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04 April 2012

A National Travesty


I don't know what happened in the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman altercation and neither do any of you, especially those of you in the media.  What we do know, however, is that it is a tragedy.  What we do know, however, is that the case has become a national travesty and verges on a miscarriage of justice.  What we do know, however, is that this situation is not going to end well and it will be the fault of irresponsible journalists, politicians, pundits, and race-baiters.  

We know that Trayvon Martin was unarmed and carrying Skittles and iced tea.  We do not know what transpired after Mr Zimmerman was told to stand down other than what he has said.  We do know that an eyewitness says that Mr Martin was beating Mr Zimmerman.  We do know that Mr Zimmerman, according to police report and video evidence, sustained injuries to his nose and the back of his head.  We know, according to the funeral director, that there were no wounds on the body of Mr Martin other than the gunshot wound.  We also know that this was a tragedy.  Period.



 ABC released this photo on 04.20.12 after claiming that Zimmerman had suffered no injuries



The evidence, to start with, reveals George Zimmerman to be a minority citizen, who had black friends, including two young kids he mentored. Joe Oliver, a black friend with media experience, has felt impelled to come to his defence in the public forum, and continues to do so. No reliable evidence shows Zimmerman to be a violent bigot. No reliable evidence supports the notion, put forth by many black and white officials, that he hunted Martin down and shot him like a dog.  But, a Hispanic man killing a young, black man in a gated community doesn't sell like a white guy killing a black kid in a gated community does.

In addition, we also know that the public furore, ginned up, in some cases, by edited tapes and outright lies by the media, will likely lead to the arrest and prosecution of Mr Zimmerman.  OK.  Then, what?  What if the grand jury reviews the evidence and listens to the testimony of the witnesses and declines to indict?  What if they indict, but he is innocent, yet railroaded?  What if he is acquitted?   Can he get a fair trial now?  Will anyone be satisfied with the conclusion now?  Will cities burn if Mr Zimmerman doesn't fry even if he is innocent?   People are demanding justice, but what if justice is not the justice that they seek?

Sadly, Mr Martin's death is not about the tragic loss of another young, black man.  If it were, there would be protests, speeches, marches, and outrage everyday of the year because young, black men die in America everyday and, normally, they are killed by other young, black men.  Mr Martin's death is just another vehicle for Mr Obama to use in his reelection and race-baiting hustlers from the permanent victims committee to scream once again about how their problems are the white man's fault.

Reverend Jesse Jackson has plaintively wailed that "blacks are under attack in America" presumably from whites or "white Hispanics."  (Hilda Solis and Eva Longoria, you'd better watch out.  You're not really a minority any longer!)  He's right.  Sort of.  They are under attack...from within and, if President Obama and Eric Holder wanted to truly help "their people," then they would have a Sister Soulja moment and call the community out on its own violence because the very weekend that the mournful eyes of the nation were on the tiny town of Sanford, Florida, and Reverend Al and the New Black Panther Party were staging their protest marches, 10 African-Americans, including a 6 year-old girl, were murdered in Chicago.

While I am on the subject of Sharpton (some of you know me as "Resist We Much" and already know that I have a visceral disgust for the man) look who we allow to speak as the "voices of reason" on race:

Al Sharpton, who is responsible for the deaths of Yankel Rosenbaum, Angelina Marrero, Cynthia Martinez, Luz Ramos, Mayra Rentas, Olga Garcia, Garnette Ramautar, and Kareem Brunner; a man, who defamed innocent policemen and prosecutors while holding up Tawana Brawley as a victim of the "white man"; a man, who slandered and libeled the Duke Lacrosse Team and beatified a hooker, who later murdered a man; and a man, who called the trial of the men, who raped a Central Park jogger and left her to bleed out 75% of her blood, a “lynching.”

Not only does he evidently have standing and credibility to talk to us about race and civility, NBC gave him his own talk show.

Jessie “Hymietown” Jackson and Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who have said awful anti-semitic statements.

Calypso Louie Farrakhan, who thinks that Adolf Hitler was a great man? **HE** is supposed to lecture us "racist, white folk with Jewish heritages" about slavery, oppression and genocide???

Eric Holder, who drops charges against the NBPP, talks about using the laws to protect "his people," calls us "a nation of cowards," and then calls us racists when we do try to have a national conversation about race. 

Seriously, these are the people that we are going to allow to lecture to us about race and how horrible we are?  No, thanks.

