If I'd been in Zimmerman's shoes, I'd be in prison today

This is an unlikely scenario, because I’m not civic-minded enough to join a neighborhood watch like Zimmerman did, but:  Had I been in George Zimmerman’s place on that rainy night in Sanford, Florida, there’s zero chance that I get the acquittal he did.  Facts in evidence:

 

1)  Just look at me, for fuck’s sake.

 

2)  I would have shot Martin before he ever reached me.

Why is Holder Holding Up Zimmerman?

Hasn't George Zimmerman being trough enough?

The U.S. Department of Justice, overseen by Attorney General Erich* Holder, has ordered the Sanford, Florida police department to keep possession of all the evidence from George Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial - including the exonerated neighborhood watch volunteer's gun.

Sanford police confirmed on Thursday that the DOJ asked the agency not to return any pieces of evidence to their owners. Zimmerman was expected to get his firearm back by month's end.

Give him his property back!

Property rights used to mean a great deal in this country.

*Pollo's spelling. See his comment under brilliant. 

I feel reborn

Yes. I feel the power growing and the glory surging through my veins. Buaaaahaaaahahaaaahaaaa.  Wait! That was a Newcastle I slugged. I forgot. That stuff goes straight to my head. This is a test. To see if this might be all some kind of strange dream.

Dropped in Legal Insurrection just now and Bill Jacksobson has a video up of Al Sharpton interviewing Rachel Jeantel and he said it makes her look better. Than before. On Piers Morgan.

So right off the bat there is all that going against it. MSNBC, Morgan, Al Sharpton, the talking punpkin. All the things I already said a firm ,"no mas" to.  My mind-editor, my personality-guard, the temperament-sentry, my internal peace-of-mind gendarme, my sturdy mechanical saturation valve all flew into activity but my I watched anyway. I was thinking, stay open, Mr Jacksobson said it makes her look good. See for yourself. I lasted a minute. It does no such thing. Nothing does. Every element is still pathetic. That minute reaffirmed my biases.

And Al Sharpton is 182 if he's a day. Someone over there said 59. They tore apart mummies that look better than that. Al Sharpton in sharper less leaner times where he explains, if you can stand it, how he manipulates media, but you know all of that already. Why aren't those stories covered, he asks? Indeed. I read there were four such shootings as Zimmermand did, in Chicago while the trial in Florida ran. Why drag Chicago into it? Because that is the style we are seeing.

When Protected Groups are left Unprotected

Althouse noticed an inconvenient revelation in Rachel Jeantel's testimony, 3 weeks ago, when Rachel Jeantel (of 'creepy ass-cracker' fame) testified at the George Zimmerman trial.
An inconvenient revelation to the people that pushed for the trial.... mind-you.  

Last night on CNN's Piers Morgan, Althouse heard it again and says she was reluctant to talk about it : "I told you this 3 weeks ago, but Drudge flashes it today: Rachel Jeantel says she warned Trayvon Martin that Zimmerman could be a gay rapist."

I do remember that.

 

It turns out that it may have been Zimmerman, and not Trayvon Martin, that was profiled (Profiled mind-you) the night of the shooting, if Rachel Jeantel is to be believed. And that's a big IF, ladies and gentleman of the jury. Some reports said the prosecution had a hard time pinning her down on what exactly she had told Trayvon Martin over the phone, just before the shooting.

 

My question is, what do the leaders of a protected group say, when members of another protected group bashes them, in the name of defending the right to protect themselves?

 

Rush Limbaugh wondered something similar.

I thought, when I heard this last night, that that's all anybody'd be talking about today, because this throws this thing 180 degrees out of phase.  So now Trayvon Martin, who is the recipient of full-fledged, 100% victim status? It turns out could well be a gay basher, and the left has been defending him.  So what do they do?  They have two interest groups here that they represent and champion: African-Americans and homosexuals, and in this incident, the object of their affection (in this case, Trayvon Martin), might have thought he was being pursued by a gay guy and beat him up, or tried to.

