· 6 years ago
Thanks for speaking the truth.
Michael's Dispatches
Race Baiting and Lies in America
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- Details
- Published: Sunday, 21 July 2013 14:14
Page 1 of 2
21 July 2013
George Bush Senior -- Naval Aviator at 18, then off to war.
(Many Americans will be familiar with much of what is in this dispatch, yet many international readers never stepped foot inside the United States. This case is getting international ink, and so here we go.)
Trayvon Martin was 17 when he was shot. Many people say he was just a “child.”
Let's look at the evidence. 17 year-olds can, and do, join the US military.
At 17, I joined the military and reported for duty when 18. Before graduating from high school, I could bench press 300 pounds and hoist 225 pounds from the floor to over my head with arms locked, weighing less than 148 pounds.
At 17, my high school friend Scott Helvenston became a Navy SEAL. The youngest ever. Some people say this is not possible. To save embarrassment, naysayers might take a minute to Google “Youngest Navy SEAL.”
At 17, Wilfred Benitez was the world champion boxer.
Retired 4-star General Barry McCaffrey mentioned to me the other day that he joined the Army at 17.
At 18, George Bush senior became a Naval aviator and headed off to war. There were many others.
Milton Olive III, 18 years-old. Medal of Honor recipient. Died while saving his buddies by smothering a grenade with his body.
At 19, I was a "Green Beret" and went to jail after accidentally killing someone in what amounted to hand to hand combat.
Hands are lethal weapons. That someone is unarmed when he attacks means nothing. We could fill the north seas with the bones of women who have died at the bare hands of men and the adults who have died at the hands of teenaged “children.”
Importantly, unless the attacker is naked, the victim will not know the attacker is unarmed until A) it is too late, B) police search his body and find nothing and now people can say that someone shot or killed an unarmed man.
Take a moment to look around you. How many objects are within two steps that could be used as lethal weapons? There was a case where a mugger ripped an antenna off a car and stabbed someone to death with it. If you are on a hard floor, that hard floor can be a lethal weapon.
Fistfights can result in sudden death. After my attacker began his punch to me, which could have killed me, I finished my counter attack in about two seconds. A witness said four seconds.
Though we were surrounded by dozens of people, practically nobody saw it because it happened so fast and quietly. Many people saw his earlier harassment but the fight was nearly instantaneous and they missed it.
After a flurry of punches, his body fell to the ground. Few people realized he was down though we were in a crowded establishment. I did not hit or kick him after he hit the ground. If I were a real attacker I would have jumped on him and pounded away. Bare knuckle punches can be damaging to the hands. I would have preserved my hands by smashing his head into the floor. I got the heck out of there.
By contrast, it has been established that Trayvon Martin closed with and ambushed George Zimmerman, punching him in the face and jumping on him, pounding his head on a sidewalk, which sidewalk Mr. Martin used as a deadly weapon.
That Martin weighed 158 pounds and that Zimmerman weighed 185 was proffered as exculpatory for Martin, though Martin clearly was the attacker. I weighed about 145 and my attacker was substantially larger. Martin was plenty big enough to deal lethal blows and he practiced martial arts.
I escaped, and later turned myself in, yet the police at first did not believe it was me. I looked about 14.
The attacker was unarmed but I did not know that at the time and in any case it did not matter. He attacked with a deadly weapon: his body. Potential weapons were all around us, including the floor.
Martin attacked Zimmerman on a rainy night with lethal fists and mounted Zimmerman and smashed his head into a sidewalk. There was no way for Zimmerman to know Martin was unarmed or that his powerful attacker was 17 and old enough to join the Marines.
So in 2 to 4 seconds my attacker went from healthy yet angry to unconscious and dying and I soon was in jail charged with murder. He was 23.
The assailed often becomes the defendant. The dead assailant is propped up as an angel. The family whips out the baby pictures and interviews with grieving parents begin.
Part of this is cultural. I, too, was raised in a culture where it is taboo to speak a foul word about a dead person. I have overcome this cultural imprint. Reticence to speak the truth about the dead, or the idea that he should be “allowed to rest in peace” creates a dangerous dynamic for the victim who is on trial.
Later I was cleared of all charges but the yellow journalism at the time was damaging my life and imperiling the very freedom I was willing to fight for. A writer was conceived.
Audey Murphy received the Medal of Honor for actions when he was 19.
Martin is still being called a “child” by race baiting politicians. We have 17 year-old paratroopers. In Iraq, Afghanistan, and most other wars, many of the fighters are closer to 14, often younger. In wars past, countless US military people joined at 14.
Willie Johnson got the Medal of Honor at 13.
David Hackworth was 15 and already deployed overseas.
As a writer, I have been with plenty of 18 year-old Soldiers in combat and they were not boys or “teenagers.” They were men and expected to act like men. They were expected to be courageous, shoot straight and hit their targets.
Mr. Martin was 17, and while he may have been a child to the angel-makers, 17 year-old men in uniform would never accept that Mr. Martin was a child.
Rest assured that 17 year-old troops are not treated like children or minors because they are not. If a 17 year-old Marine accidently shoots his buddy with an “unloaded” rifle, he will be charged with homicide. If he dies rescuing his buddies from hell, he might receive the Medal of Honor. (Currently we do not send 17 year-olds to combat due to politics. That will be waived instantly in a big war.)
If they break any military regulation they will be treated as adults. Granted, many times I have seen commanders go easier on younger troopers who otherwise are excellent men, but they still pay to play.
Yet the 17 year-old Trayvon Martin is made out to be a “child” deserving sympathy as if he is crawling around in diapers with a pacifier in his mouth, while other men his age are Marines and paratroopers and Scott was a SEAL.
There was and continues to be so much prattle journalism in the Zimmerman-Martin case that writers must be getting their ink from the Yellow River.
Major outlets are guilty of both creating and caving to popular, false narratives, which today are leading to perpetuated violence. Words and images kill people and emotional rhetoric is dividing the United States.
Mr. Martin was a known drug user yet to say this invites scorn because it counters the narrative that he was an angel wearing poopy diapers. I cannot imagine a 17 year-old Marine in poopy diapers. I cannot imagine Scott Helvenston, the 17 year-old Navy SEAL, with a pacifier in his mouth. Such men do not make excuses. They make way.
Another counter, “So you think Martin should be shot for smoking weed and doing drugs?” I am unaware of anyone who has said that Mr. Martin should be shot for his drug use and idiotic behavior. In an ideal world, Trayvon would still be with us and going to school, from which he was thrice suspended for idiotic behavior. When a 17 year-old paratrooper does something idiotic, which they invariably do, his sergeant will say stop acting like an idiot. You are a paratrooper. I expect better from you. Call it what it is.
When looking for the truth is considered to be a witch hunt, we have a problem. When searching for the truth gets someone labeled a racist, that is a problem.
Mr. Zimmerman might actually be a wannabe cop, and it is established that Mr. Martin either was a wannabe “gangsta,” or already was one. His aspiration was to be a gangsta, not a Marine or doctor or businessman. This is the truth that we all can see.
Information is neutral and should not be suppressed.
In 2006, when I wrote twelve major dispatches that we were losing the war in Afghanistan, it was flagrantly obvious that the war was being lost, yet this was counter to narratives from both major sides. Even those who hated George Bush and seemed to pray for his every failure could not stomach the thought that we were losing “the good war.” The war now is lost.
It was lost in part because information was suppressed and we delved into delusions and false narratives from the Bush and Obama administrations, and the military. The Taliban has not beaten us the way the Soviets were hammered but we failed at winning the war.
Please let that sink in.
We just lost a war in large part due to false narratives and delusional thinking from two Presidents.
