Sunday, July 14, 2013

Whither Killer?

I can't say I was overly surprised by the not guilty verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman... I was mildly surprised that the jury did not reach a verdict of a lesser charge, such as manslaughter, but upon consideration, it was an all-white, six person jury living in a municipality that ran Jackie Robinson out of town for the crime of participating in spring training while being black.

The right-wing attitude towards George Zimmerman evolved over the course of the year since he shot Trayvon Martin. At first, the righties made a big deal about George Zimmerman being a Latino who registered as a Democrat, in a ham-fisted attempt to start a "Democrats are the real racists" dialogue (and to drive a wedge between Latinos and African-Americans). Eventually, though, their true feelings became apparent, and they embraced Zimmerman as a hero... after all, he lived every racist's dream, he killed a young black male for no reason (and now he's gotten away with it). Just about two years ago, right-wing radio bloviator Neal Boortz articulated the right-wing racist's fever dream:





This exhortation explicitly foreshadowed George Zimmerman's pursuit and slaying of Trayvon Martin. Martin's death by gunfire occurred in the context of ALEC sponsored "stand your ground" laws, which have resulted in a 300% rise in killings claimed to be "justifiable" in the state of Florida in the five years after the law was put in place. To my mind, "stand your ground" laws serve only to increase the lethality of fights- why injure someone, who can press charges against you, when you can kill him and claim self-defense? Without a need to retreat before using lethal methods of self-defense, you can initiate a hostile encounter with a kid, shoot him, and have the crime go largely uninvestigated (Martin's body lay in the morgue, labeled as a "John Doe" for three days after his mom filed a missing persons report. While Zimmerman's defense team did not use the "stand your ground" law as a defense, the police investigation of the killing did not proceed in a timely fashion because Zimmerman claimed the killing was justifiable and the police couldn't be bothered to arrest him.

With the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the right-wing blogosphere is salivating at the prospect of riots, to the extent that one Youtuber tried to pass the 2011 Vancouver hockey riots off as a Miami post-acquittal riot (the video has since been taken down). Why would right-wingers want such riots to occur? First of all, they want to be able to claim the moral high ground, to portray African-Americans as violence-prone thugs (Zimmerman's brother has already engaged in character assassination of the kid George killed). More alarmingly, the right-wingers desperately want riots to occur so they can live their George Zimmerman fantasy, to shoot African-Americans with impunity. The fact that the protests regarding this verdict have been peaceful must be galling to the right-wing nutjobs.

So, what of George Zimmerman now? I pretty much believe that the popular concept of karma (which is inaccurate, but that would be a blog post in and of itself) is nothing more than wishful thinking. Now that he has been acquitted, I believe that Zimmerman can look forward to a life on the wingnut welfare gravy train. I can see him getting speaking fees for addressing NRA conventions, and securing a stint as the keynote speaker for next year's CPAC. Fuck, I can even see Fox News bringing him on as a "self-defense" expert. George Zimmerman has passed into the status of folk hero (for a taste of his "heroic" status this is a bizarro exercise in mythmaking)... he pulled off the right-wing racist fantasy. As an added bonus, he can also be considered a "good" Latino who has escaped the "democrat plantation". Zimmerman has pretty much become a big hero in Wayne's world, a world largely motivated by spite, violent tendencies, and race-baiting. While the average human being may look on him with disgust, Zimmerman will make the transition from the swamps of central Florida to the wider fever-swamps of right wing celebrity.

11 comments:

Patricia said...

Oh, Bad, he was already on Fox, when he told Sean Hannity that it was "God's plan" to kill Trayvon. Notice they tested Trayvon for drugs, but not good ole George. BTW, the vid isn't working, when I googled it I couldn't stand listening to the whole thing. Despicable. It's really sad.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

From what I've read, the case was screwed right from the start when they let Zimmerman walk and failed to collect evidence right away.

