Monday, April 2, 2012

Trayvon Martin Case Exposed Media

We often talk about liberal media bias. But if you want an example of media bias and the kinds of negative effects that can result from media bias, look no further than NBC’s actions in the Trayvon Martin shooting case. NBC turned an innocuous quote on its head and caused a national race riot. Now NBC is investigating itself, and I’m sure we’ll all rest easier.

When NBC first reported on the Trayvon Martin shooting, they obtained a copy of the 911 call Zimmerman made before the shooting. Here is what NBC played on the air:
Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.
This is a huge part of the reason the race lobby got into this case. They heard this and assumed that Zimmerman was a racist. Indeed, this quote could easily be read as Zimmerman stating that he thought the fact Martin was black was proof enough that Martin was up to no good.

Add in the report (still completely unconfirmed by ANY witness) that Martin was holding a drink in one hand and a bag of Skittles in the other, and the photo of Martin as a seemingly innocent child, the parents whining how he was a good boy who never hurt anyone, and NBC and the other networks using an old Zimmerman mugshot from a DUI which makes Zimmerman look like a criminal, and you’ve got a report which set the stage to make Zimmerman look like a predator who went after Martin because he was black.

But here’s the thing. The quote NBC gave above is deceitfully edited. Here’s the actual conversation:
Zimmerman: This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.

Dispatcher: Ok, and this guy -- is he black, white or Hispanic?

Zimmerman: He looks black.
Notice several facts. First, Zimmerman gives actual reasons why Martin’s BEHAVIOR is suspicious. If Martin is just headed to a relative’s or girlfriend’s house as his supporters claim, why is he just wandering around in the rain? Further, Zimmerman notes that Martin looks like he’s on drugs, a look which would itself warrant calling the police for Martin’s own safety if nothing else. I have not heard about a toxicology done on Martin’s body, but it would be interesting to know what drugs were in his system, if any(. . . see what I did there NBC?), as they may well explain aggressive behavior and may well put the lie to the idea of the innocent kid going to 7-11. . . in the rain.

Next, notice that Zimmerman not only does not raise the issue of race. Instead, the dispatcher specifically asks Zimmerman what Martin’s race is, which is the first time it come up. Further, Zimmerman isn’t even certain what Martin’s race is. Notice that he does not say Martin “IS” black, he says Martin “LOOKS” black, as if there is some doubt. Moreover, if you actually listen to the tape, you will hear uncertainty in Zimmerman’s voice. He is not asserting, “oh heck, yeah, he looks black all right,” he is saying “looks” in the sense of “hmm, I’m not sure, but he appears to be black?”

So here you have a guy who gives a valid description of the type of behavior the police would use to stop and question ANY individual without reference to race, and who does not seem to know for certain what the other person’s race is, nor does he appear to care until he is asked. Yet, NBC edited this quote to make it sound like Zimmerman targeted Martin because Zimmerman thought he was black.

Why would NBC do this? Because that is how leftists think. They WANTED to see a race-based crime here and so they read the above transcript and they pulled out the words which confirmed their prejudice, whether that accurately conveyed reality or not. This is also why they keep using outdated photos of Martin to make him seem innocent -- because they want him to be. Here, by the way, is the photo Martin himself used for his Twitter Account “No Limit Nigger”:

That’s also why they keep using an outdated mugshot of Zimmerman when more recent, less inflammatory images are available, why they don’t report on things like Martin’s record or Zimmerman’s background working with black churches, and why they keep trying to call Zimmerman “white”: because that is what they WANT him to be. Why? Because the leftist media seeks to inflame racial tensions because it helps their cause to keep Americans divided into tribes. In fact, if Zimmerman had shot a white kid, you can bet it would be considered racist to keep using Zimmerman’s mugshot. And if a German-American had shot Zimmerman, you can bet that the “white” Zimmerman would suddenly be described as “Hispanic.”

The fact NBC has done what they’ve done here and no one noticed until Fox News called them on it, is evidence that NBC cannot be considered an unbiased or trustworthy source of news. They are an agenda-driven propaganda machine and they have no qualms about exploiting tragedies or inventing scapegoats for imagined racial crimes.