The Afghanistan war is lost.
Many people had strong opinions about Afghanistan. When I asked what language Afghans speak, the typical answer was “Arabic,” or “I don’t know.” Afghans do not speak Arabic or I don’t know.
With the Zimmerman-Martin case, a litmus question is, “What city did this happen in?” None of the strongly opinionated people I asked knew the answer, yet they “knew” everything else.
Our society is like a mountain riverbed with a rocky bottom. While the water (money) is flowing, boaters can skim along the surface without hitting many rocks. As the water dries up, the rocks become more apparent until the boat can no longer float, or the bottom is bashed out.
If our economy totally crashes, the United States could literally face a second civil war. Everyone will suffer. Nobody does civil war like Americans.
It behooves the media and the government to stop enflaming racial passions and to be a medicine of truth and not a poison of lies. At this rate, Mexico and Canada will eventually have to put up walls to keep us out.
Who was Trayvon? We saw this image repeatedly in the news. Here he looks like an angel and must have been one.
In this image, Trayvon looks like some of my dear friends, whom I played football and lifted weights with. We had mostly good race relations between the kids in my hometown because we grew up as pups together. The adults on both sides often were more racist but they grew up more separate whereas we were integrated.
Trayvon was living in Sanford, about 60 miles away from my Winter Haven. This is my backyard. The white and black cultures in this area and the mixture they create, are my base cultures.
Here Trayvon looks like friends I would go fishing with, making me wonder what kind of animal would shoot him. When I left Florida, I would hear blacks say that whites disgusted them when they said, “I have a black friend.” Those are pretentious statements, though granted I have seen whites take a token black friend. There is some basis though in Winter Haven we grew up together in the same litter.
In combat there is only one color. When I was in the Army, it was common to see blacks all sitting at the same table in the chow hall – many blacks self-segregated, though they did not do this in Special Forces. Teams sat with teams. In the Iraq and Afghan wars, combat units did not seem to notice race. They noticed loyalty, courage, and combat effectiveness. Squads sat with squads. In non-combat units, racism often was obvious and disgusting.
My brother and I loved to fish in Florida.
I am a Florida native. This is my base culture, the culture I know the best.
Florida natives are often called crackers. The term stems from the Florida cow hunters who cracked their whips while rounding up cattle, though according to blacks it stems from slave owners cracking whips on their backs.
To be sure, there were horrible lynchings in Florida. I have spent many hours reading about them and looking at the terrible photographs. It was like something from the Dark Ages. Blacks were treated worse than animals. They were burned, beaten and tortured to death, often hanged from trees. We can never know all the horrors suffered.
As we saw with the Zimmerman prosecution, lynchings still happen, only today the lynch mob leader is President Obama. For foreign readers who have not noticed, many Americans sense that President Obama is severely racist and divisive, uninterested in justice but revenge for injustices he never suffered.
As for the term cracker, depending on how the term is used, and who is using it in regard to whom and in what context, it can be like saying “Georgia Peach,” or a racial slur.
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· 6 years agoGood writing, Michael. You present issues that should be brought to light in a concise, thoughtful manner.
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· 6 years agoIf nothing else, I've learned that you don't waver from your honest feelings and beliefs, regardless of where it may lead. Whether I agree or disagree, I always sense you are giving me the blunt truth....much appreciated.
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· 6 years agoIt's about time someone spoke the truth in this case. I'm getting tired of all of the misinformation and lies. everyone seems to be forgetting the truth of the matter. the whole part about the pictures has been annoying me from day one.
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· 6 years agoAs usual Michael you have more self restraint than me when it come to these issues!
I am so sick and tired of all the minority pandering of the moron media and it's ethnic extremists whining, yelling, and hollering about something that only exists in their shallow brainwashed minds :sad:
These assholes need to listen to people coming here from Africa, and other places, who cannot understand what all these whining Negroes are complaining about, when said immigrants came here from real shitholes and are very grateful and happy to be here ;-)
The the black and minority community need to tell ethnic extremists who are trying to stir up a war between the descendants of the original immigrants to this country and the alleged descendants of slaves who where brought here during the years leading up to the civll war to STFU and told to go away and never come back!
These ethnic extremists are the haters, they are the malcontents and the ethnic baiters, NOT THE REST OF AMERICA!!
BTW as you notice I do not use the word RACE in any discussions regarding human ethnicity because it is ignorant to do so and asinine,
There is only ONE RACE regarding humans and that is the HUMAN RACE period!!!
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· 6 years agoif the "Great Divider" et al have their way you may find yourself covering such events.
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· 6 years agoAfter the verdict, President Obama said, "Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.”
Lucianne Goldberg wondered how hard life was in Hawaii private schools in the 1980's?-
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· 6 years agoI would also remind you that the Obomination has NEVER spent one day in the black community other than buying drugs and later pandering to that same ignorant community to get elected,
The world community needs to know that this lying scumbag was raised by WHITE Communists, mentored while in Hawaii by the head of CPUSA, and later mentored and supported by WHITE convicted terrorists, Bernadine Dorn and her murdering husband Bill Ayers :sad:
The Obomination is a fraud and the Puppet Lao of the Wall Street bankers who knew they would get a leg up by supporting this jackanapes and who, have you noticed, have NOT been touched by his administration for all the government backed largess in their minority housing loan programs that failed miserably and caused the present economic depression :sad:
The Obomination has sealed the fate of America by finally splitting the country into two sections: the ones that want capitalism and are willing to fight the good fight to achieve financial and social success, AND the ones who want to sit back and for whatever reason receive a government check. (You know who I am talking about :-* )
Trouble with this system is like Margaret Thatcher once prophetically declared, "Socialism is great until you run out of other peoples money" :-?
Our great country will survive this Wall Street financed Military Industrial Complex porch monkey parading as a liberal louse, but not before he does more damage as he uses his position, which he has defiled and does not deserve, to further drive a wedge through the American public and create more division instead of national cohesion.
One more thing, be mindful of what these communists and socialists mean when they say "No Justice, No Peace" What they mean is, YOU are NOT going to have any PEACE, unless THEY get what they define as JUSTICE"
This a threat and a call to violence and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!!
LOCK and LOAD if you gottem 8)
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· 6 years agoIt seems more and more that thinking through things and arriving at common sense conclusions is becoming a lost art. The consequence? More and more stupid fighting (first verbal, then physical).
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· 6 years agoTHIS MAN THAT WE CALL PRESIDENT IS UP TO THE OLD RAE CARD AGAIN HE USUALLY STIRS THINGS UP WHEN HE IS TRYING TO HIDE THE REAL ISSUES OF THE COUNTRY. STARTING WITH THE IRS . THAT IS A FORM OF HIS RADICAL VIEW OF THIS COUNTRY. NEXT TO THE BORDER, HE DON'T WANT A SECURE BORDER HE THINKS HE WILL GAIN POWER IF HE GIVES AWAY THE COUNTRY. HE IS AS WHITE AS GEORGE ZIMMERMAN BUT FOR GENES OF THE COLOR OF HIS FATHER HE WOULD BE WHITE .
THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SHOULD NOT BE INTERJECTED INTO A COURT TRIAL IN FLORIDA. HE HAS TAKEN THE POWER OF THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE STATE AWAY WITH OUT APPROVAL OF CONGRESS. HE TREATS HIS VETO POWER ON ANYTHING HE DON'T LIKE AND WHAT HE ALONE WANTS.-
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· 6 years agoDolores darlin,
Please learn how to use the "Shift Key". It's not very painful and all contributors will thank you for NOT YELLING AT US :P
Note to site admin: Please give us editing capability after we post. PLEASE???