The answer to my question is - nothing.... don't mind anybody.

Ubiquitous Zimmerman Trayvon Thread

Eric Clapton - I Shot The Sheriff

"They Say They Want To Bring Me In Guilty"

Obama Weighs In On The Zimmerman Verdict

Obama Responds To Zimmerman Verdict: 'Stem The Tide of gun Violence' -- For Trayvon

"President Barack Obama issued a long-awaited response Sunday afternoon to the acquittal of George Zimmerman Saturday evening, reminding Americans to temper "passions," and that "we are a nation of laws and the jury has spoken."

He added that Americans should "honor" the life of Trayvon Martin by committing to "stem the tide of gun violence," and "ask ourselves if we are doing all we can to widen the circle of compassion in our communities."

President Obama leaves no opportunity behind. I supposed once he immersed himself, at the beginning, in the days (or was it weeks?) following the shooting, he has no other choice now but to continue to score political points. Obama is unrelenting and unrestrained.

Althouse Parses Obama's Statements.

Your Butt is Wide, Well Mine Is Too

Professor Althouse ask's Did Zimmerman gain all that weight to aid in his post-acquittal disguise?

"So how does he change that face? One way is to drop the packed-on poundage, which bloated and puffed up his face. He can grow his hair and beard, wear glasses, adopt an alias, and relocate to some part of the country where people don't expect to see him. But by packing on over 100 pounds before the trial, he created a face that he now has the power to radically modify. That weight, because it was rapidly gained, should be relatively easy to drop. And, remember, there was evidence at trial that Zimmerman had previously worked hard at weight loss and his success was impressive."

Am I blogging off the fat ... how can I put this?

 

"Weird Al" Yankovic - Fat  

ADDED : Pollo has sent me an e-mail alerting me to an apparent problem with blogger.

"Lem, there seems to be a problem with comments disappearing, particularly in longer threads. Please address it or fix it. It's not fair to people who take the time to compose thoughts addressing specific questions." 

I don't know how to fix that. What I could suggest is to perhaps move the conversation to a newer post. I don't have concrete rules about commenting, except to ask that anonymous commenters please self identify so as to make it easer for other commenters to respond.  Thanks Pollo, Freman Hunt and Icepick for contributing your suggestions.

George Zimmerman Found Not Guilty

George Zimmerman found not guilty of murder in Trayvon Martin's death

"(CNN) -- George Zimmerman never denied shooting Trayvon Martin, but he said he did so in self defense. Late Saturday night, a Florida jury found him not guilty in the teenager's death.

The verdict caps a case that has inflamed passions for well over a year, much of it focused on race.

The six jurors -- all of them women -- deliberated for 16½ hours. Five of the women are white; one is a minority.

When he heard his fate, Zimmerman had little visible reaction. He turned and shook the hand of one of his attorneys before sitting back down, smiling only after court was adjourned."

Please feel free to comment your reaction to the verdict.

Zimmerman Cymbal

This thread is dedicated to the vibrations the Zimmerman trial is generating. The Race Cymbal, the seemingly ever present and never new, the loudest among the instruments with which we make music.

A reader of Althouse, identifying herself as Jane, wrote to Althouse about a new way the AP seems to be  playing the same old song and dance. Well, the AP is playing the song so we dance to it.

"This must be in the AP stylebook somewhere, because that sentence, or some variation therof, is found in every single article about the case:  Martin "is" black but Zimmerman only "identifies" as Hispanic.  Can you recall any other situation in which AP has played with racial identification vs. race as a fact in the news story?"

Althouse says...

"This is a great topic about which to maintain vigilance."

At Lem's, topics like race, highly technical, that require a tremendous amount of dexterity and years and years of practice to be able to play and not, you know, get booed off the stage, not to mention drive your neighbors and family member crazy, are better left to the professionals.

The Jazz Butcher - The Human Jungle

 

You are welcomed to try your "stuff" here if you want... as long as it doesn't pass a certain decibel that turns people crazy. Just keep the noise down, ok?