Stand Your Ground Doesn't Equal Neighborhood (Death Squad) Watch

[FORD]

This really comes across as hyperbole.

Really?

How about this? http://www.theroot.com/views/zimmerm...ks-are-racists

or this? http://www.mediaite.com/tv/reporter-...ist-in-nature/

[Dr. Love]

I meant the part about gun policy being written for the benefit of racists and that they are aiming for a race riot to occur.

Every state these days seems to have rampant political corruption. We've settled too much into an "us vs them" mentality and refuse to work together anymore. Focus more on what drives us apart rather than unites. For all I think Bush was a piece of shit, I do miss the time after 9/11 when everyone came together.

[jhale667]

How is straddling someone, holding them down and beating the shit out of them 'defending yourself?' I'm waiting to see how it all plays out before jumping to a conclusion but that's a real stretch to label "self-defense".

Not at all.... some weird dude's following you, you bolt, feeling (as he indicated to his friend) threatened, he chases after you - you are completely within your rights to stop and STAND YOUR GROUND against the weird motherfucker chasing you. You telling me if some dude's chasing after you you're NOT going to try to knock him the F out? And how do you justify Zimmerman's use of lethal force - just because he was losing the fight HE initiated by giving chase when he shouldn't have?



Racial component aside, Zimmerman's a piece of shit, and had he listened to the dispatcher like he was supposed to have this would not have happened. It's all on him.

[FORD]

I meant the part about gun policy being written for the benefit of racists and that they are aiming for a race riot to occur.

Well, you have 5 BCE appointees on the Supreme Court who made a blatantly racist decision on Tuesday. Call it speculation if you will, but they had to know that would piss off a lot of people. And this Zimmerman case is similar to the Rodney King case, in terms of how it is being defined along racial lines, and how the wrong decision is likely to bring a similar reaction..

Why did the Supreme Court decide to hear the Voting Rights Case while this particular trial was going on? Pure coincidence? Or an alterior motive? Rhetorical question of course, since it's not possible to prove either way. But the timing is damn suspicious, you have to admit.

Every state these days seems to have rampant political corruption. We've settled too much into an "us vs them" mentality and refuse to work together anymore. Focus more on what drives us apart rather than unites. For all I think Bush was a piece of shit, I do miss the time after 9/11 when everyone came together.

Well, I'd rather not be united by rage and stupidity next time, but I think I might otherwise agree with that......

[Dr. Love]

Not at all.... some weird dude's following you, you bolt, feeling (as he indicated to his friend) threatened, he chases after you - you are completely within your rights to stop and STAND YOUR GROUND against the weird motherfucker chasing you. You telling me if some dude's chasing after you you're NOT going to try to knock him the F out? And how do you justify Zimmerman's use of lethal force - just because he was losing the fight HE initiated by giving chase when he shouldn't have?



Racial component aside, Zimmerman's a piece of shit, and had he listened to the dispatcher like he was supposed to have this would not have happened. It's all on him.

Few times I've had to defend myself, it was generally pop the fucker until he goes down then get the fuck outta there. I can totally get defending yourself. But I have a hard time believing that involves pinning someone and beating them senseless. At some point the threat has passed. On the flip side, if I thought there was a shady individual in my area, and it came to a confrontation and he had my pinned and was beating the fuck out of me and I had a gun, I'd probably shoot too. That's also self-defense. If Zimmerman had got punched once or twice and the dude was getting the f outta there and Zimmerman shot him, then the fucker should hang. But the way its described? Dunno. I don't agree with the argument that its his fault because he disregarded the dispatcher.

Seems to me like both of them are guilty of terrible judgement.

[Dr. Love]

Well, you have 5 BCE appointees on the Supreme Court who made a blatantly racist decision on Tuesday. Call it speculation if you will, but they had to know that would piss off a lot of people. And this Zimmerman case is similar to the Rodney King case, in terms of how it is being defined along racial lines, and how the wrong decision is likely to bring a similar reaction..