Interestingly, liberal bloggers have taken up the issue of “bias.” But of course, it won’t surprise you that the bias they see comes from places like The Daily Caller, which is not a news service like NBC and does not pretend to be unbiased, and which does not have national reach like NBC. Moreover, the supposed bias of which they are accused is pointing out Martin’s own words and deeds which contradict the leftist fantasy narrative. Imagine that. Once again, it is “racist” to quote something bad a minority has said, just like it was racist to repeat Obama’s own words (LINK.

The left has no credibility.

127 comments:

DUQ said...

This is really interesting. I wonder what NBC is going to conclude and what (IF ANYTHING) they will do about it? They really did start this whole thing, didn't they?

Tennessee Jed said...

It is horrible, but we knew that. Basically, not only have they done a great job of helping stir up racial unrest, they have not called out Spike Lee, Reverend Al Sharpton, The New Black Panther Party, and others. They jump on people like Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin in the Fluck and Giffords case all the while begging people to not jump to conclusions in Ft. Hood case. I just jumped on the editor of our local paper, because he was one of the one's who called for restraint in the Christian Newsom slayings which was a horrific black on white torture and murder a few years ago in Knoxville.

AndrewPrice said...

DUQ, I have no idea what NBC will conclude or what steps they might take to correct what they've done. I'm betting they sweep it under the carpet and promise to be more skeptical of conservative claims in the future -- that's usually how these things turn out.

What is interesting is that I am seeing this covered everywhere.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, Good for you! I'm glad you keep writing your editor. I wish more people would do that to call these people out on their hypocrisies.

You are absolutely right, these people jump on any minor thing a conservative does, yet they turn a blind eye to actual crimes by leftists. Spike Lee should have been arrested for incitement and reckless endangerment.

And you're absolutely right about the Ft. Hood case and Giffords -- jump on them when they think they are conservative criminals, but then demand restraint when they are liberals.

AndrewPrice said...

Jed, One of the things that angers me most in this case is that the media keeps right on using the mugshot of Zimmerman -- something they would NEVER do with a black suspect, AND they aren't calling out the people who are encouraging people to hunt him down. I still suspect he will die before this ends and the MSM will be responsible.

Joel Farnham said...

Andrew,

ABC is walking back on their assertion that Zimmerman wasn't injured. Still, I didn't know until today just how many hours Zimmerman spent at the Police Station. Five hours he had to stay there and explain over and over again his version of events. Until ABC aired that video, I didn't know that Zimmerman was hand cuffed.

From most of the reporting, it seemed that Zimmerman shot the guy, the police came, listened to Zimmerman and let him go.

I am glad I don't listen to the news any way.

AndrewPrice said...

Joel, Until that video came out, I don't think anyone reported that he was arrested. To the contrary, I kept hearing that the police acted incompetently because they DIDN'T arrest him!

And the only reason ABC showed that video was to claim that he wasn't injured. (Interestingly, several liberal blogs attacked ABC for "claiming the video showed he was injured" -- something ABC did not claim... they claimed the opposite.)

Whether or not he was injured will be easy to prove because he saw a doctor. That will settle that. So why hasn't anyone gone to the source?

And now I understand the funeral director is trying to claim that he saw no evidence of injury on Martin with the implication being there was no fight. Bull. Let's see the coroner report folks.

This whole thing is disgraceful when so much of this would be so easy to debunk, but the MSM and their allies would rather traffic in rumor and innuendo.

Ed said...

Joel, I saw that, but this always the pattern. They come out with something inflamatory, then they come out with a slow retraction hidden away somewhere so no one ever hears about it. ABC needs to come out and explain that tape on the lead of their program, not quietly pretend they didn't set the spark. NBC is the same. A t least they are saying something, even if it took Fox to call them on it.

Ed said...

Also, why can't they charge Spike Lee? Isn't it a crime to point at someone and yell kill?

AndrewPrice said...