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· 6 years agoExcellent analysis Michael. Thanks for pointing out the true facts about this case, and the race-baiters who profit from this lynching. Shame on them!
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· 6 years agoMr. Yon, I agree and understand-and in the narrow view of the physical altercation, I agree with the verdict especially in light of local law.
But where is the discussion on Mr. Martin's right to stand his ground? He had every right to be where he was, and was being followed by an unidentified individual in a car.
I have a hard time understanding how the law can be consistently interpreted in this case.-
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· 6 years agoIt was not relevant in this case. Trayvon wasn't the one with the gun, Zimmerman was.
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· 6 years agoI'm not familiar with the Florida law. Does "stand your ground" only apply to someone carrying a gun?
Is an unarmed citizen required to flee?
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· 6 years agoHe was not being followed in a car. When T.M. disappeared for four minutes G.Z. endeavored to locate him per the dispatchers query.
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· 6 years agoSomehow that wouldn't make me feel better about being followed.
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· 6 years agoIf you are being followed and it gives you the creeps then then do everything you can to get away. You know nothing about the person following you. Do they have a weapon? What kind of weapon or weapons? How good is that person with weapons? How good can they fight? You don't know. I will beat it even though I am mostly armed.
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· 6 years agoYes, you are right, that is the prudent course, and what I practice when armed, especially. Common sense.
But common sense on both parts would have prevented the confrontation, so we depend on the law.
At the point of being beaten, Mr.Zimmerman certainly had a right to defend his life. But if he were, for example, an intruder in a home, and was being beaten by the homeowner, he would have certainly been found guilty of at least, manslaughter.
So my question remains, did Mr. Martin have a right to stand his ground, or is that right reserved to armed individuals in Florida? And if he had the right to stand his ground, doesn't anyone here feel there is a problem with either the law, or the interpretation of the law, or the way the prosecution tried the case?-
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· 6 years agoMr. Martin had the same rights as Mr. Zimmerman. To stand his ground, to walk on the sidewalks, to speak his mind freely, to follow any on he thought was acting strange, until he through the punch and/or threatened Mr. Zimmerman there is no evidence either broke the law. (drug use excepting)
If you are trying to imply the stand your ground law has anything to do with this case you are mistaken. In their most basic form they allow a citizen to detain a criminal if caught in the act. Before stand your ground laws if anyone who was armed witnessed any crime that besides those that put another human in risk of serious physical harm or death, all they could do was walk away and call the cops. If the criminal approached them and they did not flee if able, and if they then used their weapon in self defense or not, they were guilty, even if they didn't fire. However, if an unarmed person witnessed the same crime and depending on state law were allowed to perform a citizens arrest they could using physical force if necessary. An armed citizen could not. All the stand your ground laws do is not require an armed citizen to flee in the face of criminal activity. Why any particular community has issues with this I will leave you to ponder.
So, to answer your question, no, the stand your ground laws do not apply during the commission of a crime. The only crime in this situation was Mr. Martin striking Mr. Zimmerman, and at the point he banged Mr. Zimmerman's head against the ground lethal self defense was justified by the U.S. Constitution. So, for all those that don't like the outcome of this case unless you remove the right to self defense from the Constitution nothing changes.-
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· 6 years agoYuor right to self defense is a God-given right and cannot be taken away. It is not granted by the constitution or the bill of rights. It is inalienable.
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· 6 years agoMartin didn't "stand your ground". He attacked GZ, with intent to kill him. Even if it were not verbalized, bashing someone's head on a concrete sidewalk is clear evidence of an imminent thread of serious injury or death. GZ did not "stand your ground" since he was already being attacked. It was a clear case of self defense. Stand your ground has NOTHING to do with this case. NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING. Stand your ground merely states that an individual no longer has to prove they attempted to flee a conflict before employing deadly force. Would you like if you were being attacked that you had to think about "well the law says I have to try to flee before I can defend myself, or I'll be prosecuted". Martin's autopsy has already shown to be laced with narcotics and that DIY drug Lean(m?), and the "candy" were ingredients in said drug. The drug also leads to extreme violent behavior and paranoia. RACE has nothing to do with this case either. If anything, GZ was not even on the same planet if trying to associate race with the incident. On the other hand, Martin on frequent occasions mouthed off racial slurs.
GZ was the neighborhood watchman at the time. It was his job to report on suspicious activity. If he were just some guy, then perhaps avoiding it would have been prudent; but his job at the time was to perform the duties of a neighborhood watchman since there was a rash of black individuals commiting thefts in the very same community. I say black individuals only because it was fact, not to thrown out such an identifyer. -
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· 6 years agoTrayvon had every right to, call the police, call his parents, stop and talk to Zimmerman, explain his reason for being there! He did not have a right to walk up to an adult and break his nose, pound his head into the concrete! At that point he became the aggressor!
Didn't you read Yon's article? He on his own decided to be a punk! Where did he get this attitude? Look to his parents, they should do some soul searching! His attitude cost him his life!
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· 6 years agoThe Jon Stewrat Show? Communist News Network? Micro-Sucks Negro Broadcasting Company? Communist Broadcasting System? Asinine Buttheads & Creatins? WHO?
Obviously NO ONE who tells the WHOLE truth and states ALL THE FACTS or you would not asking such uninformed asinine questions, YO! -
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· 6 years agoAaron, both had the right to exist where they were. Trayvon on his way home and Zimmerman on the way to shop. Either had the "right" to follow the other if they chose. Confrontation and verbal challenges occurred. Either could have retreated or backed away. Witness testimony had Trayvon on top (girlfriend says he struck Zimmerman first) beating Zimmerman and threatening to kill him. No chance for Zimmerman to flee. Now, he is in the "self defense" mode and screaming for help! He is then authorized to stop his attacker from killing him using lethal force and he did that.
Lots and lots of poor judgement to go around. One life lost and others ruined.
"I'ma do what I want, when I want, where I want, to whomever!" collided with "Oh hell no you ain't! Not here! Not now and not to me you ain't!" No winners.
"Stand your ground" does not require you to flee in the face of a perceived imminent threat to your life and you can legally defend yourself with means up to and including lethal force if necessary.
Are you at all familiar with the "Knockout Game"? -
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· 6 years agoMr. Martin had no right to stand his ground because he was not attacked. He was the attacker.
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· 6 years agoAs usual a very well written article. I recall reading your unfortunate incident in "Danger Close." I would like to know why Joshua Chellew, Mableton GA has not made main street news like this case has? Where is my President on this tragedy? As for our President, he would be wise to keep his mouth shut on racial issues in this country before we end up with another Rodney King episode, If we do, the deaths of people caught up in these riots will be on the President. Since when does anyone incite riots that are in a public office. We do not live in a third world country. Hmmm! maybe we do.
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· 6 years agoI find it interesting that even the media repeatedly showed pictures of 11-12 year-old Trayvon whenever talking about the case.
Why is it they never showed the real Travyon with his blood shot eyes and gold teeth?
Answer: because no would have felt sympathy for a wanna-be thug. The media's racial-war would have been blown out of the water.
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· 6 years agoI was raised by my adopted Native American mother. I've always tried to give respect to people, until I am disrespected. I admit, I do not know what town it happened in, sorry. But I do agree with Michael, that hands can be a deadly weapon, and you can use any item or substance as a weapon. There are 7 items close to wear I am typing. I do not consider myself a racist, but I do also agree with Michael, that Obama is dividing this country, with racism, and in Obama's own words during his first campaign, "I will bring the country together". And Michael great point about the age thing, it didn't even dawn on me. My First step father had lied about his age so he could join the Marines and he fraught in Korea, and received shrapnel wounds, and a Purple Heart, he was a Good Man. I wish more kids would join the service, I was told that for every 1 fighting man there are 3, that are needed in support roles. So you don't have to fight in battle. But our country would be better off if more kids joined. I should have joined my self. God Bless America...