Additionally, we must not permit the media to get away with their outrageous behaviour.  This time, they have gone too far.  They have yelled "Fire!" in a crowded theater.  People claim that Trayvon Martin is the victim of racial profiling, but where did that idea originate?  With an act of such gross journalistic misconduct that NBC News should be shunned by every fair-minded person.  Some have claimed that NBC only did what Andrew Breitbart did to Shirley Sherrod.  That's untrue.  Breitbart released what he had.  He was not in possession of the entire tape.  The NAACP of Georgia had it.  In this case, NBC had the audio of the phone call between Mr Martin and the Sanford Police Department.

The edited call, which aired on NBC’s "Today Show" on 27 March 2012, featured Mr Zimmerman talking to a dispatcher.  In the edited segment, it appears that he says:

“This guy looks like he’s up to no good … he looks black."

That, it turns out, appears to be only part of the exchange. The complete exchange went like this:

Zimmerman: "This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about."

Dispatcher: "OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic?"

Zimmerman: "He looks black."

Mr Zimmerman didn't bring up race at all.  He was answering a question.  NBC misled the country into believing that George Zimmerman was targeting Trayvon Martin because he was black.  It has done its best to insure that justice will not be served.  At least one party is going to feel aggrieved because of the fraudulent biases seeded by an irresponsible corporation, who has special constitutional protection, yet, abuses it and makes a mockery of its mandate to be a "watch dog."

The New York Times also joined NBC in the deception:




ABC News cannot escape punishment either.  It published video of Mr Zimmerman being led into the police station and claimed that there was no indication of any injuries on his person.  After other media outlets proved that claim incorrect, ABC News "broke the story" that there were two gashes on the back of Mr Zimmerman's head and his nose was busted.  That new media!  Oh, snap!

Next up we have a near across-the-board indictment of the mainstream media for playing a reverse OJ Simpson-Newsweek for the opposite reason.  Here is the photograph of Trayvon you have been seeing everywhere:



However, this is the original photograph, as it appeared in the Miami Herald:



The first has been picked up by the media and plastered everywhere.  If you go to sites like the Huffington Post, Daily Kos, or Democracy Now, it is the image that you will see.   It is blatantly obvious that Trayvon's skin has been lightened and his features softened.  Along with other possible alterations, he looks far more, perhaps innocent is the right word, in the altered image. For the record, that has nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of anyone involved, but more to do with the reporting of the story, which is why I'm bringing it up.   It also exposes the institutional racism and inherent hypocrisy of the mainstream media.  The MSM is, by its actions, admitting that it believes that darker African-Americans are scarier, more likely to commit crimes, ominous, less sympathetic, etc.  There have been no end to the accusations of George Zimmerman's racism on the editorial pages of broadsheets across the country and throughout the media.  This isn't even a pot-meets-kettle situation because the jury is still out on the mens rea of Mr Zimmerman.

At this point in history, I think that there is nothing left to say other than those that hate America will use every opportunity to bash her and those groups -- Conservatives, Libertarians, Christians, gun owners, traditionalists, Mormons, the Catholic Church, etc. -- that they despise.  Truth be damned.  Destroyed reputations be damned.   Innocent scalps be damned.  Lives, fortunes, and sacred honour be damned.

How else do you explain lies like those told by the media that Mr Zimmerman wasn't even detained or questioned when, in fact, he was interrogated for 5 hours?  

How else do you explain what NBC has done? 

How else do you explain NBC’s Ron Allen letting viewers imagine the racial epithet Zimmerman used for the man he was allegedly stalking, as he did on the 20 March 2012 edition of the NBC Nightly News?

How else do you explain ABC News' correspondent, Matt Gutman, claiming that Mr Martin was shot "because he was black" with no evidence other than that manufactured by the media?

How else to you explain the  Dowderisation of an audio tape?  For us to say without a shadow of a doubt, as the Left has done, that George Zimmerman mutter "fucking coons" under his breath, we have to also then acknowledge that the guy must be schizophrenic.  After all we are talking about a man, who not only mentors African-Americans and has black family members, two years ago, he publicly condemned and called for the investigation of the very same policemen that investigated the Martin shooting when they beat a black, homeless man.  Come on, people!  Aren't we always told by the Left how corrupt the police are?  If these guys could have gotten back at Zimmerman, why wouldn't they...assuming they are corrupt, like all policemen are or so we are told by the Left except when they want more stimulus funds?  Seriously, they could have killed two birds with one stone.  Zimmerman claimed that they were racists two years ago.  If true, "Hey, a black kid is dead.  Big deal!  Who cares?  But, it's paaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyybbbbaaaacccckkk time for Zimmerman!"  (Let me be clear:  I am not casting aspersions on the police at all.  I'm merely pointing out the irony.

How else do you explain Obama's silence on the New Black Panther's bounty on George Zimmerman?