And then there's the fact that Zimmerman didn't testify, but the jury did saw his interview with Hannity. So it was like testifying without having to be cross-examined.
~

mikey said...

The larger question - what we're becoming, a corrupt, violent, intolerant, authoritarian nation where inequality of wealth and power are defended, not just as the norm, but as virtuous patriotic "American" values. And I guess that's what they are now.

The smaller question of what will become of Zimmerman, I have to say that intuitively I think your analysis is wildly optimistic (from his point of view). The options I see for him - he'll have a hard time not getting murdered in the next two years, he's likely to be prosecuted for something else by various agencies that retain an interest in some kind of justice, he's equally likely to commit another crime - he's not screwed together correctly or he wouldn't have done the things he did - are not bright. The best he can do is hide out and get a book written - Although based on the OJ Simpson case I suspect the Wrongful Death civil suit is coming sooner rather than later...

Paul Avery said...

George Zimmerman wasn't on trial; Trayvon Martin was, and he was found guilty of daring to stand his ground.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

There was a pattern of minority crime prevalent in that complex, okay?

I have been robbed by someone who was Anonymous. Howzabout you let me know where you live, and I will help keep the undesirables out of YOUR neighborhood.

No, I know you didn't rob me. But there's a pattern of crime by Anonymouses, you know?

M. Bouffant said...

Yeah sure ... there had also been an arrest made in those burglaries a wk. before Trayvon Martin was murdered.

driving white erstwhile working class populists into the arms of the phony "right wing" plutocracy
So you think the Democrats should double down on appealing to white (racist) voters, just like the Republicans want to? That's good news for racist whiteys.

Anon, you are a demographic ignoramus & a moral cripple.

The Yahoo! "mythmaking)" thing is as classic an example of projection as exists.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Oh, Bad, he was already on Fox, when he told Sean Hannity that it was "God's plan" to kill Trayvon

That's some God, more like Moloch.

From what I've read, the case was screwed right from the start when they let Zimmerman walk and failed to collect evidence right away.

Yeah, they didn't investigate the shooting properly from day one.

The larger question - what we're becoming, a corrupt, violent, intolerant, authoritarian nation where inequality of wealth and power are defended, not just as the norm, but as virtuous patriotic "American" values. And I guess that's what they are now.

Yeah, divide and conquer won in the end, and the tiny minortiy who are the victors are just getting wealthier and wealthier, while enjoying the spectacle of the peons squabbling over the last crumbs.

George Zimmerman wasn't on trial; Trayvon Martin was, and he was found guilty of daring to stand his ground.

Pretty much, the kicker was Zimmerman's brother engaging in character assassination even after his brother was acquitted.

I have been robbed by someone who was Anonymous. Howzabout you let me know where you live, and I will help keep the undesirables out of YOUR neighborhood.

I decided to exercise my moderator powers to delete the anonymous comment. If you're going to troll me, at least make up a name. I've had my car stolen, I have never had a desire to kill anyone because of it.

So you think the Democrats should double down on appealing to white (racist) voters, just like the Republicans want to? That's good news for racist whiteys.

Basically, he wants "divide and conquer" to succeed, and I refuse to play that game.

Smut Clyde said...

Why would right-wingers want such riots to occur?

Helter skelter.

what we're becoming, a corrupt, violent, intolerant, authoritarian nation where inequality of wealth and power are defended, not just as the norm, but as virtuous patriotic "American" values.

I am not sure if "becoming" is the right verb here. Perhaps "restoring".

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

One of the signs the US is beginning to heal will be the collapse of the two party system.

I hope this dude runs into mikey after this collapse happens.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Why would right-wingers want such riots to occur?

Because they would love to be able to get away with killing a young black male.

I deleted the anonymous fake "Euro-American Socialist". Using World Net Daily as a source just isn't good enough.

I hope this dude runs into mikey after this collapse happens.

Maybe they'll both be passengers on the same FTL starship...

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

yea, he's not fake. He's openly revolting...