The 28-year-old Zimmerman is a classic cop wannabe: Loving the thought of himself as a police officer, and witnessing a spate of break-ins in his neighborhood, he decided to patrol the streets in his SUV — carrying a gun (as he was licensed to do) and calling the cops 46 times in the course of a year to report “suspicious” activity. On the night of February 26, a black teenager happened to catch Zimmerman’s eagle eye.
Given that description, you can't jump to the conclusion that Zimmerman's actions were driven by racism, and for the record, Zimmerman is of Hispanic descent. Of course, that doesn't mean he is any less capable of bigotry, it just makes the whole middle-aged, angry, racist, Obama-hating, Tea Party white guy narrative fail. Regardless, you are free to conclude that at the very least he is probably a narcissist with delusions of grandeur. We all know guys like this.
And yes, this incident deserves a whole lot more investigation. I'm guessing that it's not Zimmerman screaming for help on those 911 tapes.
"Of course, that doesn't mean he is any less capable of bigotry, it just makes the whole middle-aged, angry, racist, Obama-hating, Tea Party white guy narrative fail."
That's illogical: Spot is an animal but not a cat, so cats are not animals.
Posted by: Roch Smith, Jr. | 03/21/2012 at 01:02 PM
Those of us in the paid seats understand the point. I remember when Sarah Palin shot Gabby Giffords, too.
Posted by: Spag | 03/21/2012 at 01:06 PM
No, I get your point that because an Hispanic man may have acted in a racist manner that means that middle-aged white guys can't be racists. I get that that is what you are saying, I just thought I'd drive it home for you.
Posted by: Roch Smith, Jr. | 03/21/2012 at 03:15 PM
It's like that time when Spag said there was 6 feet of snow in the mountains when there was really only 69 inches. Thank God we've got someone to smoke out this crap. Hi-yo Silver, away!!!
Posted by: cheripickr | 03/21/2012 at 03:29 PM
"No, I get your point that because an Hispanic man may have acted in a racist manner that means that middle-aged white guys can't be racists."
No, Brainiac......that was not even close to what he said. It wasn't even close to being suggested, except in your hysteria-fueled mind.
Posted by: bubba | 03/21/2012 at 06:31 PM
What Bubba said. I would explain it for Roch, but that would insult everyone's intelligence.
Posted by: Spag | 03/21/2012 at 08:38 PM
Sam:
The angry guy narrative doesn't fail. Zimmerman told the 911 operator, "These assholes, they always get away." Zimmerman's past also indicates that he has had anger issues.
Regardless, this is a needless and senseless tragedy.
Posted by: Dave Ribar | 03/22/2012 at 03:28 PM
Dave, I agree that would show a bias towards assholes. That seems to be a universal sentiment, though.
Posted by: Spag | 03/22/2012 at 05:34 PM
Sam:
Would your opinion of possible racial animus change if Zimmerman muttered "fucking coons" during his pursuit of Martin ( http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/03/did-george-zimmerman-use-a-racial-slur/254925/ )?
Posted by: Dave Ribar | 03/22/2012 at 05:51 PM
I would say that would be a valid point. I also never said that he couldn't be a bigot (racism isn't actually the correct term although it is widely misused).
I did say that given his history of viewing himself as a cop, etc., we shouldn't jump to the conclusion that he was motivated by race.
I also said that attempts at the middle-aged, angry, racist, Obama-hating, Tea Party white guy narrative wouldn't get far based on the facts. This is an election year and every thing that can be politicized, will be politicized. Democrats will roll out the old "if you don't vote for Obama, it's because you don't like black people" and would no doubt use this incident to highlight racism for political gain if they could- just as they tried to blame Sarah Palin for Tucson. We already learned so far that Republicans hate women because many don't believe government should subsidize birth control and Rush Limbaugh called someone a slut. We all know how this works.
Finally, I did say that the matter deserved a "whole lot more investigation".
Posted by: Spag | 03/22/2012 at 09:08 PM
When ya shuck it down to the cob, only one person on earth knows if Zimmerman was in fear for his life when he pulled the trigger, and that is Zimmerman himself.
Al Sharpton doesn't know, the dead mans' mother doesn't know, Rachel Madcow doesn't know, and we don't know.
The test is not what anyone else on the wide, wide web thinks about his actions, it's about whether he feared for his life when he used deadly force.
That legal test is not whether we, in hindsight and looking at only the facts presented by a fair and impartial media, think he acted properly or not.
The test is what Zimmerman believed.
When that moment comes, and it's either your life or the life of the man facing you, race and other trivial issues matter little.
He'll have to defend his action in either criminal or civil court at some point in the future, I'd guess. If so, he'll have to present a convincing argument that he feared for his life and acted accordingly.
Discussion about this on the internet, like so many other issues, is merely mental masturbation.
Posted by: jaycee | 03/22/2012 at 09:34 PM
Sam:
We agree that the matter deserves more investigation.
Dave
Posted by: Dave Ribar | 03/22/2012 at 10:27 PM
"Discussion about this on the internet, like so many other issues, is merely mental masturbation."
... a task at which "progressives" excel.
Posted by: bubba | 03/23/2012 at 03:32 PM
Progressives don't have the corner on that market Bubba...
In NC if a concealed carry uses deadly force on a person without a gun, knife, bat..etc... then concealed carry needs to defend himself against murder charges. Any disagreements?
Posted by: Marshall | 03/23/2012 at 05:38 PM
It seems worth mentioning that Hispanics are racially white and that due to the diversity of the heritage of people who originated from Spain the Nixon administration first began classifying "hispanic" as a separate category on federal census forms.
Also, Zimmerman is German for "carpenter" and so one could assume that he has some aspect of German in him. But hey, Germans were the evil hated ones 100 years ago, so I guess these things go in cycles.
Posted by: Account Deleted | 03/23/2012 at 07:24 PM
Marshall: No.
Posted by: jaycee | 03/23/2012 at 09:19 PM
"It seems worth mentioning that Hispanics are racially white.....'
That's a stretch
Posted by: bubba | 03/23/2012 at 10:33 PM
"Progressives don't have the corner on that market Bubba..."
80+ percent comes pretty close.
Posted by: bubba | 03/23/2012 at 10:34 PM
Marshall: My above post may not have conveyed what I meant to say.
I meant, no, you are not correct. Yes, I disagree.
Posted by: jaycee | 03/23/2012 at 10:56 PM
It does NOT seem worth mentioning that hispanics are "racially" "white", unless you place some importance on racial purity. I thought that concept fell out of favor about 67 years ago.
Posted by: cheripickr | 03/23/2012 at 11:37 PM