Further Light and Knowledge

First, I think that everyone except for a few mentally disturbed individuals believe this event to be a great tragedy; the totally unnecessary loss of a valuable, precious human life. I started following the story a few days after the shooting, before any national media had picked it up and I have a few opinions on both the shooting and the media coverage and reaction to it.

1. I don't think this has anything to do with "Castle laws" or "Stand your ground" laws. Even the Florida authors are quick to state that they do not apply in this case. Personally I think that such laws are incredibly bad legislation, and Florida statistics show a three-fold increase in what amounts to vigilante murders under the law, but I think Zimmerman was clearly out to "hunt down niggers" and would have come up with another justification for killing if the police had not suggested this one.

2. This brings me to the police. Zimmerman's narrative is obviously contorted to try to fit the facts to the law. He was returning to his car to meet police when Trayvon jumped him. Really? In all the back and forth 911 calls and communications with the police, there is no other mention of him meeting police. The dispatcher clearly told him to back off and the police were headed to the scene Zimmerman reported. By his own narrative, he should not have been there. Trayvon's motivation in abandoning his attempt to escape (as Zimmerman himself references) and choose to attack a man 110 pounds heavier than himself defies all logic and all other evidence in the case. It's simply not credible. But the situation the police encountered did not fit the self-defense law and police had to manufacture evidence, coach Zimmerman in an improbable story, keep him away from witnesses how could observe the incoherence of the final fabrication as it was being patched together. This is not sloppy police work, these officers were not incompetent; they made a fairly sophisticated reconstruction of what happened and conducted an investigation intended to exonerate a killer.

3. This story is not uncommon. Probably hundreds of young black men a year die in similar circumstances and the killings are covered up. We keep few real statistics on hate crimes, most Americans don't want to know how police operate in many of these communities as long as they feel safe.

4. I know there are some dedicated law enforcement personnel who participate on this board. I share your anger and outrage that the entire profession can be smeared by what a few bozos do. The Sanford Police Department is a cesspool; about a year ago the previous chief was fired for covering up an assault that almost killed a homeless man by the son of a police officer who was apparently running with a skinhead gang. I am interested in your thoughts on the case.

5. Finally, I do not believe that these kinds of events can occur in a healthy society. Racism and violence grow in the dark places, and are nutured by a political climate of hatred and outrage. These "stand your ground" and "castle" laws were not passed by legislators thinking rationally about public policy (they were almost universally condemned by the law enforcement community), but rather by legislators who felt there political careers depended on pandering to a well-funded lobby and appeals to the worst in human nature. Shame on them. Shame on us.

Jamie

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"Now I troll back to my little cave where we no talk about things we no understand..." Malfalda

"Ummmm. Roadkill."

I don't think all the facts are clearly known. It is way too soon to make any judgment calls on this.

But I hope you enjoyed your moment of righteous indignation.

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"It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office."

- H. L. Mencken

"Shame on us?"

I'm very relieved to live in a state with a "Castle Doctrine." Living in Los Angeles I was the victim of a home invasion robbery. I felt impotent and unable to protect my family and myself. I don't believe this applies to the Martin case, as Zimmerman was not protecting his home.

It has not happened to me since. But living in a "Stand Your Ground" state and not a "Duty To Retreat" state and having the tools to legally defend my home against another incident as I went through in LA is a very good feeling.

No shame here. I feel none. I will feel none, no matter how many people yell it in my face.

I guess it's true. A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged.

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People Who Don't Want Their Beliefs Laughed At Shouldn't Have Such Funny Beliefs.

First I am saddened and sorry that you have had to deal with a home invasion. Everyone should have a right to feel and be safe in their home, their workplace, and in public areas.




I didn't mean to yell in anybody's face, least of all yours. I have no problem with the doctrine of self-defense. It's the Charles Bronson "Death Wish" folks who want to hunt down "bad guys" I have a problem with.

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"Now I troll back to my little cave where we no talk about things we no understand..." Malfalda

"Ummmm. Roadkill."

A lot of that probably goes beyond what we know. But it seems we can be pretty confident of the following:

1) It's pretty hard to think of a scenario where Zimmerman would need to use deadly force to defend himself against an unarmed 17 year-old who he outweighs by 100+ pounds. And any scenario you can think of starts with Zimmerman menacing the kid, in which case it's the kid who has the right to defend himself.

2) If a 250 pound black guy blows a hole in the chest of an unarmed 140 pound white kid and pleads self-defense when the cops arrive, there's no way the police shrug their shoulders and say "ok, who are we to say otherwise?" That dude is in the back of a police cruiser immediately.

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Stop not to think, ever. Society rightly abhors this solitary vice, and misery and perversity are its only rewards. Thinking leads to thought and thought leads to differentiation, and the different are properly shunned in all species. --Michael Kelly

I see fig (aka captain chaos) is trying to resussitate the board again with his borderline personality.

Agreed, even the most hardened prick face can imagine that scenario, unless they are one of those monumental douchenozzles, in which case they are too fucked in the head for us to consider their opinion.

And if said prick face can't wrap their head around a compasionate response to this tragedy, you gotta wonder, how inconsequential are they? Ah, but perhaps they are consequential in the sense that their foul presence is a drain on the overall life force of humanity. Again, you just gotta tell those fuckers to get bent, we have no time for this lack of everyday loving kindness.

I'm assuming we don't have any fuckwadprickfacedouchenozzles in the house ... can I get a w00t w00t.

I keep running into douchenozzles who make knowing pronouncements about how to handle 17-year-olds when they've never had a teenager. It's always the teach-em-a-lesson douchenozzles that have the biggest stash of guns.

"Every man will own a gun . . .
Shoot the man whose point of view
Makes a point that bothers you . . .
Let's play U.S.A."

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- CV Rick
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And apparently dudes who need to compensate because they're such wusses that even at 250 lbs. they can get held down and beat by a skinny 140 lb. kid. Or wait, did that not actually happen?

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Stop not to think, ever. Society rightly abhors this solitary vice, and misery and perversity are its only rewards. Thinking leads to thought and thought leads to differentiation, and the different are properly shunned in all species. --Michael Kelly