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· 6 years agoThanks for the article. The press ignored a lot about the character of both participants. Zimmerman has a history of run-ins with law enforcement and violence. Yet I've not seen much attention focused on this part of him. I've not seen any evidence that Martin initiated the violence. I have heard the evidence where Zimmerman was instructed to not to get out of his truck and make contact with Martin. The bottom line is that a jury heard this. They reached a verdict. I bet Zimmerman wishes he had not gotten out of his truck. He pretty much screwed up two lives when he made the decision to leave his truck and initiate contact with Martin. Martin was 1 17 year old. The guy you are talking about were 17 year olds (or younger) with military training. This training includes quite a bit of discipline. I know very few 17 year olds with the discipline received in Military rtraining. My son observed this after college as he was getting his branch training shortly after being commissioned. He compared the young enlisted men he worked with in the Army with the young men we graduated high with from high school. His friends who did not go to college and did not go into the military lacked maturity. His observation was that all is old friends would benefit from the discipline learned in the military.
I wish more journalists were willing to lay out the facts as they see them just as you have in this article. I think a reasoned discussion is desperately needed here. There is a message here for all of us. For the Zimmermans, we need to learn discipline. He could have driven up. smiled, said high..'looks like you might be lost and the weather is abysmal...can I drive you to your destination' He chose another route. To the Trayvon Martins. Understand people in certain communities are afraid of people that look like you. Perhaps they should not be afraid, but they are. The parts of American culture that glorify gangster appearances frighten a lot of people. This is why a large group of demonstrators in Oakland made an effort to overcome the preconceived opinions by showing up dressed in suits and ties. This should not be a dividing moment, It can and should be a unifying moment. We are America. We are better than this.-
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· 6 years agoLie No. 1 - "Zimmerman has a history of run-ins with law enforcement and violence. Yet I've not seen much attention focused on this part of him."
George Zimmerman had NO history of violence or that would have been brought out by the prosecution which they did NOT as I watched every second on that trail LIVE. For everyones information George Zimmerman was actually VERY sensitive to ethnic issues as he was mentoring two black children whose father was serving a long sentence in a Florida prison and on top that he took a black girl from Barbados to his HS graduation. Where is George's "ethnic hatred" again, please show me?
Lie No. 2 - "I have heard the evidence where Zimmerman was instructed to not to get out of his truck and make contact with Martin"
He was NOT INSTRUCTED by anyone, the non-emergency and 911 operators CANNOT give INSTRUCTIONS, only SUGGESTIONS YO! (They NOT legal orders, that was brought was brought out in the trial testimony by the non-emergency operator who actually talked with George! YO!)
Lie No.
"I've not seen any evidence that Martin initiated the violence"
Oh no, Where in the hell where you during the trail? Listening to Jon Stewrat and MTV? Excuse me, but did you not just read where Michael has laid out the fact this was a criminal thug George was trying to get a line on and report his whereabouts to the Police! A criminal thug with a REAL history of drugs and violence and street gang activity, expelled from school in South FLorida for drugs and violence, how much more do you need to hear before you wise up? Did You also know that Trayvon "Gansta" Martin was KNWON to the Miami Street Crimes Unit, He was on their list YO! (The Obomination now claims HE is Trayvon "Gansta" Martin, what does say :-? )
George Zimmerman is the REAL victim here!
The real criminals here are the media, the Florida District Attorneys office, the Dept of In-Justice and the Obomination, who collectively displayed the disgusting and typical mentally of Polit Bureau leftist lawyers and journalists, and the Communist backed ethnic extremists in this country who went on a witch hunt against a man trying desperately to protect his GATED community from more crimes that had already been committed by BLACK criminals!!
In regards to your last statement "This should not be a dividing moment, It can and should be a unifying moment. We are America. We are better than this"
We are never going be "better" as a nation as long folks like you continue to listen to the LIES and DISTORTIONS of the media and continue to regurgitate them as if they are FACTS. WAKE UP!-
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· 6 years agoSorry the facts do not seem to align with your world view. I get my information from a sources across the political spectrum. You apparently missed the facts concerning Zimmerman's history of violence and confrontations with the law. They were deemed inadmissible in court just as Much of Martins background was excluded.
btw did you know that there is a street gangsta named Tavon Martin who is alive and well today. he is from Georgia and a lot of the screen shots from social media I've seen posted are from that Trayvon's account.
Again Zimmerman took it upon himself to chase down someone who belonged in the gated community. He initiated the confrontation by ignoring the 'advice' he received from the dispatcher. Zimmerman has been fortunate that his father the retired judge has been able to intervene on his behalf on more than a few occasions. Zimmerman was a self-appointed neighborhood watch guy. No necessarily a bad thing, but in my neck of the woods people who volunteer for neighborhood watch NEVER go out armed and never go out alone. The sheriff offers a marvelous free training class. They even spend a lot of time helping volunteers understand how to gracefully extricate themselves from difficult situations and better yet how to avoid them.
Gratuitous assaults on others ideas and opinions will never bring our nation together. People working together to solve common problems will bring us together.
Again go back and parse through the news reports on both sides of the political spectrum. It is sad to see so many folks who are unwilling to stop and take another look.
Again we can take this moment to learn and try to work together or we can pick at the wound and allow it to keep festering. America historically has worked to learn from it.-
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· 6 years agoZimmerman didn't initiate anything. He was returning to his vehicle when Martin, who had circled back, attacked him.
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· 6 years ago"Understand people in certain communities are afraid of people that look like you."
You folks looking for the "high ground" can't resist it.
"It ain't what you look like when your doing what you're doing. It's what you're doing when you look like you're doing what you're doing."
According to Zimmerman, the young man was cutting across yards and walking down alongside houses.He was "acting" suspicious according to reenactment video testimony of Zimmerman.
Write fiction if you would "embellish" and skulking is a word
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· 6 years agoNo evidence? We're you in court? How did Zimmerman get a broken nose and numerous lacerations on the head?
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· 6 years agoThe point of law is, that once a confrontation takes place, no matter the catalyst for the confrontation, that if one party attacks the other, the attacked party has the right to defend himself. No Matter What Transpired beforehand. Your logic, which falls in line with the addlepated, riotous, racists in the Obama administration, declares that you would be just fine with allowing Trayvon to repeatedly bash your head into the pavement, just because you might have been following him and talking to the cops about him. Right?
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· 6 years agoI joined the Army when I was 17. At 18 I was sent to Viet Nam. I was not a child nor was I treated like one. I was expected to perform my duties in a professional military matter.
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· 6 years agoMike,
Speak the truth and speak it often.
Sobering and ethical as always.
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· 6 years agoWhat has been interesting to me is that Zimmerman's Hispanic blood has been totally ignored by the Black community. They identify him as White when they complain about this racial issue (as they claim it is). Yet, they fully embrace Obama's Black blood with no regard to his White mother. How convenient to have such a flexible view of ancestry! As for me, I have a strong aversion to Obama, including his White half.
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· 6 years agoThe Obominations White Half is ALL bad Nancy. He mother was a Red Diaper baby and from all accounts somewhat promiscuous especially when it came to black men.
His white grand-parents (that where supposed to so fearful blacks) where card carrying members of the Communist Party USA.
It is my firm belief that the Obomination's mother was encouraged by her parents to get pregnant by a black Communist radical so they could use that baby to create the monster we have in power today!
Just look at his true lineage, who has mentored him and supported him financially until they got him elected in a rigged Senatorial election that he was not even qualified to be in the first place!