Ed, Incitement is a crime, so is reckless endangerment, so is assault. What Lee did could probably fit into all three, though it would be difficult to prove because he didn't actually say "kill," he just threw out Zimmerman's (wrong) address as others implied people should hunt him down. What they should do is try several of them -- the black panther, Lee and Sharpton under a conspiracy charge to violate Zimmerman's civil rights... just like they used against the KKK in similar circumstances.

Will they? No. But they should.

Patti said...

when i saw this "kid's" first pic i was shocked at how young he was, but of course that's exactly what the msm wanted me to feel. i blame my sickness that i fell for it for all of 20 seconds.

DSM: despicable stream media. they are no longer mainstream, nor have they been for some time.

AndrewPrice said...

Patti, That is exactly what they want. They are selling you images rather than facts so you believe what they want you to believe. And it becomes "racist" to point out anything which disputes that interest.

The MSM (or DSM) have truly become despicable.


By the way, I love the anti-Obama care ad you have in your post today! LINK. Obama v. Obama.

Ed said...

Andrew, How do we make that happen? How do we get him prosecuted?

Patti said...

andrew: thanky.

AndrewPrice said...

Ed, You can't. It's up to the local prosecutors or the Department of Justice. Or Zimmerman could bring a civil suit -- which I would absolutely recommend.

But average people can't charge anyone or force anyone to be charged.

AndrewPrice said...

Anytime Patti! I love watching Obama argue with himself. :)

ellenB said...

Florida is my home and I hate the fact these race baiters have come to exploit our state, attack out police, and cause havoc.

AndrewPrice said...

Ellen, They prefer southern states for this because it doesn't do them a lot of good to attack racism in big liberal enclaves like Boston. But they will take it where they can get it.

Anonymous said...

As I mentioned in LawHawk's thread last week, [Indiana Jones voice] "Florida. Why did it have to be Florida?"

This is more of a statement about the whole case, but there is a great satire to be written about this. A few articles have been written with titles like, "Where Have You Gone, Tom Wolfe?" I'm not trying to cheapen these events but it's gotten so completely out of control (from my admittedly limited POV), that all I can do is sit back and shake my head in wonderment.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, It's Florida because the left believes this can happen in Florida. They don't believe it can happen in liberal cities like Berkley or Boston because that doesn't fit with their world view.

In terms of satire... on the one hand, this would make for excellent drama and excellent right-wing satire of the race hustlers. On the other hand, you would be burned at the stake for even trying it. I kid you not, theater owners would receive death threats if they agreed to show a film about this.

ellenB said...

ScottDS, That is my question, why does this always happen in Florida?

AndrewPrice said...

ellen and Scott, I'm telling you, it's because you're part of the South -- except when you aren't. Liberals consider the South a bastion of racist, murdering conservatives because it makes them feel like they aren't so bad (spend time in NYC or Boston and you will see real racism). So they look for racism in places like Florida and they ignore it in other places. If this had happened in Boston, I guarantee you the MSM would have treated this entirely differently.

Anonymous said...

ellen -

I was asking rhetorically but as a resident for most of my 29 years, all I can do is shrug whenever "Flori-duh!" is the subject of some bad news story. :-)

Anonymous said...

Andrew -

To be fair, there's a saying, "The more north you go in Florida, the more south you get."

I don't consider Palm Beach County to be "the South." And the further south you get, the less it looks like the US!

T-Rav said...

I have been wondering since yesterday if this has anything to do with NBC having Palin guest-host on Today tomorrow. I know it probably doesn't, since this "event" must have been scheduled days if not weeks in advance, but....still. It may just be a coincidence, but it's a very striking coincidence.

ellenB said...

ScottDS, I moved here from Maryland years ago and it seems that Florida always makes the news for something stupid. Also, we never make the news for good things either, like how Jeb Bush improved schools around here. We went from worst to almost first and no one notices.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott and Ellen, I started in Florida's school system in the 1970s. It was so bad, my parents yanked me out and sent me to a private school they could not afford because they knew it would have been hopeless for me to continue in the public schools at the time.

