Congressional Black Caucus. “[A] pathetic, self-serving group of racists… advancing their purely racist agenda.” He later adds that “all members of Congress should be ashamed of the Congressional Black Caucus, as should be their constituents.” And finally: “They are truly a disgrace to all Americans.”
The NAACP. “[S]imply promotes racism and hatred for their own, primarily finical, interests” and “without prejudice and racial divide, the NAACP would simply cease to exist.”
NAACP President Benjamin Jealous. “[W]hat I would expect of a racist.”
Trayvon Martin’s funeral director. A “racial activist and former head of the local NAACP.”
Benjamin Crump, Natialie Jackson and Darrly Parks, attorneys for Travyon Martin’s family. “The scheme team.”
I suppose Robert's frustration lies with his son being held to account for his actions instead of being given a pass for offing some "thug." The senior Zimmerman's book is a nice, thick tenderloin steak for the unreconstructed, but it could very well backfire on him as George's trial gets underway.
- Jeb Bush didn't write a book, but he did type the following tweet:
"Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans," Bush said. "Immigrants are more fertile, and they love families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity."
This speaks to the innate fear of America "as well know it" being "transformed" into "something unrecognizable." At the end of the day and in spite of being close to Latinos by experience and by marriage, he carries these same subconscious fears.
- The U.S. government is now lending its support to Syrian rebels after finding evidence of chemical weapons used by Syrian government forces under President Bashar al-Assad. The promise of aid in the form of light arms to "moderate battalions" comes as a small relief as the Free Syrian Army, Jabhat al-Nusrah and other rebels clash with government forces in Aleppo, but the rebels would really like stuff that's a bit more heavy-duty. Like TOW missiles, for starters.
- Harvey Updike may want to stay out of Auburn after his release from jail. Updike served 76 days following his conviction for poisoning Auburn University's storied oak trees at Toomer's Corner. Meanwhile, Tiger fans are still looking for ways to "roll" those spiffy new concrete poles with toilet paper. They'll figure it out eventually.
- Deric Lostutter, leader of the Anonymous subgroup responsible for exposing the Steubenville, Ohio rape scandal and those involved, was the target of an FBI raid on his home in Winchester, Kentucky. Potential charges for Lostutter's role include "computer crimes," "aggravated identity theft" and "identity theft, attempt and conspiracy." If convicted, it's likely he'll spend more time in jail than the actual accused rapists.
Considering Lostutter's involvement with Anonymous, it looks like the FBI is sending a clear message to the hacktivist collective. Also:
Could it be that the most serious crime, in the eyes of those charged with seeing justice done, is not the harm done to victims by convicted perpetrators, but the more grievous sin of revealing the flaws of the authorities?
Making the authorities look utterly incompetent or corrupt engenders the risk of payback. It explains Edward Snowden's decision to beat feet after uncovering the NSA's surveillance programs.
On another note, I'm glad to hear Raquel Nelson won't be thrown in jail on account of her son being killed in an accident with a drunk driver. A $200 fine for jaywalking is a damn sight more reasonable than a charge of second-degree homicide.
Why charge this woman at all? For the same reason Marissa Alexander was given a 20-year sentence. Certain classes of Americans are fair game for being crapped on for sport in this country:
The idea that Nelson could be convicted of second-degree homicide by a vehicle makes me truly nauseous, because that is passing the buck from Guy to Nelson. Guy was driving the car, Guy was drunk, Guy struck the child and Guy fled. These charges are so, so sadly reflective of America's victim-blaming culture. A child runs out into the street while crossing from the bus stop and is struck by a car and killed. How does it possibly serve anyone to put his mother in jail? She has two other children to take care of.
It's hard to imagine a white mother facing trial in the same circumstance. Then again, it's also hard for some to imagine a white mother in the same circumstance, unless she's poor, and then she too is to be made an example of. Because we're taught in America that if we're not wealthy and successful it's our "fault," and that everyone should want to be an over-scheduled, workaholic consumer, because to be otherwise is unpatriotic. It's un-American to stop feeding the machine. And if you're not feeding it, you're milking it, and that makes you scum. It's immature black-and-white thinking (in more than one sense), but that's what we're best at.
We're best at being assholes, unless you have enough money and prestige to make us fall in line with whatever you wish.
