George Zimmerman is back in the news

[Daniel Sullivan]

And it has nothing to do with his trial this time. Apparently, he pulled a man from an overturned truck after it had crashed.

http://www.examiner.com/article/geo...d=SM-facebook-072213-12.30p-zimmermansavesman

One of the reader comments said, "Well. The good thing about George Zimmerman is he likes to get involved. The problem with him is he likes to get involved. Having said that, I hope that he and his family keep safe."

Speculation about it being staged aside (I have no opinion on that), it seems that he does like to get involved.

 

[Carol]

Not just "a man" but a family of 4 -- 2 parents and 2 children according to the ABC source in the Examiner article.

He was tried, and acquitted. His parents are getting death threats and presumably he is too. Yet he still goes to aid the family.

I dunno. Maybe my own volunteer efforts have colored my perception but to simply say he likes getting involved seems a bit dismissive.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[ballen0351]

He should not have gotten out of his truck. He should have observed and called 911 and not gotten involved. I wonder if the national sheriff association approved his rescue technique.

 

[arnisador]

There's less concern when no kids are shot while trying to go home, dude.

 

[ballen0351]

There's less concern when no kids are shot while trying to go home, dude.

Ohhhh well see when nobody attacks him he doesn't need to shoot anyone

 

[granfire]

They better give him his gun back soon tho...
Considering the nasty phone calls everybody is getting...

A lady who's number is one digit off from his has gotten over 100 nasty calls so far. Really charming....no relation, just her phone number is similar...but that's just minor details! :shrug:

 

[ballen0351]

They better give him his gun back soon tho...
Considering the nasty phone calls everybody is getting...

A lady who's number is one digit off from his has gotten over 100 nasty calls so far. Really charming....no relation, just her phone number is similar...but that's just minor details! :shrug:

Yeah there's another Zimmerman in mass or CT I can't remember which he's gotten a bunch of death threats too

 

[granfire]

Her name isn't even Zimmermann...

But I guess it's all right to threaten uninvolved people in the name of justice...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyTW4v_iO_I&feature=youtu.be

 

[Brian King]

Kudo's for his getting out and helping that family. As too all the threats, perhaps George should change his name to Ben Gahzi. It would remove him from the press and the White House agenda's

Regards
Brian King

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Not just "a man" but a family of 4 -- 2 parents and 2 children according to the ABC source in the Examiner article.

He was tried, and acquitted. His parents are getting death threats and presumably he is too. Yet he still goes to aid the family.

I dunno. Maybe my own volunteer efforts have colored my perception but to simply say he likes getting involved seems a bit dismissive.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Perhaps, though aside from finding the reader comment humorous (and probably the most intelligent of the ones I read), it has no bearing on the story or on my perception of Zimmerman.

The press likes to paint people in a way that will help them to sell papers/increase viewers. Compartmentalizing people means that they can more easily make the public feel a specific way about them. But people are more complex than the labels the press likes to hang on them.

Zimmerman = Racist.
Bono = Humanitarian.
Mother Theresa = Saint.
Rush Limbaugh = Conservative.
Jon Stewart = Liberal.

I could go on, but you get the idea. George Zimmerman = racist in the eyes of the press, yet he was willing to go out of his way to help a stricken motorist. Bono = Humanitarian, yet he's a shill for Monsanto. Mother Theresa = Saint, yet there is some evidence to suggest that her shelters were places where people went expecting medical treatment and found none. Rush Limbaugh = Conservative, yet off air, he does some of the same things he accuses those he criticizes of doing. No clue on Jon Steward; I don't know much about him except that as a human being, he's probably more complex than simply being 'liberal.'

Most of us will never find ourselves in the position of a George Zimmerman, but with the right conflation of events, any of us could. And most of us like to think that we're more than what a single adjective can convey.

 

[billc]

There's less concern when no kids are shot while trying to go home, dude.

Yeah...that whole other part, you know...where the drug using, violence prone, amatuer criminal, large, aggressive, teenager waits in ambush and attacks a guy by punching him in the nose, following him to the ground and continues to hit him and smack his head into the concrete sidewalk even after a witness yells at him to cut it out...yeah, that part always seems to get overlooked...especially by the people protesting...

And see, the biggest problem with that idea quoted above...it is getting pushed on the public...even though it isn't even part of the story...

http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/22/y...chers-plan-to-tell-kids-about-trayvon-martin/

In the wake of the verdict in the Trayvon Martin shooting, several teachers said they would invoke mob justice, vigilantism and the idea that Florida law allows people to hunt and kill black kids when discussing the case with their students.
The Hairpin, a prominent liberal women’s blog, asked several teachers, counselors and professors to explain how they would talk about the case — which reached its conclusion last week after George Zimmerman was found innocent of Martin’s murder — in their classrooms.

“The thing is, I see Trayvon Martins everyday,” wrote the teacher. “I worry about young black men and their prospects in a world where a man is able to kill one without being convicted of something. Even if it isn’t as simple as that, kids will see it that way. Rednecks are holding their heads a little higher and tapping the guns on their holsters eager for a stand your ground moment.”

See, the problem is that those young black men are in danger because of other young black men...not "White," "Hispanic," men...but instead of addressing the problems that lead to the deaths of all these young men...they want to blame everything but the real problem.

Another thing...George Zimmerman, according to people looking into the matter...self-identifies as "Hispanic," speaks spanish to his grand parents and mother...so where does the "redneck," come into play? Again...Stand Your Ground had nothing to do with this case...