By the way, in terms of "doh!" states, California always leads the league in that -- though liberals love to hate Texas.

AndrewPrice said...

Scott, Florida is a very geographically diverse state. But it gets lumped into the South when it does something liberals don't like and it gets called "part of the South, but not really part of the South" when it does something liberals like.

T-Rav said...

To go into more detail about what Joel said about ABC and the video, originally they were claiming it showed no injuries on Zimmermann's head. Except you couldn't tell, because his head was being obscured by a "chyron" (I don't know what that is, but either way, it was something obscuring his head). Now ABC is showing an unobscured video, and it shows what appear to be a couple of gashes or welts on the man's head. And a witness says he was pretty bandaged up the following day.

Doesn't prove anything, of course. That sweet boy couldn't have gashed up his head; Zimmermann probably banged up his own head in order to elaborately frame the black man for the crime. That's more likely, I think.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav..... that is a fascinating thought. I really don't have an answer for you. I was actually shocked to hear they hired Palin to do anything for the network, seeing as how they viewed her as Satan. So maybe we are seeing the beginning of an attempt to clean up NBC's reputation with the public? CNN tried that by going "neutral" a couple years ago and they seem intent on staying there?

Fascinating thought.

T-Rav said...

I love the Florida Panhandle, and the Gulf Coast area above and below Tampa. St. Augustine is very pretty as well. And the upper Keys aren't too bad. The Miami and Orlando metro areas, though--yeah, you can keep those.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, Interesting. I only saw the first video which ABC claimed "shows no injuries." All you can see there is that his head appears darker in the back, which could be hair or a bruise or who knows what? They made a particular point of saying that there was no blood on his face despite having a broken nose.

But they left out some key details. First, they failed to state that he had already been seen by the EMTs and would have had any blood removed. Secondly, humans don't bruise that quickly -- bruises don't appear for hours and don't look their worst for days.

I hadn't heard they were backing off the video until Joel's comment, but I did hear that a witness said he was bandaged the next day and I did hear that he saw his doctor -- both of which mean there will be proof of injuries. So it doesn't surprise me that ABC would now back off before they get caught like NBC did essentially manufacturing evidence.

(BTW, I still want to know why we haven't heard about a toxicology on Martin.)

Also, I think it's interesting that more and more people are demanding to know why Obama won't speak up about recent black on white crimes. I think he really stepped in it by commenting here.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, Florida is too hot for me... all of it. Though I do have fond memories of Disney World!

ellenB said...

Florida is hot, that is true.

Doc Whoa said...

Another excellent article Andrew, and thanks to Joel for the assist on ABC. I am happy to hear that things may be changing for the MSM if they are having to back off on this misconduct. In the past, they would have just done it and moved on, but it sounds like the conservative media is finally having an impact.

AndrewPrice said...

ellen, That's my favorite part of living out West -- not so hot, and very little humidity. Although the humidity has actually gone up in my lifetime because of the number of lawns. Still, it's much better than other places. And let me said, DC almost killed me heat/humidity-wise. Who builds a city in a swamp?

AndrewPrice said...

Thanks Doc! I think there has been a cultural change. And maybe that's behind the idea T-Rav has suggested with NBC hiring Palin? Maybe the networks have finally realized that they are fading away into nothingness by being so far left? Maybe they now realize they need to start paying attention to little things like truth... facts... integrity... and the overwhelmingly conservative public?

I hope that's the case.

Unknown said...

I am waiting to watch this develop. The beatification of Trayvon Martin and the demonization of George Zimmerman make me sputter. The MSM is sowing the wind, and it's likely to inherit the whirlwind by stirring up this racial division by false and misleading reports pandering to their leftist fans. Of course, they don't care. They're safe and secure in their guarded ivory towers, and are sticking with the dictum "if it bleeds, it leads." Truth is the victim, along with Martin and Zimmerman. Phooey.

Doc Whoa said...