Why did the Supreme Court decide to hear the Voting Rights Case while this particular trial was going on? Pure coincidence? Or an alterior motive? Rhetorical question of course, since it's not possible to prove either way. But the timing is damn suspicious, you have to admit.



Well, I'd rather not be united by rage and stupidity next time, but I think I might otherwise agree with that......

I don't care for the decision but I get the reasoning (or excuse) behind it. I would say that to keep ensure equality under the law, every state, district, county, municipality, whatever should have to get permission to change their laws. But that leads to the inevitable "well if you're not doing anything wrong you should have no objection to having to ask to govern yourselves" which is a rationale I don't really like at all and I've seen way too often applied to this PRISM bullshit. I don't like the nanny state and I don't think everything should be federal. Then again, I think the federal government has an obligation to step in and protect its citizens from abusive state governments.

Most likely the SCOTUS accepted the case and heard it because someone appealed to them on it and they decided it had merit. You're wading into ELVIS conspiracy theory territory if you're insinuating that they only took it because Treyvon Martin was killed in Florida and they were hoping to maximize the racial outrage with their decision.

I agree, it would be nice to unite without the rage, stupidity and overarching fear, but most people don't work like that. I guess we can look forward to some unity when the silent majority stands up for itself after the financial system implodes and we're all royally fucked.

[jhale667]

Seems to me like both of them are guilty of terrible judgement.

Even if true (don't agree but will play along), not in equal amounts. Not even close. Zimmerman used terrible judgement multiple times that evening, the last time with a gun.

[ELVIS]

Well, he's going to walk and rightly so in my opinion...

It was still wrong to shoot the kid though...

I sure wouldn't have shot him...

[FORD]

Zimmerman's probably going to have a short life either way....... *

Ordinarily in prison he might be recruited by the "Aryan Brotherhood" types for murdering a black kid, but he's part Hispanic with a "Jewey" sounding name, so they aren't likely to back him up. So he would be an easy target as a guest of the state.

And outside, there will probably be just as many people gunning for him. And with that fucked up "Stand Your Ground" law, they will be able to get away with it as easy as he did.. (at least in theory)



*... note to our NSA/Booze Allen Hamilton/BCE/Carlyle overlords - not to be implied as ME threatening to kill this useless son of a bitch! That's not enough reason for me to go to Florida......

[kwame k]

Look.....from the kid making phone calls that he was scared to Zimmerman not listening to a dispatcher, to the kid kicking his ass.......there's enough blame to go around.

The real issue is a teenaged boy is dead......robbed of his Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness and a grieving family who lost a child!

So we can banter about the semantics but at the end of the day......a child is dead!

To me it ends with Zimmerman being told by the authorities not to engage, period!

Over what? The kid might of B&E'd a house!

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Look.....from the kid making phone calls that he was scared to Zimmerman not listening to a dispatcher, to the kid kicking his ass.......there's enough blame to go around.

The real issue is a teenaged boy is dead......robbed of his Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness and a grieving family who lost a child!

So we can banter about the semantics but at the end of the day......a child is dead!

To me it ends with Zimmerman being told by the authorities not to engage, period!

Over what? The kid might of B&E'd a house!

And Zimmerman is on trial for his life, right?

[jhale667]

Agree Zimmerman's fucked regardless of the trial outcome. It's pretty much impossible to be sympathetic towards his "plight" between the recording of his exchange with the dispatcher and his also an asshole brother making things worse for him every time he opens his yap.

[kwame k]

And Zimmerman is on trial for his life, right?

No, he's on trial whether it was justifiable homicide......now what he gets sentenced for is totally different.

There's no way this guy is going to get death.

[kwame k]

Let's add to that......did Zimmerman yell a warning to stop or he'll shoot?

Someone was yelling for help but you hear no one yelling, "Stop or I'll shoot".

[Dr. Love]

yeah I dunno, you're in the middle of a fight, some dude has you pinned down, beating your ass, and you're going to have the where-with-all to say "stop or I'll shoot"?