The President has released a statement appealing for calm, etc.
The funniest line was, "But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken."
You've got to give Obama credit for being gifted at these tiny lawyerly passive-aggressive verbal digs: "a jury has spoken," not "the jury has spoken."
This choice of indefinite over definite article doesn't commit the Obama Administration to any action, but holds out hope for Obama's supporters that Obama will have his feds subject Zimmerman to double jeopardy in front of another jury. (The Justice Department just announced they are mulling trying Zimmerman over again.) Plus, it quietly questions the legitimacy of a jury with no blacks on it, suggests that a different jury would have found differently, and so forth.
Of course, 99% won't notice the difference, but Obama probably feels pretty satisfied about his wording right now.
Well played, Mr. President!
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49 comments:
I guess Obama is a good insurance against riots.
If Romney had won, maybe blacks would have used this incident as excuse to riot over Obama's loss.
And maybe white liberals are really making all this noise not so much to inflame black rage but, paradoxically, to calm it.
By showing the amount of anger in the white community, maybe white liberals hope that blacks will understand that WHITES ARE ANGRY TOO!
"We share your pain, so please don't riot and burn down the city. You see, we are on YOUR side."
Thus, white rage and protests co-opt and pre-empt black rage and protests.
Instead of acting AGAINST whites, blacks find themselves having to go ALONG with whites(as so many white liberals are soooooooo very angry and upset over this, boo hoo).
Shorter Obama:
"There was a trial, and a jury reached a verdict. Let's all work together to stop gun violence."
Most riots in North America in the last 20 years have been sports-related, typically victory riots (although that recent Vancouver hockey riot followed a 7th game defeat). It's not the Sixties anymore. The Rodney King riot only happened because the LAPD was sulking. In general, cops nowadays have big budgets and lots of equipment and they are better trained. Plus, there are tons of cameras, as that Vancouver son of a surgeon who tried to set a police car on fire discovered.
Hmmm, preemptive comments. Interesting technique.
Scalzi would do that, I bet.
Haha, the word below was bum anal. Tad would be into that.
Tragedy is a terrible thing to waste(commercially).
Buy some Skittles for Trayvon.
Buy a hoodie for Trayvon.
Paula Deen's remark has been attacked in the context of Southern history.
Shouldn't Trayvon's life be critiqued in the context of black reality? I mean his parents did a terrible job, and black pop culture turns kids into hoodlums and punks.
"Plus, there are tons of cameras, as that Vancouver son of a surgeon who tried to set a police car on fire discovered."
But that didn't stop the London or Stockholm riots.
Good catch, Steve. What a POS president Obama is. "The jury has spoken" is indeed what you're supposed to say if you represent the government. Not "*** a *** jury has spoken."
Just how many juries are there going to be? Double jeopardy cuts no ice at all these days? We shall see.
Might be worth jamming the WH switchboard in support of Zimmerman and against the AG's going after him. The current apparent delay in announcing that they will try Zimmerman again might mean the Obama admin is weighing it politically today. The WH phone number is 202-456-1414. You can send a civil email to Mr. Obama right here.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but as a private citizen isn't Zimmerman immune to the usual illegal bullshit 'federal civil rights' shenanigans that the FedGov uses to retry cases it doesn't like?
My understanding has been that state actors are the ones who have to worry about that kind of nonsense, which is why most LEOs also purchase liability insurance on top of whatever their work offiers.
And he's using the incident to promote gun control again,
Yeah, sure, Mr. POTUS, for if Zimmerman hadn't had a gun, he'd be the dead one.
I really hate this POTUS. I can't think of another President who has been so divisive and so lacking in leadership skills. EVen Carter has him beat in leadership.
The statement contains the phrase "on a daily basis". I hate that phrase so much. Some have alleged that Obama cares deeply about prose style. Not here. Even if he didn't write it, he must have reviewed it before signing off on it.
Zimmerman needs to get his passport and move to Peru where he has family. No latin american country will extradite the white hispanic back to the US after he has been cleared by a jury. maybe he can come back after Obummer is out of office.
if they stage a federal persecution of Zimmerman it will be harder to win: feds can get a jury from a black area - even a couple of black jurors and you have a hung jury at best. Plus the Fed prosecutors have unlimited resources.
George move to Peru or Bolivia ASAP!!!
we (your supporters) will send you money to live once you get there.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but as a private citizen isn't Zimmerman immune to the usual illegal bullshit 'federal civil rights' shenanigans that the FedGov uses to retry cases it doesn't like?
Eh. If Obama decides to have another go at it, what's going to stop him? The DoJ bureaucracy and their qualms about double jeopardy? Media outrage about subverting the law? Don't make me laugh.