Andrew, I wish I could tell how much Drudge reaches beyond conservatives because he's been doing a great job of pointing out all the recent shootings by black kids in hoodies and rac-based shootings like the one in Mississippi. I think this is all blowing up on the race baiters this time and the conservative media deserves the credit for it. I even recall George Will of all people saying "remember the Duke Lacrosse team." When was the last time Geroge Will stood on the front of the culture wars?

StanH said...

Rush spent a great deal of his show on this same subject. It needs to be shouted from the highest mountain. The rule of thumb with the press, we should never believe what they say on first blush. The prosecutors can’t go after the press but Zimmerman could, or anyone else destroyed by this false narrative. As did Richard Jewel the press prosecuted Atlanta Olympic Bomber, who sued and was rewarded greatly by the legal system. The press has a Constitutionally mandated function in this country, to which they have sullied to the point where it’s needs to be cleaned out completely, journalist schools, pressrooms, etc. We have much work to be done, the firings must continue for a decade. God, this crap pisses me off.

T-Rav said...

Andrew, let's also not forget that the only witness to the incident--that is, the only one who actually saw the fight in progress--specifically said that Martin was on top of Zimmermann. CNN is pushing another witness who says the opposite, but also says she didn't get there until Martin had already been shot and was dying/dead. Which makes sense--typically, a dying/dead person is not still trying to get on top of you.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I think this may end up being yet another watershed moment for our country. I don't think most people believe that Americans are truly racist anymore, especially American institutions. And the charge of racism simply doesn't seem to carry any weight anymore.

This seems to be a desperate attempt to reintroduce these ideas to the public, just like OWS was an attempt to make people think there was this huge element of the public out there which still believed in goofy liberalism.

And now that the race-baiters have over-played their hand and have been shown to be utterly hypocritical and deceitful, and now that the facts are coming out to show they are trying to lynch someone who is innocent of everything they charge -- and their own fellow travelers in the MSM fabricated the evidence they used to demand the lynching... I think this may well be the last time anyone cares about the race-baiter's attempt to exploit a tragedy like this.

They have basically cried wolf too often.

AndrewPrice said...

Doc, That's a good question. I don't think liberals or moderates visit Drudge. BUT he finds stories, which conservatives pick up on, and those stories end up being widely discussed. Soon the MSM feels that it has no choice but to discuss them as well. And the more this happens, the quicker the MSM has become at giving in to the inevitable.

basically, it's competition at work and he's made it impossible for them to suppress stories they don't like.

AndrewPrice said...

Doc, et al. If you want to fix a typo, the best way is to simply cut and paste your comment into a new comment, fix the typo, and then delete the old comment. We can wipe it out.

AndrewPrice said...

Stan, I'm glad to hear Rush went after this, this issue does need to be pounded home. This is a blatant attempt by someone at NBC and then all their friends at other networks, etc. to create a racial issue where there is none. This is truly despicable and heads should role.

Interesting mention of Richard Jewell. He was another guy everyone was ready to string up because the media made it clear he had to be guilty... only, he wasn't.

I would very much like to see anyone hurt by this sue NBC, ABC, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Spike Lee, etc. Anyone who is out there stirring up the mob, presenting false evidence, or endangering anyone needs to be sued and hit with huge verdicts. Where is Gloria Allred?

I would also like to see the Justice Department protect Zimmerman's civil rights by going after the people who are trying to deprive him of those rights. They routinely do that when the victim is black and the perp is white, there is no reason they shouldn't do it when the victim is Hispanic and the perps are black or NBC-rich-whites.

T-Rav said...

Don't worry, Stan. Now that NBC has launched its "investigation," I have no doubt they will be relentless in getting to the bottom of this, and then make a full apology to the Zimmermann family for any harm the network may have caused.

Oh wait. Did I say "I have no doubt" they will do those things? I meant, I have every doubt.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, There is no witness who has said what Martin was holding, even though we are told it was a fact he was holding a drink and skittles.

The only witness says Martin was on top of Zimmerman and striking him. Yet, the MSM is sifting grainy entrails looking for suggestions that there was no struggle without ever looking at the evidence which would prove it conclusively -- like a coroner's report.