Who has the Obomination aligned himself with over the years he has been in the office which he has defiled?
America haters, black & white Communist/socialist radicals, Islamic/Muslim terrorists, a Black Liberation Theology (read Communist) preacher who calls for "God to DAMN America", these are the Obominations friends and supporters, yet the moron media and most of the American sheep seem alright with this stupidity!
God help us all!!
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· 6 years agoThis article refers to the president as a racist a half dozen times, yet presents one quote in support. One quote that I can't see to be inflammatory. It's an article rightly accusing the media of fanning the flames of racial tensions, yet was written to do just that.
This doesn't live up to the high standards I usually see from this site.-
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· 6 years agoWell Matt here is a novel concept: "ACTIONS speak LOUDER and more TRUTHFUL and than WORDS" :-?
Are you really gonna try and tell us all, the ACTIONS and the tele-prompted WORDS of the Obomination in situations like this during his tyranny are not ethnically biased and hateful, REALLY!
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· 6 years agoI agree Matt. "Trayvon was me 35 years ago" is hardly racist.
"All Americans should respect the verdict" is hardly racist, and the opposite of inflammatory. I searched the other dispatches to see if there was some base of evidence building up. I don't find it.
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· 6 years agoI'm also dismayed by these incoherent musings. Michael is a good war reporter and should stick to his knitting!
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· 6 years agoYour reply should have been: "While Michael is a good war reporter, I shall stick to MY knitting".
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· 6 years agoLOL. I'm told knitting is a very relaxing hobby, you might like to consider it to help you feel more relaxed!
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· 6 years agoThank you for your kind consideration for my relaxation. But I find a lot of relaxation at the gun range firing and cleaning my multiple weapons. I shall leave the knitting to the fairer sex and those with the proclivities to knit.
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· 6 years agoWhile on the subject of guns. I have managed to acquire the greatest kick ass hand gun in the world, the Arsenal Firearms double barreled Col 45 1911http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM-DGaNmtA0. Not a great CQB weapon, (not hugely accurate!) but for "spraying and praying" and sheer fun....incredible!
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· 6 years agoMichael:
I don't believe you would be a welcome commentator on MSNBC or CNN !! They don't want this story to go away, and so they push for a federal indictment of an innocent man, led by the likes of Al (Tawana Brawley) Sharpton. A "Reverend" my ass.
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· 6 years agoZimmerman thought the situation serious enough to call 911. The dispatcher told him not to pursue. He did so anyway and let himself get into a situation from which he could not extricate himself without use of deadly force. Martin's death was avoidable and wasteful. There is no comparison between what you did in the close confines of a crowded bar and what Zimmerman did.
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· 6 years agoBiggest lie ever told about this whole incident and keeps on being regurgitated by the ignorant and uninformed, i.e. "The dispatcher told him not to pursue"
FYI The dispatcher asked him to let him know what the "thug" was doing and where the "thug" was going, How is he going to accomplish that sitting in his truck when the "thug" has disappeared behind the buildings? The dispatcher also TESTIFIED' that they CANNOT give ORDERS to ANYONE YO! So George Zimmerman was NOT TOLD to do anything!! Where were you during this testimony??
"Martin's death was avoidable and wasteful" That is the biggest line of BS I have heard yet on this forum"
This "thug" was destined to be shot by someone, either the Police, one of the other gang banging thugs in South Florida, or God forbid, a homeowner trying to protect his or her family.
Trayvon "Gansta" Martin was a "CRIMINAL" not a choir boy like the moron media and their puppets like you, who regurgitate every thing they say like it was gospel, want everyone to believe.
I said Trayvon "Gansta" Martin was a criminal from day one and I have been backed up by the FACTS!
I do not rejoice in saying this, as my own son seemed to be headed down the same path that Trayvon "Gansta" Martin ended up on, but fortunately one instructional visit to a Federal Penitentiary where I was working at the time, straightened his young ass right up 8)
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· 6 years agoI wanted to bring up those points myself, you beat me to it. Its amazing that people still have no problem spreading lies that were proven false already during the court case.
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· 6 years agoNo problemo Mark.
I used to run a political blog so I am quite well informed and up to the task of taking on the travesties against our Federated Republic under law and the Constitution, perpetrated by whomever and whenever 8)
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· 6 years agoEvery article on this subject misses the point. It's not about Zimmerman or Martin. They are props in the latest incarnation of Kristallnacht. Of course the media gets the facts wrong as the facts cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the issue. Martin's innocence vis-a-vis his activities are irrelevant; Stand Your Ground is irrelevant; Zimmerman's activities are irrelevant. The only relevant point is whether Zimmerman was justified in shooting a person that was hammering his head into the concrete but this is the only irrelevant point to the Left.
Zimmerman & Martin have been remade into caricatures of their real selves for the sake of public drama. Martin will forever be the sainted child lost at the hands of profiler, white guy Zimmerman. The media band will play this tune till you'll have to get a resume and three references before you can draw a legal gun on a perp that wants to kill you.
Whatever the facts are is secondary to the needs of the political ends. But the facts will be damned as the incident is repackaged, relabeled and sold as undeniable proof that our legal system & society are both unjust and racist. It will be the Kristallnacht in the Left's move to neuter American self defense rights. It was American society that was on trial, and the jury found it wanting.-
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· 6 years agoKristall WHO
A little over the top but you'd make a good copy writer for some politician or other political hack, if your not one already 8)
Your assertions are korrect, but your implications are off the mark :-?
This is the last gasp of Socialism on the planet, the fallacious Kumbyah crowd's last hope of gaining some relevance before their final doom befalls them :P
We need this up close demonstration of what "communism and socialism" really means at the personal level to wake everyone up to the realities of an ideology that has been a total failure everywhere it has been implemented and a bane to human existence in the most insidious form of enslavement since Roman times, i.e. Politikal Korrectness :sad:
There is a growing backlash against the present absurdities and it's coming from the folks who are being negatively affected the most by the Obomination and his ilk, the current working thirty something crowd who are now looking around after years of partying and believing in all the hopeless change, going W T F!
Most Americans by in large are fair minded people, if not, many people of certain ethnicities would still be second class citizens like they are in many other parts of the world today :sad:
But our Commuinst/Socialist inculcated education system and media outlets have tried and are still trying, to redefine just what should and should not be deemed as fair minded rather than the Judeo-Christian principles on which this country was so aptly and correctly founded 8)
The followers of the "communist/socialist" lie would have everyone believe that it was Judeo-Christian principles which invoked and perpetrated slavery along with all the other nasty transgressions committed in our nation leftists like to regurgitate along with their hateful rehtoric, but I would say to you that all those transgressions are in fact violations of those very Judeo-Christian principles and of the core tenets of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution :-?
Are we going throw out those principles because men and women decide to transgress against said principles in their own best interest at the expense of others. No the answer is to be mindful of those points of light and shun the darkness of those that would deny the truth of those sacred principles which have freed more humans across the planet from real oppression, needless starvation, death and fear than any other set of principles known to man.
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· 6 years ago"...the media gets the facts wrong as the facts cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the issue. "
No, the media didn't get the facts wrong, they chose to ignore them in order to stir up racial tensions. Their actions have been criminal and they should be charged with inciting the riots and violence taking place across the country.
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· 6 years agoSome of these posts are scary in that they contain levels of vituperation that do not belong in a written discourse. I guess the anonymity of the Internet allows people to express themselves without fear of the normal constraints they would be subject to if they were face to face. Under the laws of the state of Florida, Zimmerman was considered to have acted in self defense. In the laws of all the other developed industrial economies, he would have gone to jail. and as the US is so heavily armed, "drawing first" is decidedly advantageous. As an observer of the US over many years and having lived there for 13 years, it astounds me that these days the level of debate and the levels of knowledge are so piss poor.
