Is this who we should be proud of
 

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/201...rman-gun-show/

Are people going up to him shaking his hand saying things like, I with you, I'm proud of you, Good job?
This guy is a killer, innocent of murder or not he is still a killer.

I have no desire to shake his hand or congratulate him, but I'm not really concerned that other people do.

The guy is either a hero, or villain - totally depending on who you ask.

Nothing else really matters, any more.

He'll make somewhat of a living, as a side-show act. They always do.

I am also. But the thing is they were tiring to kill me also. That is a broad brush that you are welding. So every vetrain that fought in a war is a killer by your standards.

Wow! Who would have thought "Think Progress" would raise a stink about GZ. I would have thought they'd have whined more about the fact there are gun shows.

They can't even be truthful about the case. They say he's the poster boy for the Stand Your Ground Law, but that law was never part of the case. That's okay, progressives can't let something like the truth get in the way of a good smear.

Are you proud of Abe Lincoln? He killed hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens.

I'm not.

Considering GZ shouldn't have ever went to trial. I think people should lay off. But I don't think he should be side show act for Stand Your Ground considering they didn't use it in the Trial.

Plus I might add I would have done exactly the same as he did.

big rockpile

Ehhh, I don't know if I could care any less.

He is the same boat that OJ was in when he was found Not Guilty and would do events like this. I remember there was a lot of backlash against OJ as well for a innocent man....

I don't know if I would do the same thing....he did several things so wrong that I just couldn't even see myself in the position he was in.

WAY different ...

PT Barnum must be smiling from the great beyond.

If you don't want to see Zimmerman, don't go. I don't think hiring him to appear at the gun show holds him up for "admiration", just takes advantage of his name recognition to get more people to come.

Were they not both found innocent? Hmmm..... so what is different about it? They went to trial, the evidence was presented and the verdict returned.... now some people are upset over Zimmerman's not guilty as they were over OJ's.

So, do we honor the not guilty in one case as true justice while absolving the other one as a travesty?

There was NEVER any question of self-defense in the OJ case.

I don't see him as a hero or a villain. He claimed to have shot in self defense, and the court agreed. Like it or don't, history is written that he just did what he had to do. I accept that. But how does that make him a hero or a villain?

If you care to go down the rabbit hole GZ is not a hero but a victim of the media. TM was not buying skittles and a drink for his Nephew. He had bought two of the three items for a drug that was found in his system.
All of this is unfortunate and has hurt the society as a whole. Fact if someone knocks you to the ground and beats your head in your going to do what ever is possible to live. If you have a community and a strange man is lurking between buildings your going to follow to protect the ones you have around.

I want to know how you manufacture a drug out of Skittles and iced tea? Because I'll be all over that stuff ... you betcha! :pound:

Seriously ... let's take off the kid gloves, shall we?

Zimmerman did shoot and kill a young black man. In some circles, that undoubtedly is viewed as a public service.

I guess I missed the part of the police report that indicated Martin also had prescription cough syrup in his possession.

Or is it really your contention that anyone who buys Skittles and ice tea intends to blend a narcotic concoction?

Of course, seeing that Martin was a young black man, clearly he must have had some nefarious intent, and not the simple desire for a snack ... right?

We should be over playing the race card..one man killed another man..

In self defense

This has been panned out plenty. Martin wasn't some choir boy as the media attempted to portray him.

I merely posted what could be done with the items and NEVER once mentioned that that was his intent.

Believe what you will about the circumstances surrounding his death but as Zimmerman is the ONLY other human alive that knows 100% what happened, every opinion otherwise is conjecture.

With the media the way it is and our current government? Not going to happen.

Exactly. Huge differences between the cases.

In the OJ case, it was clearly murder. The question was...did OJ do it?

In Zimmerman's case, he clearly killed the guy. The question was...was it murder?

That's true... but there was plenty of evidence placing Zimmerman at scene... not so with OJ. Had OJ been at the crime scene he may well have opted for a "self defence" defence.

The common factor in both cases.... the media convicted both men while the juries both came in with acquittals.

