tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872647804241988041.post3234223927504202701..comments2024-02-08T07:32:20.315-06:00Comments on Steve Bates - Yellow Doggerel Democratic Views: The Zimmerman VerdictSteve Bateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07587223243120009776noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872647804241988041.post-83872056700915027742013-07-17T08:44:55.800-05:002013-07-17T08:44:55.800-05:00Bryan, I can't help thinking of a conversation...Bryan, I can't help thinking of a conversation I once had with a neighborhood security guard (hired, uniformed) about 25 years ago. He was Hispanic. At some point in the discussion, he began a statement, "I hate to say it, but a lot of these black people wandering through the neighborhood..." He didn't finish the sentence, but the racism was evident; he wasn't hiding it at all. I'm not sure what it would take to overcome that prejudice, if it's even possible. But the prejudice is real, and dangerous. As long as concealed handgun licenses are available to people other than fully trained law enforcement officers, we will have incidents like Trayvon Martin's death. And in many of them, there will not be enough evidence to convict.Steve Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07587223243120009776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872647804241988041.post-79593760222761319982013-07-17T00:19:50.604-05:002013-07-17T00:19:50.604-05:00In Florida concealed weapons permits are issued by...In Florida concealed weapons permits are issued by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which has no access to criminal records or mental health records. So, if you say you haven't been convicted of any violent felonies and aren't insane, they have no official way of checking. It's an honor system, and there are some people who get turned down, so it must be working, right?<br /><br />Zimmerman has already retrieved the murder weapon, and I assume he is carrying it, wherever he is. Idaho is probably his best bet.<br /><br /><br /><br />Bryanhttp://whynow.dumka.us/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872647804241988041.post-13386346312483422132013-07-16T16:15:52.856-05:002013-07-16T16:15:52.856-05:00Thanks, Enfant. Few of us in America deny that a w...Thanks, Enfant. Few of us in America deny that a wrong has been done, or that Martin was deprived of justice in the usual sense of the word. In a way, the question is not "what would have been better" but rather "what would not have been worse." Abandoning the "reasonable doubt" standard would have been worse. Abandoning the presumption of innocence would have been worse. Here we have a trial that lets an apparently guilty man go free, but leaves two very important aspects of our legal system intact. I can accept the necessity even as I deplore the killing. And remember... Zimmerman's troubles are far from over.<br /><br />Please remember that Americans have seen it all before, in the O.J. Simpson case if nowhere else, and genuine justice may come in Trayvon Martin's case as it did in Simpson's, not from the criminal trial itself... Simpson, too, was acquitted... but rather from civil actions after the fact, which deprived Simpson of his wealth and ruined his reputation to the point where no one wanted to hire him, certainly not for product endorsements. Zimmerman may find himself in a similar situation: no one would hire him as a security guard, let alone a police officer, with this incident in his background, and I wouldn't be surprised if his life is in danger when he surfaces, wherever in America he ends up residing. It's not an ideal resolution, but at least the sense of it is right.Steve Bateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07587223243120009776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-872647804241988041.post-14292894848610493502013-07-16T12:10:06.988-05:002013-07-16T12:10:06.988-05:00Murdering Trayvon Martin twice!
http://latuffcart...Murdering Trayvon Martin twice! <br />http://latuffcartoons.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/cartoon-operamundi-murdering-trayvon-martin-twice/<br /><br />Will Trayvon Martin's killer George Zimmerman get his gun back after acquittal? 'He needs it more now,' says lawyer<br />http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/will-trayvon-martins-killer-george-zimmerman-get-his-gun-back-after-acquittal-he-needs-it-more-now-says-lawyer-8709003.htmlL'Enfant de la Haute Merhttp://inconue.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.com