There are no "winners" in the Zimmerman case. Martin--obviously--lost. Zimmerman will live a very truncated 'life' going forward, as will most of his relatives, especially his wife.
As the linked essay states most of the portrayals in the press and blogworld have been simplistic to the point of plastic caricature. Too bad. There are a lot of lessons which should be taken from the event.
By the way, this fellow articulates the thoughts I've had about the affair (Drat. He published first.) Here's where we totally agree:
...It seems to me that Zimmerman was out of line in some of his actions. As
a neighborhood watch volunteer, he wasn’t supposed to be armed, but he
was. I don’t see that he had any reason to be suspicious of Martin other
than the fact that he was a young thuggish-looking black teen....
...Even if Zimmerman wanted to report it to police, he had no business getting out of his car and risking a confrontation....
... Zimmerman and Martin definitely looked at each other through racial
lenses, but whether they were or not, each one of them had a chance to
escape the confrontation. I’m inclined to believe Zimmerman’s story that
Martin picked the physical confrontation...
... Both of them had the chance to walk away from a confrontation, but both
kept pushing at a certain point. Once the confrontation started, though,
Zimmerman had the legal right to defend himself if he thought he was in
danger....
...I think both of these guys were responsible for the confrontation.
Either one of them had the power to walk away before it escalated, but
neither did. They’re both responsible in the moral sense.
Martin wasn’t the baby-faced innocent victim that some people want to
see. Zimmerman isn’t the racist murderer that some want to see. They’re
just two people who made some bad decisions that added up to someone
getting killed.
HT: RenMan
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
"...I think both of these guys were responsible for the confrontation."
Agree. One lesson; Creepy Azz'ed Cracka's might be carrying. Plan accordingly.
Last sentence sums it up nicely.
Re: "As a neighborhood watch volunteer, he wasn’t supposed to be armed, but he was" -- as far as I can tell, he wasn't on any official patrol, just a concerned cit. and as such was carrying. Are you are saying that he should only be carrying when he wasn't in his own neighborhood? I hope not.
Re: "Even if Zimmerman wanted to report it to police, he had no business getting out of his car and risking a confrontation" -- wow. There is NO indication that he viewed it as "risking a confrontation." You might say that he should have, but I would suggest that he had a responsibility to answer the Dispatch question, "Where is he now?"
Finally, re: "Both of them had the chance to walk away from a confrontation..." Zim did not have a chance to walk away. He didn't know TM was there until TM went confrontational. Sucker punched, laying on his back in a submission hold, it's a little hard to back off.
Re: I would suggest that he had a responsibility to answer the Dispatch question, "Where is he now?"
By what authority did he have any such "responsibility"?
Re: Zim did not have a chance to walk away.
He had a chance to drive away.
Are you are saying that he should only be carrying when he wasn't in his own neighborhood? I hope not.
Point well taken. He could be carrying anywhere.
There is NO indication that he viewed it as "risking a confrontation."
Then Zimmerman wasn't very smart, was he? The fact that he called in to the cop shop tells us both that he thought Martin was a sketchy character, no?
he had a responsibility to answer the Dispatch question, "Where is he now?"
Nope, he didn't. He certainly could have said '...20 seconds ago he was walking north on X street', (or) 'was walking between number 28 and 32, northbound from X street.' There was no DUTY to follow Martin at all.
Zim did not have a chance to walk away
He could have DRIVEN away, or been locked inside his car.
Responsible permit-holders have read the book "In the Gravest Extreme" by Massoud Ayoob.
You ought to give it a whirl.
Who cares. George saves the Fla taxpayer a couple mill in incarceration costs for Skidmark, plus gets a few crooked prosecutors and judges disbarred.
Post a Comment