They even exposed the name of the witness in the hopes of him being intimidated -- something which is itself a crime.

They have not called into account the people who have tried to hunt Zimmerman or intimidate witnesses.

NBC manufactured the 911 call. ABC manufactured the idea that a video shows no injuries and omitted key facts from their presentation.

They have yet to report on any of the evidence which should be available which could prove/disprove all of the claims.

And they have attacked anyone who dares to point out evidence which goes against the narrative as a racist.

That's not reporting. It's not even advocacy, it's called framing and smearing.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, I WISH I could believe NBC would do the right thing, but let's put it this way -- I will be blown away with surprise if they do.

tryanmax said...

So much that has been claimed about this event has already proven to be false, I have a hard time thinking that anything still in question is true. The sad thing is, most people will simply ignore anything that doesn't fit their original assumption.

The left loves to accuse conservatives of wanting to take America backwards by 60 years. Yet they are the ones who are working hard to incite racial division and prejudice.

Joel Farnham said...

Andrew,

Another lie about Zimmerman. His weight. It seems it keeps on getting reported that Zimmerman is 220 or 240, but The New York Times accidentally committed journalistic integrity.

It is long, but the relevant part is this paragraph. [Emphasis mine]

"However it started, witnesses described to the 911 dispatcher what resulted: the neighborhood watch coordinator, 5 foot 9 and 170 pounds, and the visitor, 6 foot 1 and 150, wrestling on the ground."

At least to me, it is more believable that a person approximately 150 pounds surprising a person at 170 can down him with one well placed punch.

T-Rav said...

Joel, especially if the 150-pound person has some football experience, as Martin apparently did. (Although, depending on whether those 220-240 pounds are primarily fat or muscle, even the original version isn't entirely unbelievable. It's all about center of gravity and muscular coordination, and if you weigh a lot, but that weight isn't distributed in the right places, you can go down pretty easily.)

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, I agree on all points. I wonder how much of this (and OWS) is the left looking for a last hurrah back to the 1960s before before they all die off? They have really, really stretched to turn this into a racial cause celebre, well beyond the point of credibility, and it's stupid and highly risky for them to continue -- yet they seemed determined to continue, just as they seemed determined to continue with OWS even after it turned out we were only looking at a few hundred slackers.

That's why everything they've done recently reeks of desperation to me -- like they know the end is near and they are tossing Hail Mary passes everywhere trying to snatch victory from inevitable defeat -- OWS, Obamacare, Trayvon Miller, the brownbaggers, the EPA (cap and trade in particular), etc. It's like they know this is their last chance ever.

By the way, I think there is no other way to view this than the left trying to incite a racial incident. There is no honest reading of the events which doesn't reach that conclusion.

AndrewPrice said...

Joel, Again, where is the coroner's report which will have height and weight? These are things the MSM CAN look up with one phone call... yet they don't! Instead, they repeat the made up version. Why?


(P.S. Did you post a comment with a link earlier? I saw it for a brief moment, but when I went to look for it, the spam filter ate it.)

rlaWTX said...

Jesus wore a hoodie!!! I got a picture on facebook that said so! So hoodies are A-OK! ;p

Personally, I have nothing against hoodies - very useful for fall/TX winter wear when we actually get a little precipitation. However, even my bank - in WTX - has a sign that asks customers to remove hats, sunglasses, and hoods when they enter (sign has been there for about a year).

As for the DSM, they fall into the same category as the EPA/TOTUS administration on the coal thread: "I hate 'em."
Keep getting out the truth - eventually the districts will rebel! (read Hunger Games)

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, It's also about surprise. I've had big, huge cops tell me they got knocked to the ground by 110 lbs. women because they were surprised and hit just right and caught off balance.

Joel Farnham said...

Andrew,

Yes, I did. I re-posted it to the other thread. It is about the Oakland University Shooting today.

Unknown said...