>I mean his parents did a terrible job, and black pop culture turns kids into hoodlums and punks. <
If Martin's parents bring a civil suit against Zimmerman, Zimmerman should consider countersuing on the grounds that they were negligent in failing to prevent their clearly troubled son from becoming a thug who attacked an innocent man out of racism. Martin was guilty of a hate crime: just before choosing to assault Zimmerman, Martin characterized his target as a "creepy-ass cracker." That was, in fact, the only solid evidence of "depraved mind" presented in the trial.
The best defense is a good offense, as one of our American philosophers said.
There are plenty of targets Zimmerman could sue, most of them with undeniable assets (such as the county and the media - he's already suing NBC). He ought to lash out against them all, using any settlement he gets from NBC to fund his crusade. He's probably too much of a straight arrow to even consider such a crusade, though.
That's the only annoying thing about Zimmerman; he's too much the Boy Scout for his own good. You get the feeling he would save damsels in distress all day long if he saw them. A trusting nature like this ends up ruined in 21-century America. But may heaven (not Peru) send us more of them.
Shorter Obama: "There was a trial, and a jury reached a verdict. Let's all work together to stop gun violence."
As his former chief of staff said, never let a crisis go to waste. Now that the trial is over, they've gotten all the anti-white mileage that they're going to get out of it. Blacks and liberals bought it, but too many others saw through it (especially seeing that Zimmerman wasn't German), and it doesn't look like a federal case will help with that.
So now they can drop the white-on-black-racism angle, portray it as a misunderstanding between individuals that resulted in death not because of racism but because a gun was involved, and use it to push gun control. It's the shooting that keeps on giving.
It might take a couple days to get the entire MSM to shift those gears, though, especially with it happening over a weekend. It takes time to get the talking points memos out, and someone will need to write big checks for Reverend Al and the NAACP. They should have everyone on the same page by Tuesday or so.
In 2010, there were 622 Black murder victims under 18.
A question to direct to the POTUS would be, why do you speak out on the behalf of Trayvon Martin, and say nothing about the 622 murder victims? What is so special about Trayvon Martin, Mr. President?
Is it that Al Sharpton and the New Black Panther Party made such a big stink about Trayvon Martin?
Sorry, but this is ridiculous. "A jury has spoken" is a common formulation, and it is used by both the winning and losing sides.
"And maybe white liberals are really making all this noise not so much to inflame black rage but, paradoxically, to calm it. "
Bingo.
The experience of muslim rioters in Europe show that despite the fact that white liberals will claim to dislike violence, it's actually by far the most efficient way to get them to concede something.
The only problem is that even if the white liberal plan succeeds, the consequences may be legislation down the line which prevents actual whites, asians and the occassional hispanic from self-defence against a thug like Trayvon who attacks them with lethal intent.
People may think "well remember how hounded that Zimmerman guy become? Maybe I shouldn't" and that could be the end of their life.
Traycon was beating Zimmerman's head to the asphalt, he had no impulse control like most blacks. Once Zimmerman reached for his gun, Trayvon did, too.
If Zimmerman had hesitated in that moment he could either been beaten to death or shot to death.
And if a lot of legislation is introduced and people remember the demonizing of Zimmerman, the next time someone is in that position, they may get that flicker of hesitation and it could be their undoing.
"But that didn't stop the London or Stockholm riots."
No, but both riots were allowed to go on for as long as they did because of both cities police forces absolute refusal to confront the rioters or, God forbid, attempt to restrain them.
US police, whatever you may say about them, simply don't allow that.
"Is it that Al Sharpton and the New Black Panther Party made such a big stink about Trayvon Martin?"
Mebbe it's safe way for blacks to indirectly bitch about the hispanic tide.
A token has spoken.
"Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but as a private citizen isn't Zimmerman immune to the usual illegal bullshit 'federal civil rights' shenanigans that the FedGov uses to retry cases it doesn't like?"
Federal civil rights charges were used to convict Lemrick Nelson when juries failed to convict him of murder despite his confession, him being identified by his victim before the victim died, and him being caught with a blood-stained knife inscribed with the word "killer".
Well played, Mr. President!
Oh come on. He isn't that bright, and neither are the people around him.
Remark by Obama Complicates Military Sexual Assault Trials
He's just a fucking idiot who doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
The BBC rounded up assorted dolts to give their mostly absurd and childish talking point opinions on the case and the verdict.
There are some real gems. Note the foto of 12 y/o Trayvon Martin in a football uniform -- a nice touch.
