Well, you know what, Mr. President? If you were bashing some guy’s head into the pavement thirty-five years ago to be a tough guy, you may well have been. As Treacher notes: “Apparently, @BarackObama thinks that if a white kid was beating a Hispanic guy’s head into the sidewalk, he couldn’t possibly get shot.”
The notion that this case is about “white supremacy” is sheer lunacy.
I’ll refrain from comment about how much better off the nation might be today had the President been Trayvon, with the same results.
So Obama’s finally admitting that he’s stupid?
Four hundred years of slavery means that African-Americans have the right to exact just reparations from the Oppressor Class. These reparations may take the form of physical or financial punishments. Attempts by members of the Oppressor Class to prevent African-Americans from administering these righteous punishments be raciss.
Wouldn’t four hundred years of Southern American slavery predate Christopher Columbus by almost half a century? Yet somehow I have no doubt that Jeantel and many like her wouldn’t think twice about the statement.
Apparently, @BarackObama thinks that if a white kid was beating a Hispanic guy’s head into the sidewalk, he couldn’t possibly get shot
Treacher is (willfully?) distorting Obama’s words. What Obama actually said:
Can anyone deny that both Martin and Zimmerman might have acted differently if Martin had been white?
The notion that this case is about “white supremacy” is sheer lunacy.
The notion that Martin’s race could not possibly have influenced the events that ended in his death is sheer lunacy.
I’ll refrain from comment about how much better off the nation might be today had the President been Trayvon, with the same results.
I’d be curious to hear how much better off we’d be if Obama had died in his teens. Presumably Hillary Clinton would be in her second term.
“Can anyone deny that both Martin and Zimmerman might have acted differently if Martin had been white?”
Yes, anyone can deny that. Martin was using racist slurs that night so if Zimmerman was white, Martin’s actions would have been the same. And there is zero evidence that Zimmerman acted out of racism. Zimmerman’s heritage is more diverse than Obama’s, that doesn’t mean he cant be a racist but there isn’t a history of racism we can point to.
If Zimmerman didn’t have a gun, would Martin be prosecuted on federal hate crime charges? Because his actions were a hate crime.
“The notion that Martin’s race could not possibly have influenced the events that ended in his death is sheer lunacy.”
You can’t just cry racism, you have to have something to back it up. Did Zimmerman use any racial slurs? No. Does he have a racist history? No. Does Zimmerman have a diverse family? Yes. Racism is not present here, except for Martin’s.
If Zimmerman was really a racist who killed Martin because he was black, we would all be outraged. But Zimmerman didn’t do that. Obama and the Democrats convicting Zimmerman in the media of white supremacy is disgusting. Zimmerman and his family have to spend the rest of their lives in hiding because Obama and the Democrats set the lynch mob on them.
anyone can deny that
You are saying that if Martin had been white he would have acted exactly the same way, that growing up black could not have had any influence on his outlook or behavior. Do you really believe that?
Thank you Jim, for showcasing the persistent racism of the Democrats/Leftists.
I don’t think Martin being black had any bearing on his behavior. Such things are not genetic.
Young men engage in risky behavior and this is common across all races. You don’t think young white men ever get in fights or engage in crime?
Martin’s upbringing may have something to do with the racist views he held and his tendency toward violence but Martin’s race had nothing to do with his actions.
Not sure why you think that if Martin was white he would somehow become a better person. That isn’t how things work. Skin color doesn’t have that biological effect.
Do you think Martin should have been charged with a hate crime? And why do you think Zimmerman is a racist?
I’m absolutely positive that white kids can turn out just like Trayvon, if you are referring to Travyon’s bullying, fighting, and petty theft (such as his text messages suggested). I’ve seen kids, white, Hispanic, black, Asian who did such things. Sometimes, those kids end up in jail and sometimes they end up dead. I’ve even kids who social economic privileges supposedly meant they would turn out fine, but they chose other options.
Apparently, I grew up in a world that people like Jim are fortunate not to have lived in.
“Can anyone deny that both Martin and Zimmerman might have acted differently if Martin had been white?”
Certainly.
Easily.
Accurately.
Next stupid question?
Do you understand the meaning of the word “might”?
“Do you understand the meaning of the word “might”? ”
I do.
It means it renders your statement as a CYA non-statement. Close to tautological.
And I also understand that that’s how you’ve been instructed to give the talking points:
always give yourself an out when attempting to race-bait so as to try (and fail) to hide your rampant racism.