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· 6 years agoSince you are so disdainful of our laws and customs why don'y you haul your butt back to wherever you came from? Or did they run you out and tell you to never, ever return?
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· 6 years agoThank you for your anonymous comment. You epitomize exactly the low level of courtesy and comment to which I was referring! And I aologize for using the term "piss poor" I am far from disdainful of US law. My son served as a Cavalry officer in the US Army, I have a home in the US and many friends there. It is however a tragedy that the whole body of laws around weapons and self defence is not working. I am ex UKSF, I know weapons. I know that 99% of those with handguns could not hit a barn door from more than 10 feet and that more people are killed by accidents than by self defence.
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· 6 years agoHow am I an "anonymous" commentator? I used my legal name. I am now using another to avoid being confused with our author, Michael Yon. Is that clear enough for you or shall I supply more edification?
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· 6 years agoI wasn't talking about you! Duh!
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· 6 years agoThen I owe you an apology which I humbly acknowledge and give.
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· 6 years agoHumbly acknowledged and received!
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· 6 years agoI am a Florida resident, Mr. Kennedy. Were we nose-to-nose, I wouldn't shy away from saying anything I'll write here. Were you implying I should not? Should I take that as a veiled threat of violence?
You're a guest in this country, and presumably didn't grow up here. We are a country with a long, proud, and legal tradition of private firearms ownership. I realize you lack the same tradition in the UK, but that hardly puts you in a position to judge our laws.
As a former SOF troop, you should be well aware of how easily a man can be killed with nothing but bare hands. Expertise/training makes it faster/cleaner, but even an untrained man can injure or kill. Would you allow yourself to be maimed or beaten-to-death before responding to an assailant? Of course not, and neither would I. In the same vein, I don't think anything different can reasonably be expected of Mr Zimmerman. The verdict was the correct one.
We Floridians like our laws. We advocated and voted for them, in the finest Western tradition of representative government and civil process. If you find them so objectionable, there are other places you could choose to live.
Certainly SOMETHING brought you to the United States... what was it?-
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· 6 years agoMr. Kulow, how nice to know you are a real person! And no, I was not insinuating that you you should not air your opinion, I was making the point that you chose to do so anonymously. And where you get "a veiled threat of violence" from anything I wrote is frankly bizarre. I can have any position I like on US law, UK law, Russian law or any other law....there's no law against it! And yes I agree that any man can be killed by "bare hands" and of course I would not let myself be beaten to death if I could possibly avoid it. But the issue is whether the threat from Mr. Martin was such that he should be shot dead. The jury decided there was, which is again an outcome which is based on the legal structure in the state of Florida, a state I have been to many times and much enjoy. My point is that the laws are too skewed in favor of self defence and there is very little burden of proof on the shooter to show he was really in fear of his life. Why is that opinion so objectionable and why the insulting, "certainly SOMETHING brought you to the United States...what was it?" My son is a serving officer with 6th Cav at Fort Stewart, my wife is American, but according to you I should get my butt to where I came from because I disagree with you. How very UNAMERICAN, Mr. Kulow!
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· 6 years agoI'm sorry, but it appeared you were implying that those who choose to speak on this issue without using their real names are nothing but anonymous cowards. It's a risible assertion, and one I freely challenge.
You touted your own freedom to speak, but felt free to cast aspersions on the speech of others. Some opt to post anonymously, and the reason should be abundantly clear: the anonymous writers didn't feel like being branded racists and bigots; epithets that have flown fast-and-furious during the run up to this verdict.
As for the legal process being "skewed" towards self-defense, I disagree. I find your opinion to be objectionable because a foundational concept in American law is that the accused is INNOCENT until PROVEN guilty. The burden of proof is on the STATE (certain affirmative defenses excepted), and in this case, the State HAD no case. The State has massive power and resources compared to a single working-class individual. You cannot reasonably expect Mr. Zimmerman's resources to even BEGIN to match those of the Federal DOJ, or the President, or the State of Florida, or even the municipality of Sanford. If anything, the normal legal process was circumvented to railroad Mr. Zimmerman.
The politics of this case are poisonous, and it was only political pressure that caused charges to be brought in the first place. The police knew there was no case. The DA knew there was no case. A Grand Jury (should one have been empaneled) would likely have recognized that there was no case. The jury saw through the smoke, and realized that there was no case.
The evidence was very clear, and the concept of "innocent until proven guilty" is the very bedrock of our justice system. That you would advocate for that to change is anathema to most Americans... particularly Americans who view this fiasco as race-baiting and political pressure run amok.
The fact that you neither grew up here, nor appreciate our view on firearms ownership merely gives me something else to gig you about (j/k).
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· 6 years agoWhat would you call anonymous and venomous diatribes anything else other than a form of cowardice? Do we not all hate rumor mongering because they are so often anonymous? Anonymity is used to to cloak vile opinions. And where did I cast aspersions on your or others right to speak? And it has nothing to do with being branded a racist. That's rubbish, particularly on this forum! And nowhere did I question anywhere in my writing the fundamental presumption of innocence for the accused. These are all your attempts to words in my mouth. Stick to facts, Mr Kulow. Cheers!
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· 6 years ago"My point is that the laws are too skewed in favor of self defence and there is very little burden of proof on the shooter to show he was really in fear of his life. Why is that opinion so objectionable"
Your words, sir.
What, pray tell, should I have taken from your statement, if not the assertion that the burden of proof should be shifted? You also asked why that would be so objectionable.
Asked and answered.
Cheers!
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· 6 years agoPeter, Zimmerman DID act in self defense. He never pulled his gun on Martin - Martin tried to get Zimmerman's gun out of his holster when they were on the ground and Zimmerman had to fight for control with a much stronger 17 year old kid or Martin probably would have shot him! What part of that do you have trouble understanding? Or are you intentionally ignoring the facts just like the ass-wipes in the media?
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· 6 years ago"WoodNfish", it is my understanding that no one saw the fight that took place between Martin and Zimmerman, or am i wrong here? And I must say that Zimmerman does not look frail. Looks quite a big lad in fact. Anyway, the "facts" of this case have never been my point. My point is whether these "stand your ground laws" are good laws and serve the all the citizens fairly, and there I think the jury is out on that one. That is if I'm allowed a contrary opinion on this forum without being called an "ass-wipe!"
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· 6 years agoPeter, I did not call you an ass-wipe. I called the dirtbags in the media ass-wipes, and I was being kind.
"Stand your ground" only refers to a person who is on the defensive, but has every right to be where he is. Even so, that defense was not used in the Zimmerman trial. Zimmerman defended himself on the grounds that Martin attacked him, and his being killed was an act of self defense. The jury agreed with him.
Stand your ground laws give people who otherwise would be defenseless victims the right to forcefully defend themselves if they are in a place they have every legal right to be. There is no requirement to retreat and there shouldn't be.
Personally, I don't think thee laws are needed as any law that takes away your God-given right to defend yourself with force anywhere, anytime is an illegal law that violates the basic human right of self defense. But that would be common sense in a free country. Amerika has not been a free country for well over 100 years. But that is waht you get when you have a criminal government. (And no, the "k" in Amerika is not a typo.)-
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· 6 years ago"Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit?"
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· 6 years agoSorry, we don't speak Gaelic, only American English.
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· 6 years agoIndeed i think the burden of proof should be on the shooter to show that he was genuinely acting in self defence, (which may indeed have been the case here), and not on the poor bugger who is shot dead! That's my point, and it's a very fair point.
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· 6 years agoNo, it is innocent until proven guilty. That is why Zimmerman didn't get on the stand. The prosecution never proved their case and the jury decided correctly.