Check out this photo of an anti-Zimmerman rally in Union Square in Manhattan today. Looks about as diverse as Obama's campaign HQ in Chicago did.
@David
No No No! I want to see Eric Holder indict George Zimmerman. Judging from what I have heard on television, the media and their liberal talking heads are totally out of touch with ordinary Americans on this one. The POTUS will over reach and the media will dutifully try to sell the narrative again, but they have no idea of the backlash it will provoke. Bring it on. I want an issue that will get white people riled up and angry. We can worry about saving Zimmie later.
Double jeopardy doesn't apply as between state and federal prosecutions, on the theory that they are different sovereigns. Zimmerman could be tried under a federal hate crime statute. He would not be convicted, but it would 'send a message'.
Gubbler screams that 'Whites are angry too'.
Not yet, I would say but in the long run white anger is much more potent than black.
If we do have a race riot it will be small. Meanwhile ethnic violence continues between whites at an impressive rate in Russia. It was argued that the Communist state in the USSR was good because it suppressed ethnic violence. There seems to be something to that. There were about a thousand killed in Osh in the nineties and then about two thousand just a year or two ago.
The evidence - if it means anything - would seem to be that angry whites are a lot more deadly than angry blacks. Gubbler may be onto something.
The human genome in whites still contains the codes for dark skin that whites lost when they went north. Presumably if they were to go back south, Swedes and Finns would turn brown again. (It would take awhile of course).
Similarly the oh so civilized Scandinavians can revert to their warrior past when conditions change. American whites have suppressed their savage impulses but there is no reason to believe that they are permanently gone. Vikings in Minnesota could be induced to relearn how to carve 'blood eagles' again.
The whole black populace seems to be recapitulating Trayvon Martin's great error. He thought that that chubby little whitish guy could be safely beaten up.
Albertosaurus
"Bingo."
Disagree. White liberals tend to live in safe areas where they don't need to worry about placating would-be rioters (Union Square in Manhattan, for example). It's a combination of genuine outrage on their part and status-posturing. I follow a bunch of young comedians and TV writers on Twitter (all of whom are white with the exception of one funny Latina) and they sounded genuinely upset by the verdict.
Zimmerman could be tried under a federal hate crime statute. He would not be convicted, but it would 'send a message'.
Yes, but the evidence was tilted toward self-defense.
Self-defense is not a hate crime (yet)
US police, whatever you may say about them, simply don't allow that.
I think the issue is that armed US civilians simply don't allow that. Police forces in blue states generally stand aside during riots, and most blue states are disarmed (mostly because many think owning a gun is tacky and paranoid), so there's nothing holding rioters back. Red state civilians are not known for an aversion to guns or to killing looters. Police there get involved early and often to keep the body count down.
"Check out this photo of an anti-Zimmerman rally in Union Square in Manhattan today. Looks about as diverse as Obama's campaign HQ in Chicago did."
I guess moral vanity knows no bounds. Their lives are so empty and shallow that they must make believe that Martin was some kind of saint and Zimmerman is some kind of KKK.
History, first as tragedy, then as farce.
This is Eric Holder we are talking about. He will grit his teeth and refuse to set an administration precedent by applying hate crime legislation to anybody but white nonhispanics.
"The jury has spoken" - 493,000 hits on Google
"A jury has spoken" - 261,000 hits, a great many of them being links to Obama on Zimmerman today
Interestingly, at least a few pages of the "a" results link to stories with headlines misreporting Obama's statement as "the."
The dominant formulations are
"The jury is out" ... not "A jury is out"
"The jury has reached a decision" ... not "A jury has reached a decision"
"The jury has spoken" ... not "A jury has spoken."
The latter sounds especially strange in the mouth of a partisan who wants a defendant retried.
The Department of Homeland Security has well over 100,000 armed agents (with billions of rounds of ammunition?), some "sweet" equipment, and nothing much to do.
I think that the Obama Administration does not believe they have control over the DHS rank and file. Thus the pre-Zimmerman verdict announcement of Janet Napolitano's resignation and the relative calm after the verdict in spite of media attempts to incite riots.
The word, from the Obama Administration, must be out on the street: "Don't awaken the sleeping giant (i.e., DHS rank and file). We're not sure that we can control them."
"Double jeopardy cuts no ice at all these days?"
State trials don't affect double jeopardy for the feds or for other states (if the crime crossed state lines, e.g., in a conspiracy to murder someone in another state via hit man). It's called the dual sovereignty doctrine and there's case law going back to at least 1922 (the Taft Court) in it.
http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/260/377/case.html#382
http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/359/187/case.html#193
http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/474/82/
Nobody says "a jury has spoken." Nobody.