The word might has no bearing. Skin color doesn’t determine one’s actions. So might someone behave differently if they were a different race? No.
Well, suppose the shooter had been a big black man in his 40’s. Let’s also suppose he had a Glock. Let’s suppose he saw some suspicious white teens in his neighborhood, notified the police, and went out to confront them. Let’s suppose one of the teens tried to attack him. Just to make the situation favor the white teen’s charges even more, let’s suppose that the big black man didn’t even wait until one of the teens landed a punch, but just shot one dead at the first sign of trouble. And let’s suppose that this didn’t happen in a Stand Your Ground state full of gun nuts like Florida, but in someplace like upstate New York.
Now suppose we lived in a society where the grand jury wouldn’t even indict him for anything more than manslaughter, and a jury would acquit him of even that.
Do we live in that world? Why yes we do. The man’s name is Roderick Scott, and he’s free to go about his business. I’d like to have him for a neighbor.
An excellent find! Positively devastating.
I’ve seen it, jackhole.
Can anyone deny that both Martin and Zimmerman might have acted differently if Martin had been white?
I’m puzzled as to why you consider that an argument. Martin might still be alive if he ate more Skittles.
The Skittles and iced tea are 2/3 of the ingredients in a drug called Lean. The other ingredient is Robitussin. Lean makes you violent and paranoid, so maybe if Martin had laid off the Skittles he’d still be alive.
@George Turner, July 19, 2013, 12:04 pm: Wouldn’t four hundred years of Southern American slavery predate Christopher Columbus by almost half a century?
Well, you, you see your math. My thoughts of your math, it old, that’s old school math. We in a new school, our generation, my generation.
What if you’re Jewish? Wouldn’t two thousand years of being downtrodden out-point a mere few hundred years of slavery?
Gee, my Ukranian ancestors were subjugated by Mingols, Poles, Germans (repeatedly), Russians (several types), and Soviets… does that count too?
2000 is a vast understatement.
But the morons don’t have the slightest sense of non-Zinn history – here or elsewhere.
… and I’m half Romanian. We were overrun by Romans, Mongols, crusaders and Moors and Germans and Russians, does that count?
Not sure why the President has to take an event involving a latino man and a black man and turn it into white people are racist and like to kill black teenagers.
Also, with all due respect Mr President, young white men get hassled by the cops and followed around stores but when cops kill a poor white person, no one cares.
young white men get hassled by the cops and followed around stores but when cops kill a poor white person, no one cares
So Obama, and Americans in general, should care more about poor white people? What would caring more about poor white people look like? Expanding access to health insurance? Infrastructure spending to create blue collar jobs? Expanding food stamps? Extending unemployment insurance? Universal preschool?
Is there some other national politician that Obama should look to for inspiration as he tries to do a better job for poor white people? Mitt Romney? Paul Ryan? John Boehner?
“So Obama, and Americans in general, should care more about poor white people?”
No, I don’t think white people should get special treatment. I am just pointing out how many of the things Democrats claim only happen to black people actually happen to all of us and when they do, people like Obama and Al Sharpton don’t care. It is always interesting when a Democrat comes to this realization because then their argument will shift to class.
Why did Obama and the Democrats frame this as White vs Black? Neither of the people involved were white and yet even today Obama is talking about how this case is about racist white people.
Plus, if Obama actually gave a fig for poor blacks, he’d spend all of his time leading anti-gang crusades in the inner-cities. Say, Chicago. Or Detroit. Heck, Washington D.C.
But the racist culture taught in blue-model cities by blue-model teachers directly to blue-voting block members raised by blue-parents to embrace blue-culture, blue-movies, and blue-celebrities can’t be any aspect of the problem. And Jim says the reason this is so is because of their race.
even today Obama is talking about how this case is about racist white people
That is your imagination talking, not Obama.
Clean your ear holes out and listen to that speech again. He is linking his life experiences to the outcome of the case. And Democrats are going with the slant that Zimmerman was found innocent because the system is racist, not because of the undeniable preponderance of the facts of the case.
Meanwhile, Zimmerman and his family are not getting any special protection from the Obama administration which is shameful considering the racist lynch mob Obama and the Democrats unleashed on Zimmerman and his family.
As has been pointed out elsewhere: A Hispanic killed a Black and was found Not Guilty by a Judge and Jury of all Women, and yet the White Man is somehow still at fault. This is the logic of the left.
Obama should care about all people, equally.