Andrew: I think you're right about it being the last gasp of major league race-baiting. But I'm not as optimistic about how this is going to play out before it's over. Mass movements in this nation are rare, but the bloodshed tends to come a bit more often because of radicalized, angry and lawless elements of society. Even as the Martin/Zimmerman confrontation looks less and less like a racial matter, the New Black Panthers and fledgling wannabe Weathermen are likely to try something violent anyway. Half-assed racial warriors believe in what Abby Hoffman called "revolution for the hell of it."

And if blood is spilled, much of it will be on the hands of the mainstream media.

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, This is exactly like the EPA and others, this is leftist institutions trying to change the world rather than doing their jobs.

Jesus wore a hoodie? LOL!

I have nothing against hoodies, but that they are gansta wear. BUT that wasn't what got Zimmerman to notice him. That is against the race lobby trying to create a race issue where there isn't one (which is also perverse as all races where hoodies). He notice Martin because Martin was roaming around, i.e. not going anywhere, just walking around, and because he thought Martin looked stoned. He didn't say "hey, there's a black guy here in a hoodie!"

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, P.S. My mother is reading "The Hunger Games." This is not a book I ever expected her to like and she is raving about it. I'm truly surprised!

AndrewPrice said...

Joel, Ok, good. We're having more problems again for whatever reason. Blogger = sucks.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I agree. I fully expect something like a bombing or a murder "in retaliation" from these dipsh*ts.

On being optimistic, I'm not entirely optimistic. I suspect that the country is being split into two groups -- 60% represent conservatives and moderates who just don't want to hear it anymore and no longer give any credence to the whining from the left.

But the other 40%, I suspect, will start throwing tantrums in the hopes of getting their way. I think that's what OWS showed us, that these people will not admit their cause is lost and they will instead just step up their actions. I fear the next wave will be much more radical than this one because that is how tantrums work and because they are doing nothing to calm their fringe.

Joel Farnham said...

Ed,

I just saw your comment, this "crime" was reported on a local Fox affiliate, in it's entirety the day after the shooting. Every thing was highly accurate. No pictures. Just a neighborhood watch man shot and killed a 17 year old hoody-wearing black. That the shooter was cleaned up on site by EMT and the sent to a police station. He was questioned and then released. Eyewitnesses corroborated most of Zimmerman's testimony, and barring an investigation, it seems it was an act of self-defense.

The way the national media reported it was with just drips and drabs. [I'm paraphrasing] "A shooting occurred in a peaceful gated community. A black teenager was killed. A white Hispanic was the shooter. Now, no one jump to conclusions the investigation isn't over. The shooter might actually have a good reason for killing the young man." That little bit. Then a day later, [Again Paraphrasing], "This is breaking news. We have the 911 tapes. George Zimmerman might have to explain himself. It seems he was stalking Trayvon Martin, a youth visiting relatives." This time with George's mug shot and twelve year old boy's picture. No airing of the tapes, yet...

It kept on getting worse. Still, people started to question it, and now most of what the MSM has told you, is WRONG, MISLEADING or OUTRIGHT LIES.

Ed said...

Joel, That's interesting because that means they actually backed away from the truth and started saying things which were not accurate when more accurate facts were already available. What a set up!

Unknown said...

Andrew: I don't want to stir the racial cauldron any more than it already is, but all of this reminds me of something from the past. After the Rodney King riots, but just before the statewide elections, one political wag said "and now the race-baiters are going to find out how white people riot." Obama had better learn from that and do his best to still the waters, or he may find it out too.

AndrewPrice said...

Joel, Thanks for the info! I was not aware of that. That makes all of this seem much more like a conscious act. If this was already reported neutrally, then there was no reason to rush out slanted reports unless they wanted to make a point.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I didn't follow the post-King events closely enough to say anything for certain, but it always struck me they were asking for a backlash. The cops were wrong, I have no doubt about that -- not about the initial stop or even the initial violence, but once he was down they should not have kept hitting him, they should have cuffed him. BUT.... the race lobby just kept pushing and pushing and pushing, and suddenly everything was "evil whitey this" and "evil whitey that." And I recall people who originally thought the cops were 100% wrong suddenly saying, "this is bull." I am seeing a similar reaction this time only it's much quicker to develop.

