating our young men (and re-educating our adult males) our society will continue down this horrible, violent spiral of doom. We continue to focus on all the peripheral reasons for our high crime rate, but never really get to the meat of the matter. This being that we have a large population of males who do not know how to channel their aggression other than with force upon another human being. We must first seek answers to this social dilemma or we will forever be putting band-aids on the sore without actually curing the disease.
April 01, 2012 7:09am
Pitiful attempt by the usual suspects to blame the victim and then an entire race; 'Zimmerman made several mistakes; he got scared and panicked. But the media is making even bigger mistakes. Stop trying to prove your liberal credentials and start trying the case in court.' Yeah poor Zimmerman!''Blacks are NOT!!!!!!! afraid of whites, they regard us as victims incapable of fighting back. Whites in general ARE!!!!! terrified of blacks, with good reason:'' Damn I must be a damn fool and my black frinds liars. THey tell me they are afraid of the police. Afraid to walk down the strets they live in because they get harassed for 'walking while black' Despite a roughly equal proportion of drug users to white a black is 300% more likely to get arested and when sentenced the esentances are roughly 300% more. ANd then poverty, blah bla . I'm not afraid of black people. I like them; most of my frinds are black and I love heavy metal and rap (all blues) And then there is the 'stop politicisation of this tragedy' B S by racists who make comments about 'those people' (at least it's people these days). Who bring up what happened in the neighbourhood (robberies) as an excuse for Zimmermans behaviour (it doesn't excuse any murder!) Horrible, wicked, pathetic! Justice NOW!
April 01, 2012 5:54am
Well, now we know how everybody FEELS on the subject of this tragic encounter. How about we start uncovering the facts?
April 01, 2012 9:43am
The Sanford Police Department should have examined the scene and taken pictures and samples for evidence. Apparently they didn't do that, and there is not enough evidence to try Zimmerman. Police also tampered with witnesses, telling one interviewee: "you mean you heard Zimmerman screaming..."
April 01, 2012 5:47am
PS...Martin was 6'1", tall & lean...Zimmerman was 5'9...heavier. Neither photo that keeps showing up in the media portrays what they looked like that fateful day. Martin was NOT the small kid portrayed in media photos and Zimmerman was not as heavy.
April 01, 2012 8:08am
it doesnt matter....zimmerman was told not to get out of the car and he did anyway.he had a gun ;trayvon did not. zimmerman went after trayvon--not the other way around===if anyone uses the stand your ground it should be trayvon not zimmerman. ZIMMERMAN SHOULD BE ARRESTED NOW!!!!!
April 01, 2012 5:39am
I wish when reporters, writers and TV put something out in public that they would get their 'facts straight' and this article has so many one-sided twisted facts I can't list them all. Once the race-card was played when the dispatch audio was released...and, by the way expert forensic communication analysis revealed that no racial slur was audible, only the beginning of an 'f' word. That what was previously reported in the media as 'someone said they 'might' have heard' or 'may' be probable...wasn't fact, but, as media ratings overpower sensibility...so does such an article as this, inflame without justification.
April 01, 2012 8:00pm
"no racial slur was audible" If you don't count the fact that Zimmerman's stated reason to think the kid 'looked suspicious' and was 'on drugs' was that he was black, you might be right. But you miss the point of the outrage. It's not that Zimmerman was 'clearly guilty' and 'should be in jail', but rather, he should have been investigated at least as thoroughly as the dead victim. The police didn't drug-test Zimmerman, didn't do a background check, didn't check out his story about how the fight went down, didn't mark the exact position of the body, and didn't interview witnesses, to name a few. All of those things would have been done had the victim been a white person. THAT is why people are so outraged. Yes, Zimmerman might be found 'innocent' due to the states' "shoot first" law (despite the fact that Zimerman started the altercation by following and confronting Martin), but he should have been arrested (and perhaps released pending investigation), and the facts should have been collected right away.
March 31, 2012 11:25pm
It was the responsibility of the police to take forensic evidence at the scene, take the clothing of both the shooter and the victim and all around the area of the crime, not to mention fingerprints on the murder weapon. They should also have confiscated the murder weapon. These are Police Work 101 tasks. They were not done and that indicates a clear case of police malpractice.
March 31, 2012 10:44pm
As I skim these comments on a sunny fall Sunday in Sydney, Australia, where I've lived for 46 years after marrying an Aussie whom I met at a Harvard party, I shudder. Alexander Cockburn's article is going into my GEMS file.