However he’s a raging racist, racial arsonist, and political slimeball, so that’s not going to happen. And he’s proven it countless times.
This, Rand, is exactly why 90% of blacks refuse to vote for Republicans.
Obama talks about his personal experiences in having people lock their doors out of fear of the “scary black man” while acknowledging that blacks commit a disproportionate amount of crime, and the right’s response is to insult him.
Why would any black person even listen to anything you say, let alone vote for the people you want them to? Why would any black person think you give a rat’s ass about them and their issues, if this and the Detroit post are your immediate responses?
Calling one person a moron is obviously the same as calling an entire victim-group morons.
It is the height of blue-logic. Blue star.
So Obama’s the only black guy to have people lock their doors when he walks by?
Rand’s response (and yours) demonstrates my point. You entirely dismiss the real life experiences of a large group of Americans (in an insulting manner) yet expect them to follow your recommendations as to who to vote for.
Have you met any Mormon’s? How about a door to door salesman? What race are those people in your mind, Gerrib? Do you think they never had a door locked when they walked by?
People have locked their doors when I walk by.
Do you need to know my race to decide what to think about it? Is it -because- of my race? My religion? My sexual preferences?
Or is it too damaging to fragile egos to point out that “stranger” is a perfectly valid and common reason?
The perpetual “Otherizing” of -everyone-, and then claiming to -be- Otherized is beyond pathetic. And typical.
PS: There’s a difference between “one”, “some”, “many” and “all”. It was figured out and taught in seminars on logic by some dude. He’d be considered black unless he managed to shoot a thug.
People have good reason to lock their doors when black men walk by.
Suspect their is good reason to look doors to you as well.
[I s]uspect their [sic] is good reason to look [sic] doors to you as well.
Yet, oddly, no one ever has. Why? Because people who look like me commit (per capita) very few violent crimes.
People who look like Trayvon, on the other hand…
Leland: your attempt at ad hominem has failed. Face the truth instead of insulting the messenger.
My mistake for responding via phone, but congratulations in learning to interpret.
Just know, my door will always be locked to you. I did some research, and I’m sure I’ll never have a reason to do any personal or business dealings with you after this response. I hope that feeling is mutual.
Why would any black person even listen to anything you say, let alone vote for the people you want them to?
Because it’s in their self-interest to. I’d drag up some links showing what the rates of black poverty look like over the last 4 years, but it would be a waste of time. You’ve had so much cool-aid it’s addled your brain.
Obama’s experiences are not what people are taking issue with but the context in which he talks about them. The Zimmerman/Martin trial had nothing to do with racism, especially related to Obama’s experiences.
People are offended that Obama and the Democrats took the Zimmerman case and made it a narrative of white racism toward black people when the case had nothing to do with what Obama was talking about today.
The specifics of this case pointed to not only Zimmerman’s innocence but that he isn’t the racist that Democrats claim him to be. Contrary to the facts, Democrats wanted Zimmerman convicted because they wanted racial justice even if it meant that an innocent man went to jail. Zimmerman’s innocence did not matter, he must be punished because of race.
If people want to punish other races regardless of the law, then they don’t belong in the Republican party.
Well, actually Zimmerman might be more than a bit racist because he not only voted for Obama, but he freely joined the nation’s only pro race-based human slavery party that had a Grand Kleagle of the KKK as a prominent Senator from West Virginia.
I am not saying Zimmerman was guilty of murder but in the wider sense I don’t consider him totally “innocent”. He was rightly found not guilty of the charges but her certainly has to take moral responsibility for his part in the death of this young man and he will have to live with this on his conscience for the rest of his life.
If Zimmerman was willing to assume the authority to “police” his neighborhood then he needs to take the responsibility for doing it in a competent manner. It surprised me that he was unable to identify where he was when asked (on the telephone). He did not appear to have made the necessary preparation to do what he was trying to do.
I hope you are not saying that Zimmerman should have been found guilty despite him being innocent.
A lot of things happened that night and Martin’s actions had a strong influence on the outcome not just Zimmerman’s.
I am distinguishing between
a) being found not guilty of charges – which means that the prosecution could not establish beyond reasonable doubt that he was guilty of the crime for which he was charged
b) him being innocent of ANY crime – in my view he made a contribution (along with Martin) to the death of Martin. Had a lesser charge been made then there was a possibility of conviction on this lesser charge.