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· 6 years agoyou miss my point....again! I'm saying that the burden of proof should be on the person who shoots and kills an unarmed man to show he was truly defending himself. Why is that so difficult to understand? And I have been on the other end of the system when I caught a an 17 year old burglar in London climbing out of a ground floor apartment. He pulled a 9 inch sharpened screwdriver on me and i took him down. At the trial I was viciously cross examined by the defence for "attacking" this kid and my military affiliation in UKSF was brought into court and that I had acted with unnecessary force. So I know personally what this debate is about. I had to show that i had acted properly and appropriately, which i had, and that was the end of it. The Accused asked for 27 other offences to be taken into consideration and he got 6 months with 18 months probation. i was stunned! In the US he would have gotten 20 years probably, but that's another debate. If you kill an unarmed man in self defence, the burden of proof has to be on the shooter, particularly if the "shootee" is dead!
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· 6 years agoI didn't misunderstand you at all Peter, you just can't understand the idea that you are wrong. It is always up to the prosecution to find the defendant guilty unless the defendant pleads guilty. That is the way our founders decided it should be and they were right. Your F'd up British law is the main reason they wrote it that way. They knew how an overly powerful state could screw an innocent person who has only his individual resources to defend himself.
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· 6 years agoWhy won't you answer the question? Answer, "yes" or "no". If an unarmed man is killed in "self defence" should the person who pulled the trigger be under a greater burden of proof to show he did the right thing than the person he shot dead (who cant testify anyway because he is dead!) It has nothing to do with "your F'd up British law" or the "overly powerful state" or anything else in your post, which is simply an attempt (rather weak in my view) to avoid answering my question. Answer my question or you could simply say, "I don't know, which would be a far more honest answer than what you have written. And the doctrine of "burden of proof" is enshrined in the Common Law upon which both the US and UK system of laws is based and has nothing to do with the presumption of innocence which seems to be confusing you!
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· 6 years agoYou're just being obtuse and I think you are a troll. There - now I did call you a name. This discussion is ended.
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· 6 years agoThe question was answered, you just dont like the answer. If you kill someone in self defense THERE IS NO PROVING. The idea of self defense is that you are not supposed to be charged. You clearly dont get that. If the prosecution thinks you didnt do it in self defense the burden is ON THE PROSECUTOR to prove it.
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· 6 years agoi was speaking of your son as an example, (metaphorically) not about him specifically. Wasn't that obvious? Please see if you can answer my point, which is.....roll of drums.... do you think that a person who shoots dead an unarmed person because he merely thinks he has been threatened should be all that is needed in law for this person to walk free? Quite a simple question actually.
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· 6 years agoYou ask: "do you think that a person who shoots dead an unarmed person because he merely thinks he has been threatened should be all that is needed in law for this person to walk free?"
My answer: No, of course not. But that is not what happened in this case, so why are you even asking that question?
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· 6 years agoMark: I'm not talking about a bona fide killing in self defence, I'm talking about whether the law allows someone to claim self defence in killing someone because he feels threatened by another person? Is that so difficult to understand?
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· 6 years agoWe are discussing zimmerman vs martin here kennedy. Therefore its NOT fear of harm, its actual assault occuring. Im guessing you didn't watch the same court case as me
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· 6 years agoPeter Kennedy - Try some perspective. The UK is not the USA. The total area of the UK is 94,060 sq mi. The total area of Texas, alone, is 268,581 sq mi. That's just one state. In Texas, it is legal to use lethal force on anyone who is threatening your property. In other words, it's legal to shoot someone for trying to steal your horse. People are fairly polite in Texas!
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· 6 years agoyou guys never give up, I'll give you that. Raine, the size of the UK versus the state of Texas is entirely irrelevant to this discussion. Ok, so let's try this. A young man steps across the property line in Texas and feeds an apple to a horse in a paddock. The rancher thinks he is stealing his horse and shoots him dead. Should the rancher get off scot free? Oh, and the boy is your son.
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· 6 years agoNow you're just being silly. My son would never be in Texas feeding horses.
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· 6 years agoLOL! Is that because he might be shot dead?
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· 6 years agoYou seem so naive! No, it's because he's in the Army and not stationed in TX. And he doesn't walk around carrying apples. Not many 25 yr-olds do, that I'm aware of. He does conceal carry his pistol, though, which he has a permit for. You are way off track, Peter, this country is nothing like yours. You should just accept that.
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· 6 years agoIf your son was on the property fedding the horse and when I approached he punched me in the nose and started beating my head into a hard surface, then yes, I should be allowed to defend myself with lethal force if necessary. Dont compare apples to oranges
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· 6 years agoFAIL! You missed my point! Of course you are entitled to defend yourself if attacked. Duh! But are you allowed to kill someone because you think you might be attacked?
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· 6 years agoZimmerman didn't "think" he was being attached, he was being attacked. Can you comprehend that truism?
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· 6 years ago@kennedy... I'm confused, where did any of us say you can just kill someone cuz your scared and not be charged. You dont seem to understand the law. If you just kill someone for no reason you are charged. That is not at all what we have been discussing. You are using the same strawman over and over, that we are discussing an unwarranted killing. We arent, so your question is pure and simple trolling.
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· 6 years agoJeez, Mark, I'm sorry you could not seem to follow the thread of the discussion. In the context of the Zimmerman case, i raised the issue of whether the current laws were too biased in favor of those claiming self defence. In a number of US states, let alone other countries in Europe, the law would have probably made his acquittal far more difficult. Is that trolling? And in the case of Zimmerman, the facts are FAR from clear as to what actually happened as NO ONE saw anything. Now do you get my point?
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· 6 years agoO thats rich kennedy, because you refuse to ignore the facts as presented in the court, I'm not following the thread of discussion? The only people who believe the facts are far from clear are those people who just straight dont like the outcome. You and your ilk seem to think that zimmerman having his skull bashed into a pulp by the actual aggressor would have been preferable. I said earlier that if someone turned and punched me in the face and beat my skull into the ground it would be self defense, and you said
"FAIL! You missed my point! Of course you are entitled to defend yourself if attacked. Duh! But are you allowed to kill someone because you think you might be attacked?"
You see kennedy, you are consistently twisting what is known of the incident because you just straight dont like the facts. Even Trayvons friend said he turned back and challenged Zimmerman and she heard whqt sounded like someone being punched. The only one of the two with a broken nose and injuries to the skull was Zimmerman, but that doesnt suit your agenda does it.
Im done dealing with a troll, good day, and i wont be responding to any more of your preposterous strawmen-
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· 6 years agoThe first line of my last post should have said "refuse to accept the facts"
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· 6 years agoActually, it's latin, and it means essentially, "that this too shall pass". In a few months, this case will be forgotten except by a die hard group on both sides of the debate who will want to keep it going. Is that you, Sir?
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· 6 years agoIt doesn't relate to any Latin to which I am aware.
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· 6 years agoClearly you do not know, or are not familiar with any latin! I was quoting Virgil's Aeneid.
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· 6 years agoWhat part? Was it spoken by Aeneas, Dido, Latinus, his
wife Amata, his daughter Lavinia or whom, and why?-
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· 6 years agoAnd suddenly you do know latin! Well done! It's Aeneas speaking to his followers after being shipwrecked in the Aeneid Book 1.
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· 6 years agoI believe he was shipwrecked on the north coast of Africa. Es Verdad? Ist richtig? Is that correct? Or am I again in error?
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· 6 years agoCorrect! He was shipwrecked on the coast of Carthage and taken in by Queen Dido. Did not think I would find a classicist on this forum! My respect!