I kept waiting for someone to mention that Zimmerman was accused of racial profiling, which was never demonstrated and just assumed, and the police/prosecutors of not pursuing the case because they would not defend a black man. The media was all over it as if it was fact, there were threats of retaliation, etc- all because Martin was black and Zimmerman white enough to accuse.
And here it is again, another knowing mention of the racial bias of Zimmerman when the only racial bias ever demonstrated was by Martin, the media and the protestors.
Well it turned out that the police and prosecutors were right- there was not enough evidence for conviction and any chance of it, if there was a chance, was destroyed by the rush to trial. And yet, even though the fault for that rests with the accusers, that failure to find him guilty is also touted a racial failure.
If the kid gloves are going to come off, the ugly truth is that there was no desire for a real trial. There was only desire for revenge.
It has nothing to do with Zimmerman being anything good or bad. He was just a target.

Of course there was plenty of evidence at the scene for GZ, he told police that he shot Martin.

OJ ran from police, threatened to kill himself and denied involvement.

Martin displayed racial bias? It sounds to me like he got into a fight with a man he perceived to be stalking him.

I think it's tacky and despicable that GZ would be doing any kind of freak show/circus act to get publicity after what happened. I would think if someone complained before about the media causing trouble in his life, he'd want nothing to do with "fame" stemming from that unfortunate incident.

I call people who follow me 'cracker' all the time, and then follow THEM when they turn around and go the other way in order to bash their head into a sidewalk.

It's not racist, just the status quo.

:facepalm:

I read Think Progress myself. They don't have a problem with gun shows as long as all laws, local and national are followed, and that's how people should feel about it, period.

Yeah. OJ didn't use a gun.

The one person with whom I have discussed the OJ case who believed he didn't do it, believed that his son did it. In case you're wondering, the man who told me this is Caucasian.

At the time it happened, I was living with a black roommate, and race never came up in our discussion of it. We both agreed that he needed to be tried, etc. etc. etc.

If Zimmerman had stuck to minding his own business, the whole incident could have been avoided.

I have to wonder if he would have aggressively pursued a white teenager walking through his neighborhood? I suspect not ...

But, as someone already stated, at this point it's mere conjecture.

He ambushed Zimmerman and tried to beat him to death, that's not a fight really.

Yeah, neighborhood watches. Why should people take an interest in the safety of their communities? :shrug:

How do you define aggressively pursuing? According to the court documents Zimmerman was never close to Martin until Martin confronted him AFTER Zimmerman turned and left.

Not just conjecture but buying into the racial division that the media and DoJ stirred up.

Yes- Martin perceived an insult to him by being followedby a "cracker" just a Zimmerman perceived a threat in having a guy walking through his neigborhood wearing a hoodie late at night. Lots of perceiving going around- happens all the time.
I perceive that a guy coming through my gate at night might be dangerous. If he then proceeded to hit me, I would perceive I was in real trouble.
None of us know what happened either- we just perceive we choose to perceive. And that is as far as anyone can say. Anything more, even if it fits our personally held stereo types, is just bias.

When I am bored with people who have been in the limelight, they should be required to stay out of the news.

Who do I need to talk to about this?

I agree Zimmerman should have stayed in his car, he made mistakes that night. But you also have to consider Martin's choices that were made and his mistakes. He could have easily outrun Zimmerman; just ran for home. He could have used his cell phone to call for help. He could have knocked on a door in the complex and said, let me in, some creepy guy is following me. The coulda, woulda, shoulda goes both ways.

It's just a sad chapter in history. One life lost and the other, ruined.

Nothing wrong with "watching" and reporting what you perceive to be suspicious behavior (in this case, apparently, Walking While Black :rolleyes: ) to the police. If Zimmerman had stopped there, we wouldn't be talking about this.

Continuing to pursue the "suspect" even after the dispatcher told him that wasn't necessary.

Do you really think there's no "racial division" in this country beyond what is "stirred up" by the "media and DoJ?"

I beg to differ. I was raised by bigots. My parents would have been honored to shake Zimmerman's hand and thank him for keeping America safe for white people.

I know all about bigotry. Recognize it when I see it, too, even though it's usually a bit more discreet these days. ;)