Florida law is rightly applied here but in other legal frameworks then it is possible that Zimmerman may have been convicted of manslaughter. Since I am not in Florida but in another area covered by a different set of laws I can well believe Zimmerman is culpable in the death of Martin.
We will see what legal moves if any are made in the coming months.
PS I agree this trial has nothing to do with racism. It has to do with ineptness (on the part of Zimmermand and the prosecutor) and foolishness (on the part of Martin).
The jury was offered the option of manslaughter. They didn’t avail themselves of it. They acquitted on all counts.
If Zimmerman was willing to assume the authority to “police” his neighborhood then he needs to take the responsibility for doing it in a competent manner. It surprised me that he was unable to identify where he was when asked (on the telephone). He did not appear to have made the necessary preparation to do what he was trying to do.
It’s interesting how only the people who try to make their world a better place have to take “responsibilities”. Martin also had a responsibility. He didn’t take it and died as a result.
As an aside, Zimmerman spent something like three or four years frequently patrolling his neighborhood at night, generating almost 50 police calls in that time (and apparently he actually did some good by doing so). For that diligent sacrifice he was labeled a wannabe cop. One of the more sinister aspects of this story is how so many of Zimmerman’s detractors vilify his efforts to make his neighborhood a better place.
Even if he was extremely racist or deeply in the wrong for other reaosns, why mock hard effort or good intentions? It’s like those old biblical stories where the wicked punish those who try to hold to virtue. I’m not Christian, but there’s wisdom in those sorts of stories. Why is it so hard to acknowledge that Zimmerman tried to help protect his neighborhood? That despite his failings, trying to be a “wannabe cop” probably wasn’t that bad a thing?
Obama and the Democrats took the Zimmerman case and made it a narrative of white racism toward black people
You have it backwards. The narrative was already there, and the Martin case — specifically, the decision to immediately release Zimmerman — reminded blacks of it. You may want blacks to forget about and/or shut up about their experiences of racism, or perhaps to only bring it up when the case can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be one of simple racism. That’s a foolish and unreasonable expectation.
The narrative was already there
The narrative is false. This sad case is a prime demonstration of that. It may be true elsewhere, but not here, and beating that drum now is doing far more harm to any current discussion on race, not that you care.
And sorry that you don’t like the standard of reasonable doubt. I think you will be grateful for that standard should you or your family need to defend yourself in court.
No, the narrative was not there. And Zimmerman isn’t white so the narrative doesn’t work anyway. Also, the only racism present here came from Martin. The narrative that Zimmerman, whose heritage is more diverse than Obama’s, acted out of racism is utter BS.
You can’t just claim or assume something is racist if there are no facts to back it up.
“You may want blacks to forget about and/or shut up about their experiences of racism,”
What we want is for them to see who is really thwarting prosperity in their lives. What we want is for them to see who is keeping them down and why.
We want the rage to be directed to the true source of their misery.
….Obamas, Schumers, Pelosis, Reids, Durbins, Sharptons, Jacksons, liberal elitists, and the rest of the blind guilt laden liberal establishment.
the decision to immediately release Zimmerman — reminded blacks of [a false narrative now being hyped by the media against an innocent man according to how we determine such]
Because of some (not just ‘blacks’) seeing that decision through a racist filter rather than as it was… the police on the scene knew this was self defense. Everyone not politically biased knew there was no case to be brought. This race baiting is pure bullshit for an evil purpose.
Well, if he got along better with Congress then maybe they wouldn’t keep locking their doors when he comes to visit.
Also, how does establishing the racism of Indonesian Muslims say anything about US culture?
Why would any black person even listen to anything you say, let alone vote for the people you want them to?
Detroit.
“Why would any black person even listen to anything you say, let alone vote for the people you want them to?”
Because it is only through Conservatism, Freedom, Liberty, property rights, capitalism, small government, and minimized “help” (read: interference) from the government that will break all poor people – blacks included – out of the plantations you and the rest of the lib Kool-aid drinkers have fashioned for them and chained them to.
Obama talks about his personal experiences in having people lock their doors out of fear of the “scary black man” while acknowledging that blacks commit a disproportionate amount of crime, and the right’s response is to insult him.
I think it’s because he’s inserting himself into another racist incidence of his own creation/imagination.
Also, I’d treat him with a hell of a lot more respect, if he’d clean up that cesspool that is his cabinet. Lying to Congress, for example, should be a fireable offense.
Because Chris, there are no f@$%ing black people. There are just people.