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· 6 years agoAnd she fell in love with him. Alas, he left and went Italy where King Latinus try's to pawn his daughter off on him as it was prophesied she should marry a foreigner.
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· 6 years agoMichael Y and Michael Yawn are not me. Ya'll fellas need to say that or use your real or a different name. I do not want any confusion about who said what.
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· 6 years agoMichael Yon...I am sorry for the mix-up. I was/am unaware of the confusion. Thanks for the edification. I too am originally from Florida, down Sarasota way. I thoroughly enjoy your articles and save each one for further reference
Have a great week---forever..-
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· 6 years agoMuch appreciated.
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· 6 years agoaddendum:
I shall endeavor to use another name. I will see if this goes through. And by the way, Michael Yawn is my lawful and legal name.-
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· 6 years agoIf that is your real, please use it, but best to make a note (my real name) because Milkooks such as Blackfive use "Michael Yon" as invective. In fact I got a message that a Milkook was back, but I read your comments and they were not kooky but grounded.
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· 6 years agoStand your ground applies to the defender, not the aggressor. T. Martin was the attacker and therefor stand your ground does not apply. Has nothing to do with race. Obama should be ashamed of himself for being a racist by provoking division in this country. He is a bad example for the black community.
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· 6 years agoGreat picture of you and your brother. I'm a little concerned however, your brother looks like a young "Dexter"! ;~))
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· 6 years agoMichael, for your information 17 year olds were not sent to South Vietnam. They would remain in Germany or CONUS until their 18th birthday, when they got their orders for the ""Big Green Latrine". And yes, combat troops of all races stuck together. We were brothers. Unfortunately, I did not see this among REMF units in rear areas.
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· 6 years agoI seem to remember they waited until one's 19th birthday to ship you there...but that was a long time ago and my memory may not be correct.
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· 6 years agoLook around for the stats and you'll find some that say twelve 17 year-olds died in the Vietnam War, along with five 16 year-olds.
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· 6 years agoJohn, I can't comment on V.N. as it was after my stint in the Corps. However, that being said, there were a number of Marines with me in Korea that were a bit under 18 yrs of age . In fact, I was barely 18 when I was deployed in 1952. Apropos of nothing else, I say this because I do not disbelieve you at all.
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· 6 years agoTrayvon had every right to "stand his ground" as we all do. What he does not have the right to do is to punch someone in the nose and bang his head on the ground preemptively. At that point, he is the aggressor and the assaulter and has committed a crime. Both men acted stupidly and either could have prevented the outcome at several different points. Once Zimmerman was attacked, he has the right to protect his person - that is the law in most if not all states in the union. Stalking laws aside, it is not against the law to follow someone and ask them a question. As far as the President is concerned, I expect my president to stand up and say that we are a nation of laws and that the best criminal justice system in the world has spoken and we, as Americans must respect it. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen.
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· 6 years agoI agree with many of the comments made. Speak the truth and let the facts be avaialbe to all! My eyes were opend when I spent 10 minutes reviewing the below video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebu6Yvzs4Ls&feature=youtu.be-
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· 6 years agoI wonder would our founding fathers re-word the 1st Amendment if they could have foreseen the amount of blood that would accumulate on the hands of the media?
If there are limitations to free speech, why is it the media can distort facts, doctor 9-1-1 recordings, and purposefully create and then enflame racial animus without the slightest fear of reprisal, accountability or culpability?
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· 6 years agoSome people just don't get it. This case was decided by the facts and the law by a jury. Hearsay and perception or opinion about what happened are not permitted when in court. Micheal is right, the biased media has a narrative to promote and the facts be damned if they don't match the narrative.
This whole situation is a tragedy that is not over yet. A man found innocent by a jury of any crime has still had his life changed forever and from the sounds of it may not be out of hot water yet. I will be very surprised if they don't try to hang some kind of crime on him yet. One more point that was mentioned by Micheal and others that I agree with, attacking an unknown person to you is very foolish as you don't know what they might do to you if confronted. Mr. Martin paid for this mistake with his life.-
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· 6 years agoYep, one less gang banger and future convict.
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· 6 years agoYou've pointed out the flaws with leftist journalism and the propagandist in chief as few have. Appreciate the article and your take on matters.
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· 6 years agoThanks - I've been saying this shit for years... who knew I was a prophet - America is fractured into at least 6 parts or more - until personal accountability takes the reins from the entitlement plantation owners (aka the Natl. Dem Socialist Party), we are headed for disaster and murder on an unprecedented scale - now I see why u r n fkingThailand, dude :-(r
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· 6 years agoMcCain would have been President if his own party had supported him despite Obama's "golden tongue". But that is history. I could not vote for Romney in good conscience...he lied like a rug. But seeing Obama get involved in a local law enforcement issue enrages me. Did any black leaders get involved when 4 blacks in Knoxville kidnapped, robbed, tortured, raped and murdered 2 young white lovers? Newspapers like the Wash Post and Balto Sun never even mentioned that case. Some folks say it was not a "Hate" crime. Does that mean it was a "Love" crime? If the roles had been reversed it would certainly have been labeled a "Hate" crime. Obama and Attorney General Holden are way out of line in this Zimmerman case. Hopefully someone a better organizer than me will get a petition underway to curtail the US DOJ actions in this case. Even Charles Barkley, among many others, stated he thought the verdict was just given that many blacks have a racial hate of white people (that is what Barkley, a black, ex-NBA player said, not me). Plus I get so tired of hearing Obama refer to himself as black. His mother, who raised him was white. He never lived in ghettos.
Also, I bet if a couple of Outlaws, or other bikers had been in Zimmerman's community that night he would have confronted them as well. Why? Because statistics show that 1% bikers have high crime rates just as blacks have very high crime rates relative to their share of National population. Zimmerman used common sense.-
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· 6 years agoMcCain sucked then and he still sucks now.
Romney lied? When have you EVER heard Obama say anything that is true?
Obama's mother abandoned him to his grandparents the same way his father abandoned the little bastard, and we got the big bastard as a result. He was raised by his grandparents, not his whoring mother.
Zimmerman didn't confront Martin. He lost sight of him and was heading back to his vehicle when Martin, who had circled around, attacked him.
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· 6 years agoMichael, I appreciate that you did not pull any punches and called Obama the racist that he is. You'll catch a lot of flack for that one.
I also appreciate that you brought out thte fact that Martin was a wannabe gangsta - as I pointed out in your last post. Not a single person replied to my comment.
However, I must chide you on your bow to PC self-censorship in writng "n-word", instead of just writing "nigger". If blacks can call each other nigger, then it must be okay for anyone to do it, and your context was not even negative, just explanatory.
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· 6 years agoZimmerman apparently has a habit of not staying in his truck. In fact, just last week he had the gall to exit his truck to help rescue a family from a rollover MVA.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/george-zimmerman-emerged-hiding-truck-crash-rescue/storynew?id=19735432
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· 6 years agoObama has only one purpose in life: to make the whole world - including himself - see him as a black crusader for 'oppressed' blacks.
His problem is that he has little in common with the average black. He is half white, for one thing, and for another, he has a privileged background. He really isn't 'black enough' for the image he wishes to portray so he does everything he can to try to make himself more black.
He wants his whole background to disappear, and with the media's help, he has certainly managed to make a good stab at it. He doesn't care about anything but himself, though, and, when he isn't reading some text, it shows.
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· 6 years agoI'm still trying to figure out why, if Trayvon Martin was so frightened by the "creepy-ass cracka" following him, he didn't call 911 with the cell phone he was carrying and hurry the few dozen yards back to his dad's girlfriend's house in the four minutes between hanging up on Rachel Jenteal and getting shot.
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