Even at this geographical distance, I find it hard to believe that many Americans don't understand racism in their own country. In 2007, back for the first time in two decades for my 50th high school reunion in NJ, I witnessed a number of racist episodes during my two months on the East Coast, travelling mostly by bus and train, to see family and friends, from Maine to Greenville, SC. My family background is NY/NJ Jewish, but I've been in the Catholic Church for 21+ years.
My prayers continue to be, primarily, with Trayvon Martn's family.
March 31, 2012 10:02pm
Zimmerman said Trayvon grabbed his gun. If so, where is the gun with Trayvon's fingerprints?
April 01, 2012 2:59pm
it's in police custody as evidence and was taken from him at the scene.
March 31, 2012 7:30pm
Please report on another racial incident in South Carolina, in Columbia, where 8 black youth nearly beat white Carter Strange to death. Only 3 will be charged as adults. His mother keeps a page on Facebook detailing their search for justice. It is not being charged as a hate crime.
April 01, 2012 8:10am
how does that have anything to do with trayvons case? its not tit for tat.
March 31, 2012 7:25pm
What about the racial beatdown in South Carolina. SIX black men beat a White boy almost to death the other day. One left his footprint in the boy's skull.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/03/29/Racial-Beatdown-South...
I don't see Rev Jackson or What's his name...calling for justice!
I don't see ANYONE calling for justice.
What about the boy in NY who was walking home and 4 black boys set him on fire on his front porch, and told him they did that because he was White.
Where is the Justice there?
Where is the MEDIA when something horrible like this happens to a white boy? When it is a mob of Black men beating a White boy or trying to burn one to death because of the color of his skin??
Didn't you learn ANYTHING from Martin Luther King, Jr.????????
April 01, 2012 8:11am
omg its not tit for tat. what does this have to do with trayvon? absolutely nothing! and if your source comes from breibart its likely to be tainted anyway.
March 31, 2012 7:15pm
It is a truly bogus argument to link the Republican Party to a law enforcement case they had absolutely nothing to do with. I personally have no idea what really happened there and you don't either. Only racism will lead one to a conclusion at this time.
The reason Florida has the gun laws it has is because the people in the Sovereign State of Florida want them and are guaranteed them under the Constitution.
This thing will play out and justice will be served by a rational criminal justice system so stop all the hate mongering and stop trying to cause riots to get innocent people hurt.
April 01, 2012 9:37am
This criminal justice system is so rational that it sends African-Americans to prison for drug crimes at about 8 times the frequency that whites are sent, and Latinos at about 3 times the rate, even though all ethnic groups use and sell drugs at about the same rates, except for white teens whose use is slightly higher. The Republican Party's celebrities linked themselves to this controversy by denying that racism had anything to do with it. Being a young black man means being percieved as a criminal, when almost all of them are not. Is that racism, or is it not?
April 01, 2012 8:14am
no one is trying to incite riots. duh. have you ever heard of standing together for JUSTICE. the incidence of homicides have shot way up since this law began! zimmerman made it a race issue when he called trayvon a coon. he stereotyped trayvon and thats how the whole thing started in the first place.
if he had just stayed in his vehicle like he was told to do , none of this would have happened!!!!!!
March 31, 2012 7:12pm
The police did all they could. The State Attorney's office is the entity that stated there was not enough evidence to arrest Zimmerman...NOT the Sanford Police.Too bad you have to spout your HATE before you find out the facts.
April 01, 2012 4:09am
The Sanford PD did not investigate, they did no forensic research/analysis of the crime scene or of those involved, this is always done when a crime has been done especially when there is a death. This good-ol-boy PD did inform the district AG, but for him to come around 50 miles at 3:30 am is very unusual, and for him to recuse himself due to conflict of interest is very questionable...What conflict would that be? I do not know of what "Hate" it is you are calling individuals out for, this is about Justice and the apparent lack of it in this situation. As for the law that zimmerman will try to base his shooting of Trayvon on...Zimmerman was the pursuer, he got out of his SUV and ran after Trayvon, even after the dispatcher told him not to. The writers of this law in Florida have stated that the Stand Your Ground law "that the law would not allow Zimmerman to pursue and confront individuals" (Florida State Rep Dennis Baxley; and former Florida Senator Peaden "nothing in the law that allows him to follow someone with a gun". You need to get your facts straight.
April 01, 2012 1:08am
@Priceless22 That's bullshit. Since when do cops wait for the State Attorney to OK an arrest of someone who admits to shooting an unarmed man? The cops made up the story of "The lawyers wouldn't let us do it." after it became obvious that they fucked up.