The important thing Obama said, and got wrong, is the assumption that if Trayvon had the gun and killed Zimmerman in self defense that would somehow be wrong.
Any and all have the right to self defense. Obama is a racist bigot. If you can’t see that, then so are you.
And what has 90% support of the Democrats gotten them. Look at Detroit.
Unfortunately, Obama has found a topic where he actually isn’t the dumbest guy in the room.
Unfortunately, this topic is completely unrelated to the federal deficit, foreign policy, monetary policy, national defense, or any other proper business of the President of the United States.
I’d also note the clever rhetorical trick being played here, by analogy:
… if a GIANT YELLOW ALIEN was involved in the same kind of scenario, that, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.
… if a ZOMBIE was involved in the same kind of scenario, that, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.
… if a DICK CHENEY was involved in the same kind of scenario, that, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.
Trayvon doesn’t strike me as the sort who would send an ambassador into a war zone without some serious muscle.
I’m not sure what sort of a country Mr. Obama thinks he lives in. He apparently thinks it has turned him into a newt.
It did! Well, he got better….
Can we discuss African sparrows without being racists?
The simple fact is that systemic, institutionalized racism is a solved problem in this nation. Yes there are always a few racists around (Sharpton, Obama, Jackson to name 3) of all races but that’s just the way things are and will always be.
But to admit that means that the grievance industry loses a prime product; racial hucksters like Jackson and Sharpton lose their rice bowl;
and most importantly……………
the rage of the victims of 60 years of failed lib policies, plantation owning and race baiting would be turned on the Schumers, Pelosis, Obamas, Jacksons, Sharptons, and most Rev. Wrights of the world……………..
where it belongs.
And of course they can’t have THAT.
The simple fact is that systemic, institutionalized racism is a solved problem in this nation
What a relief. So why is it that blacks and whites smoke pot at the same rates, but blacks are 10 times as likely to be arrested for it? Why are job applicants with black-sounding names much less likely to be called for interviews than applicants with white-sounding names (and otherwise identical resumes)?
Good questions Jim. I would hope you realize racism isn’t the complete answer.
Yet this country elected a black man President, twice. Go figure.
Jim, you have a long history here of jumping the shark, but I don’t think you’ve ever finished one with such a monumental face-plant. The USA elects (and re-elects) its first black president, but institutional racism still exists; look at these two unqualifiedly sea-cucumber caliber moronic statistics.
Your worthiness of sympathy has been cast in concrete.
“So why is it that blacks and whites smoke pot at the same rates, but blacks are 10 times as likely to be arrested for it?”
Only in your fevered delusional, uncritical head. You read these things and you just gobble them up.
In actual fact, it’s simply not true. Heather MacDonald:
“The idea that the criminal-justice system discriminates against blacks — and that this bias explains blacks’ disproportionate presence in custody — is a staple of civil-rights activism and of the academic Left. Every effort to prove it empirically, however, has come up short. A 1994 Justice Department survey of felony cases from the country’s 75 largest urban areas discovered that blacks actually had a lower chance of prosecution following a felony than whites did and that they were less likely to be found guilty at trial. Alfred Blumstein has found that blacks are underrepresented in prison for homicide compared with their arrest rates. A meta-analysis of charging and sentencing studies showed that “large racial differences in criminal offending,” not racism, explained why more blacks were in prison proportionately than whites and for longer terms, according to criminologists Robert Sampson and Janet Lauritsen.”
You see Jim? You listen to the elitist, Ivory Tower Professorial Propagandists in the uber left wing universities without a critical thought in your head. And that leads you down the path of numbskull-ness.
I suggest you take a snow blower to all the thoughts in your head and chew them up. Then flush the place out with a fire hose.
Then start looking at things as they are and not as your handlers tell you they are. You’d look a whole lot less silly that way.
Over half again as many whites as blacks are arrested for marijuana possession (1.65x). If blacks were ten times more likely to get arrested then there would be twice as many blacks arrested as whites, but that’s not the case (and off by a factor of 3.3).
Blacks are about three times more likely to get arrested, but that’s because they’re smoking weed in the bad neighborhoods where all the police cars are, and the police cars are there because that’s where almost all the murders, rapes, and robberies happen – like this one.
And then there’s this:
“Black Floridians have made about a third of the state’s total “Stand Your Ground” claims in homicide cases, a rate nearly double the black percentage of Florida’s population. The majority of those claims have been successful, a success rate that exceeds that for Florida whites.”
Hey Jim, she’s calling you a liar.