The Judge was wrong to bring Stand Your Ground into the case...she made several reversible errors in this trial and was a really poor judge.

And whichever teacher said this should be fired...

Nevertheless, another teacher cited the verdict as evidence of the “fact that Florida law allows people to hunt and kill black youth,” and said that it was important to talk about it with students.

 

[oftheherd1]

...

The Judge was wrong to bring Stand Your Ground into the case...she made several reversible errors in this trial and was a really poor judge.

And whichever teacher said this should be fired...

I didn't follow the trial broadcasts, I don't have time. But I did note the judge questioning Zimmerman quite closely, and almost confrontationally about whether he wanted to testify in court. It almost seemed as if she were trying to convince him to do so. If the jury was present for that exchange (I don't know if they were or not), that alone would have guaranteed a new trial had there been a conviction.

As to the teacher, if that is what the person was, it is interesting. Individuals do have a right to their own opinion. Teachers have a duty to teach. It is well known they can guide their students into thinking as they do, if they are sufficiently respected by students. The problem as I see it though, is that they are also agents of the state, and paid by the state. There must be some obligation to teach factually, not emotionally.

 

[arnisador]

See, the problem is that those young black men are in danger because of other young black men...not "White," "Hispanic," men...but instead of addressing the problems that lead to the deaths of all these young men

Gun control.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Yeah...that whole other part, you know...where the drug using, violence prone, amatuer criminal, large, aggressive, teenager waits in ambush and attacks a guy by punching him in the nose, following him to the ground and continues to hit him and smack his head into the concrete sidewalk even after a witness yells at him to cut it out...yeah, that part always seems to get overlooked...especially by the people protesting...

Martin's background doesn't change the fact that he was shot and killed. If you shoot and kill an addict prostitute, it's still murder or manslaughter unless you can prove self defense beyond a reasonable doubt. Which is what happened in Zimmerman's case; the defense made a stronger case for self defense than the prosecution made for murder or manslaughter.

As for whether Martin waited in ambush, so far as I know there are no eyewitnesses to the beginning of the fight between them. All we have is the account of the lone survivor of the scuffle and an eyewitness who saw them after the scuffle had started. It doesn't mean that that isn't what happened. Regardless, those of you who defend Zimmerman in these discussions seem just as determined to ignore anything he did to contribute to the outcome as Martin's supporters are to ignore anything Martin did.

As for the protestors, they've got anger about other things and are using this as an opportunity to vent. It is unjustified and is causing more harm than what Zimmerman is accused of (two people were killed if I recall, in addition to the death threats being made to people).

See, the problem is that those young black men are in danger because of other young black men...not "White," "Hispanic," men...but instead of addressing the problems that lead to the deaths of all these young men...they want to blame everything but the real problem.

Human nature unfortunately. Our modern society is built around blame shifting.

Another thing...George Zimmerman, according to people looking into the matter...self-identifies as "Hispanic," speaks spanish to his grand parents and mother...so where does the "redneck," come into play?

I made that observation over on the other thread. And I stand by it. Zimmerman is not white.

But the media needs him to be white so that they can fan the fires and keep the story going. Without that element, this story would probably never have taken off like it has, the trial would be over and its verdict a footnote on the nightly news. Make him white and you ignite racial issues and get protests that your reporters can cover and spin into a story that will bring in more viewers.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Gun control.

Are you positing this as the problem that led to the deaths of these young men or the solution to the problem?

 

[arnisador]

Are you positing this as the problem that led to the deaths of these young men or the solution to the problem?

A partial solution.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

A partial solution.

I'm going to disagree. Given the nature of the topic in which you're bringing this up, gun control would not have altered the outcome. Trayvon Martin was unarmed and George Zimmerman had a conceal and carry permit if memory serves. So going back to Bill's post about problems facing "young black men" and the list of descriptors about Martin (drug use, amateur thug, anger issues, etc.), you see problems that are unaddressed by gun control and which apparently didn't correlate into him carrying a gun.

I won't get into a debate about the efficacy of gun control (I have mixed feelings on the subject), but the kinds of problems that face "young black men" require meaningful solutions that address the root causes, which gun control does not.

 

[arnisador]

I'm going to disagree. Given the nature of the topic in which you're bringing this up, gun control would not have altered the outcome. Trayvon Martin was unarmed and George Zimmerman had a conceal and carry permit if memory serves. So going back to Bill's post about problems facing "young black men" and the list of descriptors about Martin (drug use, amateur thug, anger issues, etc.), you see problems that are unaddressed by gun control and which apparently didn't correlate into him carrying a gun.

I won't get into a debate about the efficacy of gun control (I have mixed feelings on the subject), but the kinds of problems that face "young black men" require meaningful solutions that address the root causes, which gun control does not.

In fact his comment was "See, the problem is that those young black men are in danger because of other young black men" and my reply was in response to that--black-on-black crime.

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

In fact his comment was "See, the problem is that those young black men are in danger because of other young black men" and my reply was in response to that--black-on-black crime.

Again, to which I still don't see gun control as a solution, even in part. One can have black on black, white on white, or any same on same crime with or without guns. The presence of guns does not determine the path a person will take. There are a good number of issues that gun control can potentially address in a positive way, but this is not one of them in my opinion.

 

[ballen0351]

Gun control.

I've been to quite a few homicides and of them all only one was a legal gun owner and that was me. See murders already illegal so is buying or owning a gun when you know your not allowed so I'm not sure what else we can make illegal.