March 31, 2012 5:49pm
why is it that the black community cheered in the streets of America when OJ was aquitted for slashing the throats of two white people. Why did the black community not scream for justice then ? Dont tell me about racism. It comes in both colors buddy. Talk about a f@@k@@g double standard
April 01, 2012 4:12am
That is a blantant lie. Cochran was intertaining but the people did not cheer as you have posted.
April 01, 2012 8:17am
I was in Times Square when the great digital newsboard broke the news. There were groans of agony from white people while the blacks were cheering "right on,
black power" I was there, I heard and witnessed it,just like the Muslims in America were cheering on 911, the blacks in Times Square were cheering and yelling rejoicefully "Black Power"
Either your black and in denial or just another stupid white person in denial.
I wouldn't lie about something like this, thats the way it is, I was there and witnessed it.
March 31, 2012 3:54pm
Are you defending a coward who shot a boy? Just vile. You may not be a racist but Martin would be alive if he had been white. That makes it a hate crime. The jury is still out on your highly qustionable rationalizations.
March 31, 2012 3:56pm
In February of 2012, a psychologist posted on Newvine several findings of psychological research that tend to belie Mr. Stanton's claims above:
"Conservatives continually bear out the findings of Brock University in Canada that racists, bigots and conservatives have lower IQs than liberals and progressives. The whole history of conservatism in this country bears witness to the fact that most conservatives are basically ignorant and racist. . . .
"“[S]everal psychological variables predicted political conservatism.” Which variables exactly? In order of predictive power: Death anxiety, system instability, dogmatism/intolerance of ambiguity, closed-mindedness, low tolerance of uncertainty, high needs for order, structure, and closure, low integrative complexity, fear of threat and loss, and low self-esteem. The researchers conclude, a little chillingly, that ‘the core ideology of conservatism stresses resistance to change and a justification of inequality.’”
25-30% of the voting public has adopted one fiction after another: (1) Bush had done a good job as President when he left office, (2) Obama was born in Kenya or Indonesia and has supplied a fake birth certificate showing he was born in Honolulu, (3)Obama, whose last name is Hussein, is a Muslim even though he has attended Christian churches his entire adult life, for which he was separately castigated because of the political views of the preacher in one of them, (4) global warming is an anti-capitalist scientific hoax, (5) the healthcare law being scrutinized by the Supreme Court has provisions calling for Death Panels, (6) domestic drilling for oil lowers gas prices even after AP published a poll of 20 oil and statistical experts who found that to be false, http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203220011, (5) entitlement programs transfer wealth to people too lazy to work--""47%/48% of the American public doesn't pay taxes"-- even after a governmental study shows that 90% of entitlement benefits go to the elderly, disabled and working households. http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/23/10814860-whos-using-....
Mr. Stanton is apparently one of the conservative ideologues foisting fictions on the sheeple that are intellectually and psychologically predisposed to accepting them as truth. People like Stanton have exploited the sheeples' fears, their excessive religiosity and their authoritarianism to marginalize anyone and any group who declines to accept their ideology as "truth."
The Trayvon Martin case is easy to figure out: An overzealous cop wannabe carrying a lethal weapon killed a teenager carrying a can of iced tea and a package of candy. No matter what he may have done in the past or during the incident that led to his death, Trayvon Martin didn't deserve to die. Zimmerman may never be arrested because of a an utterly stupid law designed to appeal to the John Wayne mentality in conservative circles pushed by the NRA to increase gun sales for Walmart and gun dealers everywhere.
And to the NRA folks, you can say from here to eternity that guns don't kill people, people do, but if George Zimmerman had not had a loaded semi-authomatic firearm in his possession, Trayvon Martin would be alive today.
March 31, 2012 3:47pm
In February of 2012, a psychologist posted on Newvine several findings of psychological research that tend to belie Mr. Stanton's claims above: "Conservatives continually bear out the findings of Brock University in Canada that racists, bigots and conservatives have lower IQs than liberals and progressives. The whole history of conservatism in this country bears witness to the fact that most conservatives are basically ignorant and racist. . . .
"“[S]everal psychological variables predicted political conservatism.” Which variables exactly? In order of predictive power: Death anxiety, system instability, dogmatism/intolerance of ambiguity, closed-mindedness, low tolerance of uncertainty, high needs for order, structure, and closure, low integrative complexity, fear of threat and loss, and low self-esteem. The researchers conclude, a little chillingly, that ‘the core ideology of conservatism stresses resistance to change and a justification of inequality.’”