Indeed, how do you explain the Left's insistence that I hate Obamacare because "there's a black man living in the White House" when I would prefer Barack Obama's reelection -- and the thought of 4 more years of Obama's Neo-Nationalism is nothing short of a nightmare for me -- to the Supreme Court setting such a dangerous precedent by upholding Obamacare?   That is how deeply and passionately I feel about the Constitution, the rule of the law, and limiting the power of Leviathan.  I would feel the same way if Barack Hussein Obama, Jr, was a white libertarian and signed the same law.  My visceral, guttural, and instinctual hatred of the Affordable Care Act has never had anything to do with Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.  It's a freedom thang, baby, and the very reason that I chose to become an American!

Listen, and I am especially speaking to the Left here:  It is true that America has not always been a perfect country, but it is a far better one than any of which I can think.  Unlike the First Lady of the United States, I have always been proud of America....and I didn't become a citizen until 2002.  Yes, the blight of slavery, Jim Crow, Wilson's atrocious civil rights abuses, FDR's interment of more than 100,000 Japanese-, Italian-, and German-Americans, Manifest Destiny, etc., prove that the United States is not perfect.  Unlike many European countries, however, it has never pretended to be.  Today, even after the horrors of the Holocaust, Europeans are increasingly anti-SemiticYou see, many Europeans blame Jews for the Holocaust.  Seriously.  They would prefer a Jew-free Europe...not only because they are anti-Semitic, but because they would not have to stare into the faces of the descendants of the people that their ancestors slaughtered.  If America were like Europe, it would be seeking to send African-Americans back to Africa, not trying to be a melting pot.

You might not believe in American Exceptionalism, but America is exceptional.  America saved our Yorkshire Puddings...twice...and Frogs should take a look at the old film reels of the baby-faced American soldiers marching down the Avenue des Champs-Élysée, as I just happened to be very early this morning, and remember that they would be singing "Die Fahne Hoch" instead "Le Marseillaise," but for the United States.  Furthermore, countries like Norway (I know.  The truth hurts.)  really should clean up their own acts before they start criticising the United States. 

So, let us have justice.  Let us afford Mr Zimmerman due process and the presumption of innocence.  Let us not Richard Jewell, Duke Lacrosse team, or Steven Pagones George Zimmerman into prison.  Trayvon Martin's mum has said that his death is "not about race," but "about right and wrong."  She's right.  So, let's find out what happened.  Let's stand down while the justice system stands up.  Let's condemn the antics of Reverend Al Sharpton, Spike Lee, and the New Black Panthers before we have more hammer beatingsLet us stop playing with the fire of racial division.  Let us stop inciting violence and hatred.  Let us not allow racists of any colour to beget more racism.


Update 04.05.12:  Now, CNN, the network that originally claimed that Zimmerman muttered "fucking coons" under his breath while on the phone with the dispatcher, has also backtracked.  CNN has enhanced the audio again, and the reporter, who originally made the claim, is casting doubts that the term was used.
 
“It certainly sounds like that word to me,” Gary Tuckman said when the audio was first enhanced. But after the latest enhancement, he’s not so sure:
“Now it does sound less like that racial slur. … From listening in this room, and this is a state-of-the-art room, it doesn’t sound like that slur anymore. It sounds like … we‘re hearing the swear word at first and then the word ’cold.’ And the reason some say that would be relevant, is because it was unseasonably cold  in Florida that night and raining.”
The audio expert agreed it sounded like “cold,” and said the new method gets rid of a lot more background noise but doesn’t change the voice or words.

Here's the new, enhanced audio:





Update #2 04.05.12:  CNN Expert:  George Zimmerman Said "F*ng Punks."


Update #3 04.11.12:  In response to the "He was told to stand down and kept 'hunting and stalking' Travon Martin anyway" crowd.  Let's go to the audiotape:
Dispatcher: Just let me know if he does anything ok
Zimmerman: How long until you get an officer over here?
Dispatcher: Yeah we’ve got someone on the way, just let me know if this guy does anything else.
Then (Sound of Truck Door Opening/Closing):

Zimmerman: No you go in straight through the entrance and then you make a
left…uh you go straight in, don’t turn, and make a left. Sh1t he’s running.
Dispatcher: He’s running? Which way is he running?

 Then:
Dispatcher: Are you following him?
Zimmerman: Yeah
Dispatcher: Ok, we don’t need you to do that.
Zimmerman: Ok
Dispatcher: Alright sir what is your name?
Zimmerman: George…He ran.
Then:
Dispatcher: Okay do you live in the area?
Zimmerman: Yeah, I…[unintelligible]
Dispatcher: What’s your apartment number?
Zimmerman: It’s a home it’s 1950, oh cr-p I don’t want to give it all out, I don’t know where this kid is.
Dispatcher: Okay do you want to just meet with them right near the mailboxes then?
Zimmerman: Yeah that’s fine.

