Obviously, there is a lot i could say. Everyone else has said it already. They've talked about the inherent moral problems with the stand-your-ground law. They've asked why the statute denying the use of deadly force to the "initial aggressor" was never brought up to the jury. They've pointed out that Zimmerman's gun was almost, by necessity, primed to kill before the confrontation happened, and that his injuries were extremely minor. They've pointed out the insane case of a woman who was just sentenced to 20 years for firing a warning shot at her abusive boyfriend.
Right now, the right-wing whackos and goons are slobbering with righteous fury, gleefully sharing stories about how they broke down in joyful tears at the verdict, that their faith in the otherwise-abhorrent United States is partially redeemed... and, as always, they bellow, why are people callling us racists? We're so clearly not! This isn't about race, this is about constitutionalism, and gun rights, and all of that.
Here.
Is why.
There is still a four-minute gap where no one -- except George Zimmerman -- knows what really happened. The possibility that Zimmerman tried to attack Trayvon Martin, or grabbed him, assaulted him verbally, accused him of crimes he hadn't committed, ordered him to lay down on the pavement, attempted to search his person, or even pulled out his gun and threatened to shoot him -- they consider all of these to be IMPOSSIBLE. It is, to them, utterly not within the realm of possibility for any of those to have happened, or for Zimmerman to conveniently fail to mention them to the police.
Nope. Won't consider it. Can't consider it.
The only possibility, they claim, is that Trayvon Martin attacked Zimmerman without provocation. He was young, black, liked rap music, and smoked weed in the last few days, right? What other outcome could there have been?
As Te-Nahisi Coates states...
"The idea that Zimmerman got out of the car to check the street signs, was ambushed by a 17-year old kid with no violent history who told him "you're going to die tonight" strikes me as very implausible. It strikes me as much more plausible that Martin was being followed by a strange person, that the following resulted in a confrontation, that Martin was getting the best of Zimmerman in the confrontation, and that Zimmerman then shot him. But I didn't see the confrontation. No one else really saw the confrontation. Except George Zimmerman."
It's okay to have doubt. It's okay to want to know the whole truth. It's okay to want to weigh the evidence. It's even okay to accept the verdict, with reservations, because the evidence to the contrary just isn't available, acknowledge the ambiguity, and grudgingly decide that it's better to let a potentially guilty man walk free than risk imprisoning an innocent man. That's the system.
That's entirely proper.
But to consider this a simple case closed situation, to gloat and celebrate and feel "joy" at this turn of events -- is monstrous.
As usually is the case with these chortling morons, i ask myself, is this evil or stupidity? Probably both. These poor lonely wingnuts have been on a losing streak these last few years. After two Obama wins, gay marriage, and the nearly wholesale dismantling of Bush's legacy... they want a "win." If they can't take the Senate, then seeing a black kid get gunned down is good enough. Take that, Obama! As an added insult, many of the louts who cheer over Martin's grave are the same rednecks and idiots who brag about all the fistfights THEY got into when they were Trayvon's age, how they didn't take shit from anybody, and settled things with their fists. Because, hey, it's okay to get in some scraps and brawls if you're white. But if a black kid fights back to prove he isn't a punk, then he's a dangerous animal who deserves to be put down and then jeered at.
We get it. You're racists. You're terrified, old, white people.
Anything else i have to say was just said by TJ Kirk, aka The Amazing Atheist.
4 comments:
I should add that the Amazing Atheist got kicked out of TGWTG for being a colossal asshole.
We likely may never know what exactly happened in the four minutes, but as you said, there is no evidence that directly contradicts Zimmerman's story nor does it prove he was the unilateral aggressor. Now, if the prosecution has gone for manslaughter from the start, they might have had a better chance of getting a conviction. It was their over zealousness to get a murder conviction and the terrible way they presented their case that cost them.
Now, if you're going to complain that people celebrating the verdict is monstrous, then I'd argue the same should go for the media's conduct during the whole case. I mean, they were the ones that turned it into "race issue" I mean, they practically made Zimmerman sound like kicked puppies for free, stole from an orphanage, and Sieg Heiled every night before going to bed. It's like they saw his last name and figured he must be some "White racist teabagger" who murdered Saint Trayvon in cold blood. Never mind that he is Hispanic and said he voted for Obama.
And all the while, we have people rioting in Oakland and elsewhere over the verdict. If the verdict had gone the other way and they celebrated, would you also argue that's monstrous?
(On a side note, you seen Pacific Rim).
Haven't seen Pacific Rim yet; i'm taking my brother out for his birthday, and we'll either see that or Man of Steel -- his choice.
I'd be interested to hear more about TJ getting kicked out of Channel Awesome; i glutted myself on the Spoony departure drama, but this is the first i've heard of this situation.
I totally agree that whoever edited that videotape at MSNBC to make it sound like Zimmerman said "he looks black" out of nowhere should be sued. That was disgraceful.
As for further media disgraces and whatnot, i can honestly say that i almost never watch actual TV anymore. The only time i turn the thing on is to watch "Under the Dome."
That's a tough question. I guess it would have been, since the proper response would have been solemn sadness for the life lost and the life ruined. No matter which side won, i believe there's no cause for anyone to celebrate because of the ambiguity involved. If it was a clear-cut case where one party was obviously in the wrong? Then, sure, party down.
He got kicked out for not getting along well with the other reviewers, including throwing a bitchfit when CA decided to give a few other lesser known employees more screentime, and getting into a fight with a feminist on Reddit and telling her to go get raped.
Said feminist was a rape victim.
Ouch. Come on, TJ. Come on.
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