25-30% of the voting public has adopted one fiction after another: (1) Bush had done a good job as President when he left office, (2) Obama was born in Kenya or Indonesia and has supplied a fake birth certificate showing he was born in Honolulu, (3)Obama, whose last name is Hussein, is a Muslim even though he has attended Christian churches his entire adult life, for which he was separately castigated because of the political views of the preacher in one of them, (4) global warming is an anti-capitalist scientific hoax, (5) the healthcare law being scrutinized by the Supreme Court has provisions calling for Death Panels, (6) domestic drilling for oil lowers gas prices even after AP published an poll of 20 oil and statistical experts who found that to be false, http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203220011, (5) entitlement programs transfer wealth to people too lazy to work--""47%/48% of the American public doesn't pay taxes"-- even after a governmental study shows that 90% of entitlement benefits go to the elderly, disabled and working households. http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/23/10814860-whos-using-....
Mr. Stanton is apparently one of the conservative ideologues foisting fictions on the sheeple that are intellectually and psychologically predisposed to accepting them as truth. People like Stanton have exploited the sheeples' fears, their excessive religiosity and their authoritarianism to marginalize anyone any group who declines to accept their ideology as "truth."
The Trayvon Martin case is easy to figure out: An overzealous cop wannabe carrying a lethal weapon killed a teenager carrying a can of iced tea and a package of candy. Zimmerman may never be arrested because of a an utterly stupid law designed to appeal to the John Wayne mentality in conservative circles pushed by the NRA to increase gun sales for Walmart and gun dealers everywhere.
And to the NRA folks, you can say from here to eternity that guns don't kill people, people do, but if George Zimmerman had not had a loaded semi-authomatic firearm in his possession, Trayvon Martin would be alive today.
March 31, 2012 3:30pm
Little kid dead. Big man shot little kid. Big man he afraid of little kid's skittles so must kill him dead. Big man teeny weeny trying to add inches by hiding behind gun. Big man go free but can't hide from fact he'um overcompensating limpdick coward. Skittle kid still dead.
March 31, 2012 3:04pm
OK
March 31, 2012 2:29pm
One of the witnesses was a young man walking his dog... in the rain, apparently. Maybe Zimmerman should have gone after him, too, since you seem to think walking in the warm Florida rain is some kind of aberrant behavior that deserves a good 9mm to the chest.
BTW -- Zimmerman wasn't "hired" to do neighborhood watch. I've also heard that there were FOUR (not eight/8) robberies.
Regardless... Zimmerman made one huge mistake: he shot and killed an innocent boy, regardless of how "accurate" racial profiling in Israel may be.
The one thing that the evil liberals want is to see this case go to court. The conservatives, however, seem to think it's just another dead black kid who may not have been guilty of anything this time, but surely was guilty of something and thus deserved to be made dead.
Walking in the rain while black. That was Trayvon's crime. Oh... and standing his ground while walking back to the home he would soon move into.
March 31, 2012 1:22pm
(Later Zimmerman declined medical attention.) George Zimmerman's brother Robert goes on the National scene claiming that there are medical Revords to prove George' s aligations of being attacked.
Videos taken within an hour of the Shooting do not show any Facial damage or any kind of injurty to the back of geaorge Zimmerman's head.
George Zimmerman is the son of a local judge and maybe that is why he is being treated so much differently than you or I would be.
What is it that prompts Republicans to try so hard to alienate women, blacks, Hispanics, independents, and all those millions and millions to the left of the Tea Party that they'll need to beat Obama. I say that it is and always has been the ideology of the CONSERVATIVES, REPUBLICANS and now of the TEA-PARTY members to continue the RACISM and DISCRIMINATION that wants to keep the Anglo Saxon White Men in Power and make everyone else serve them. They feel that in the WORLD and United states of Anmerca today that they can get away with it. Maybe they feel it's their last throw. All the demographics look unfavorable for any future Republican majority. So there is a desperate effort to get everything they can right now. Conning working-class whites with racism, sexism, anti-gay/anti-immigrant rhetoric, etc., has worked so well since Nixon that it's become an addiction.
March 31, 2012 1:25pm
The problem with you liberals is, that often, facts get in the way of your ideology. While you have a long (successful too I might add) history of obfuscating and pontificating with negative rhetoric about conservatives, your days are numbered. “Such [continued] vitriol is the gasping breath of a dying worldview." – Gary Demar
When people get educated, they start figuring you out. It may take a while, but truth eventually comes forth.
This diatribe, while attempting to point out the racism of the right, is about as explicable as it can be to expose the continued use of exploitation of often terrible events and circumstances for the political gain of the left – your socialist agenda. It’s all about the votes, which has been working, but folks can see the utter failure of the current administration. The truth is, it’s all about economics and we are most definitely far worse off than before. Implementing what didn’t work before is about as pathetic a leadership as we can get, but he was elected on false pretenses and so it is. People with little to no experience usually do not perform well. Why am I not surprised? “Blame the other guy” politics is always used by the failed politician to point the finger – the uneducated (especially those on the take) usually buy it...but your days are numbered.