Update #4 04.19.12:

Officer Timothy Smith arrived within minutes of the shooting. He wrote in his report:

"Zimmerman stated that he had shot the subject [Martin] and he was still armed. Zimmerman complied with all of my verbal commands and was secured in handcuffs. Located on the inside of Zimmerman's waist band, I removed a black Kel Tek 9mm PF9 semi auto handgun and holster. While I was in such close contact with Zimmerman, I could observe that his back appeared to be wet and was covered in grass, as if he had been lying on his back on the ground. Zimmerman was also bleeding from the nose and back of his head."

That report also stated, "Zimmerman was placed in the rear of my police vehicle and was given first aid by the SFD [Sanford Fire Department]. While the SFD was attending to Zimmerman, I overheard him state, 'I was yelling for someone to help me, but no one would help me.'"

These objective facts are fully supportive of Zimmerman's version of the incident. They have not been rebutted except by mass hysteria and by charges of racial discrimination on the part of police and prosecutors.

Zimmerman agreed to talk to the police investigators and even took a voice stress test while in custody. This is a type of lie detector test used by hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. It was reported that Zimmerman's voice test came out clean. 


Update #5 04.19.12:
The congresswoman, who has stood next to Trayvon Martin’s parents at rallies and emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the Sanford Police Department, supported the “Stand Your Ground” law at the center of the case. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D, Fla.) voted for the self-defence law when she was a state senator in 2005, five years before she was elected to represent Miami—and Martin’s family—in Congress.

Update #6 04.19.12:

From Peter Ferrara:

Over a century before the NRA began promoting Stand Your Ground laws in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court held in 1895 in Beard v. U.S. that an innocent person under attack was "not obliged to retreat, but was entitled to stand his ground, and meet any attack upon him with a deadly weapon, in such a way and with such force as… [he] honestly believed, and had reasonable grounds to believe, was necessary to save his own life, or to protect himself from great bodily injury."

Stand Your Ground laws only became necessary when states began to adopt laws, through either the legislature or the courts, imposing a duty to retreat whenever possible on victims of violent attacks in public. At least one state, Massachusetts, even adopted that duty to flee when attacked in your own home, which is the rule in England.

The point of Stand Your Ground laws is to eliminate the duty to retreat when you are attacked in public. That has now been adopted as the law in half the states. Almost every state I believe has adopted the Castle Doctrine, which says you do not have the duty to retreat from your own home when attacked there.

The duty to retreat would not apply to the Zimmerman case in any state, however, because the duty only applies when it is possible to retreat. For Zimmerman lying on his back with a 6 foot 3 high school football player sitting on top of him slamming his head into the sidewalk, there was no possibility of retreat. So Zimmerman would qualify for self-defense under the laws of every state, even Massachusetts.

Lott reports that the latest edition of his book, More Guns, Less Crime (University of Chicago Press, 2010), includes the only published, refereed academic study of Stand Your Ground laws, which "found that states adopting Stand Your Ground/Castle doctrine laws reduced murder rates by 9 percent and overall violent crimes by 11 percent. That implies an annual drop in murders that is about 10 times more than the entire measured increase in civilian justifiable homicides from 2000 to 2010 -- and it isn't even clear that there was an actual increase."


Update #7 04.23.12:

Allidunce wrote: 'Zimmerman has only been vilified because he is a murderer"


1. He is NOT a murderer. He is an ACCUSED murderer.

2. Murder is a defined term. It is the unlawful taking of a human life.

3. In Florida, the win a second degree murder conviction, the prosecutor most prove ALL of the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

A. A person is killed
B. Without any premeditated design
C. By an act imminently dangerous to another
D. Evincing a depraved mind
E. Showing no regard for human life.

ALL 5 elements must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The following are defences that will allow a defendant to prevail over the prosecution:

A. The death occurred when you fought back or resisted an attack

B. If the death occurred when you were defending another person, especially if that person is a member of a protected class

C. Someone is trying to murder you and you fight back

D. When someone is killed while attempting to commit a felony upon your dwelling.

Any of the above, beats a 2nd degree murder charge.

Also, many 2nd degree murder charges in Florida fall because the Prosecutor cannot demonstrate evidence that the defendant actions "evinced a depraved mind," which is why a case similar to the Zimmerman-Martin case (but the shooter is black and the dead man was white) was charged as a manslaughter case and it is not a slam-dunk for the prosecution.




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Years ago, President Reagan's Labour Secretary asked:  "Where do I go to get my reputation back?"   Today, America has to ask :


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