But we are a nation of laws
Coming from Obama, that is irony so heavy it could squash a mountain.
Plus, there are tons of cameras, as that Vancouver son of a surgeon who tried to set a police car on fire discovered
I see there was trouble in Oakland - no arrests. Guess the cameras all broke at the same time.
Check out this photo of an anti-Zimmerman rally in Union Square in Manhattan today. Looks about as diverse as Obama's campaign HQ in Chicago did.
Steve, you've repeatedly pointed to Bloomberg and the double standard regarding racial profiling.
How does the rally in Union Square compare to the reaction to the acquittal of Bernhard Goetz (who actually did commit crimes against the Black teenagers who tried to rob him)?
@Anonymous 7/14/13 4:23 pm
@Isaac
You are both confusing the letter of double jeopardy with the spirit of double jeopardy. I'm sure Steve knows that the Feds retrying GZ is not a technical violation of DJ; however, it flies in the face of its spirit.
It was a prime observation day for how much the U.S. press/elite culture has come unmoored from humdrum reality. Gotta wonder how the foreign press views their Yank colleagues after this month... I wonder what Putin's thinking. This is Jimmy Carter rabbit-attack territory except for the stock market going great guns. Not to mention, lack of credible domestic challengers.
"Zimmerman needs to get his passport and move to Peru"
Opposite. He needs to get out in the sun and then get his face on TV as much as possible.
.
"And maybe white liberals are really making all this noise not so much to inflame black rage but, paradoxically, to calm it. "
No they're not. Every media report they've read showed Trayvon looking about 12 years old not the hulking teen you see in the store video.
Obviously when you look at pictures of Martin aged 12 and pictures of Zimmerman the idea of self-defense is ludicrous and they're reacting at that ludicrous idea. However it's only ludicrous because the media has lied and deceived them consistently from the beginning.
I've shown people who were convinced Zimmerman was guilty the picture of Trayvon at the store and they've shut up about it afterwards. They didn't change sides they just went quiet and that was that.
[QUOTE]I guess moral vanity knows no bounds. Their lives are so empty and shallow that they must make believe that Martin was some kind of saint and Zimmerman is some kind of KKK.[/QUOTE]
The irony is that George Zimmerman would not even be considered White enough to join the KKK. Even if he wanted to join, he would be rejected by them right away.
The KKK's definition of White is not as broad as that of the FBI and the CIA with their wanted posters that label Al Qaeda members and MS-13 members as "White".
'As his former chief of staff said, never let a crisis go to waste.'
Almost, and yet way off. The guiding philosophy of the Brock Osama Regime is, quote, "Never let a good crisis go to waste." Never forget the "good". When you leave out the good, you leave out the total and utter nihilism that governs Brock Osama and his blackshirts.
Issac, thanks for the references. Could the fed's strategy be to retry Z for murder two and/or manslaughter and add "hate crime" (for his alleged thoughts or behavior patterns) to it?
Nice to know America has at least two governments: that of whatever state you're in...and the fed. Apparently ou can be "not guilty" of a murder according to your state and "guilty" of the same murder according to your country.
It sometimes seems as if the legal doctrines of America were written in finger paint, by children. Maybe our venerable judicial sages deserve little more intellectual respect than does the High Court in Kafka's The Trial.
Here is a link to Orson Welles's version of "The Trial" with Anthony Perkins as K. It's depressing if taken seriously but very funny as a meditation on guilty feelings per se and the pathetic sadism/masochism in them. (Welles laughed throughout a benefit screening once.) It's full of great moments. It ends with a bigger bang than the novel does. (The French print is better but I couldn't locate it on YT.)
[QUOTE]"Zimmerman needs to get his passport and move to Peru"
Opposite. He needs to get out in the sun and then get his face on TV as much as possible.[/QUOTE]
George Zimmerman should join the same tanning salon that George P. Bush frequents. After all that tanning salon turned George P. Bush so dark that he now looks like he could be from Pakistan.
If George Zimmerman does that, than no one will ever again mistake him for a creepy ass Cracka.
http://youtu.be/v7RXJpLqtpY
What you get for trying to have a sane and rational conversation with blacks.
http://www.mrconservative.com/2013/07/21344-black-mob-beats-up-white-guy-over-zimmerman-verdict-on-tape/
http://spectator.org/blog/2013/07/15/trayvon-crime-school-miami
Now blame the school.
Remember, suspensions must be proportional.
"There was a trial, and a jury reached a verdict. Let's all work together to stop gun violence."
More like "There was a trial, and a jury reached a verdict. Let's wait and see what the next jury thinks. And you don't think we're not going to file a civil suit, do you?"
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