“The killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman is showing how liberals – especially blacks – care more about getting the political upper hand than affecting long-term change in black communities.” – Gary DeMar
http://godfatherpolitics.com/4463/how-black-leaders-exploit-their-people...
“If evidence emerges that George Zimmerman's actions were not justified, he should be prosecuted and punished. However, there's a larger issue that few people understand or have the courage to acknowledge -- namely, that black and young has become synonymous with crime and suspicion. To make that connection does not mean one is a racist.” – Walter Williams
While this killing is a most horrible thing, it is best for all of you “Hang ‘Em High” journalists to let the legal system do its job. Your attempt again to blame Republicans for this reminds me of the Tucson shooting, the hurricane in New Orleans and so many other news stories turned for political profit. The politicizing of events for ballot-box gain is dishonorable and frankly offensive, but then again, that’s your make-up. It’s always the character of those who promote lies for political gain. “Liberals know so much that isn’t so.” – Ronald Reagan
Did you ever give thought as to why Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr. were Republicans?
And why would C. L. Bryant say this?
“The greatest danger to the lives of young black men are young black men.” – C.L. Bryant
We notice on a daily basis as Al Sharpton calls for an escalation of civil disobedience and a former Black Panther, now a member of Congress is ejected for rules disobedience (bizarrely to the liking of Pelosigalore) that crimes against whites and Hispanics by blacks are on the rise. Is it any wonder that after listening to Jeremiah Wright preach racism from the pulpit in Chicago for twenty years that Barack Obama and many of his czars promote racism? Do they really believe it, or is it for political gain or both?
“It is not about finding the truth about what happened that night in Sanford when Zimmerman followed Trayvon in his SUV, and the two wound up in a fight, with Trayvon dead. It is about the exacerbation of and the exploitation of racial conflict.” – Patrick Buchanon
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=50546
Seemingly, racism today is anytime a conservative disagrees with a political liberal.
“Race is just one of the areas in which the rhetoric and the reality often go in opposite directions. Political rhetoric is intended to do one thing -- win votes. Whether the policies that accompany that rhetoric make people better off or worse off is far less of a concern to politicians, if any concern at all.” – Thomas Sowell
http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2012/03/20/race_and_rhetoric
It is best to move on from racism, not to expand upon it, for until we do, we are destined to continue to repeat its horrible consequences.
“I am not racist, I am not violent, I am just not silent anymore.” – unknown
April 01, 2012 4:42am
Your list of rhetoric is meaningless to the issue at hand. This murder is not a political issue, it is an issue of justice and of a crime that was due to hate . Zimmerman's history of calls to the 911 shows a blantant pattern and what he stated on the 911 tape on the day he killed Trayvon all point to his intent . It was a murder and a hate crime and it diserves to be adjudicated with care and fairness, not shoved under the rug or treated lightly, this is good for all in our nation not just one group.
by the way Martin Luther King Jr, although not affiliated with either party voted democratic. Federick Douglas, who died in 1895, at that time the parties were opposite, the democratic was the republican party. Get it straight, half truths are still lies, Oh and Zimmerman is a registered democrate. Do you understand, it is not political, although some may try to make it such, it is about Justice.
April 01, 2012 8:19am
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Talk about rhetoric!
March 31, 2012 3:57pm
Vile rationalization defending a coward who shot a boy, and hiding behind a pretense that racism is a thing of the past. Republican!
March 31, 2012 3:11pm
"The problem with you liberals..." WOW!
As soon as I hear the word "YOU..." used in that context I recognize a mind so narrow that an ant would have trouble walking across it.
And, anyone who quotes Pat Buchanon obviously lacks the capacity to think for himself.
Get help soon.
March 31, 2012 2:44pm
"The problem with you liberals is, that often, facts get in the way of your ideology. "
Whereas, "you conservatives" never let the facts get in the way of your ideology. Anything that doesn't fit, gets tossed!
March 31, 2012 2:33pm
Throw enough quotations in there and someone somewhere might actually be fooled into thinking you actually have something intelligent to say. Combine it with enough buzz-words and talking-points from the Republican scripts and it comes across as the usual mental constipation and verbal diarrhea. You're trying to excuse a racist execution and take a few potshots at the same time at a black president. You are an old-fashioned, closet racist. You're not fooling anyone - except maybe yourself