Joel Farnham said...

LawHawk,

How do White people riot?

T-Rav said...

rla and Andrew, I ended up watching "The Hunger Games" on opening night. It was kind of a lark--I wanted to see what all the fuss was about--but I was very pleasantly surprised. I highly recommend watching the movie, it's very good. I haven't read most of the book but I'll work on it.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, I keep hearing good things, especially from conservatives. So I will definitely check it out. I was really surprised my mother liked it though -- it's absolutely not her kind of book.

AndrewPrice said...

Joel, I would say that when white people riot, governments tend to fall.

tryanmax said...

Andrew, RE: last gasps--There is one way to verify: leftist projection. Remember how the MSM was calling the TEA Party the last dying gasp of racist white bitter clingers back in 2009/10? There's your confirmation.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, Excellent point! I think we're on to something here. I really do.

The Clash said...

White Riot

tryanmax said...

All I remember of the Rodney King riots was a joke that was going around afterward:

"Hi, my name is Reginald Denny. I just came from L.A. and, boy, am I beat!"

Billy Idol said...

Hey little sister, forget the White Riot... have White Wedding!

Quiet Riot said...

Don't forget about us!

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, I remember seeing the video and that really, really pissed me off. If he'd been a family member of mine, everyone in that video would have been dead by the end of the week.

Jefferson Airplane said...

Billy, expand your mind. Chase the White Rabbit

tryanmax said...

Andrew, I didn't mean to make light. I just really remember nothing else. Well, I think he survived, but did anything happen to the guys who beat him? (Not exactly current events, I know.)

Weird Al Yankovic said...

Y'all are White and Nerdy.

T-Rav said...

What is happening???

Joel Farnham said...

Arizona is also loaded with idiotic ideas. They just passed an anti-bullying internet bill. The problem is that under that foolish idea is the concept of banning free speech. [LINK]

I had wondered why it was SOOOOOOOOO important to "protect" people from online bullying.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, Nothing happened to them. One was sentenced to time served -- he went on to kill a drug dealer and got a 47 year sentence. The other five got away with nothing. DOJ never hounded like they did the LA cops. "Civil rights" groups whined that it was racism to try these thugs. And we all learned that justice is very color-conscious in California.

AndrewPrice said...

Joel, The anti-bully crusade is the latest attempt by liberals to grab control of people and be allowed to reprogram them.

Is that the right link?

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, We seem to have had white riot-related musical interlude.

Joel Farnham said...

Andrew,

I saw it too. What angered me was Reginald Denny wasn't even angry. All that did is legitimize rioting. Denny made it OK to riot. Bah!

Unknown said...

Andrew: I respectfully disagree. I became tangentially involved in the original trial of the cops in Simi Valley after the case was removed from Los Angeles because of pretrial publicity. King refused to follow orders and submit to a lawful arrest. He was tazed three times after resisting arrest and continued to get up and move toward the cops. The tapes that were passed around and shown on TV were edited in much the same way as the Zimmerman call was edited. Since the full videos had no audio, a lip-reader was hired to tell what the cops were saying. They were saying "stay down, don't get up, we don't want to hurt you." That didn't make the news either, although CNN actually slipped and showed it--once. They couldn't cuff him because he continued to struggle even after they had him down on the ground.

Rodney King is alive today because the lieutenant on the scene told the cops to "hold your fire" when King reached under his shirt into his pants waistband as he was getting out of the vehicle initially. Standard procedure is to assume the arrestee is reaching for a weapon, and can be shot unless they are ordered not to do so.

The Simi Valley jury heard all that evidence, and acquitted the cops. The reward the cops got for saving King's life was a second federal trial in Los Angeles using the civil rights statutes. Three of them went to prison for doing their duty. There were no riots when the police were sentenced.

That's why I see serious parallels between the Rodney King cases and this rush to riot surrounding Trayvon Martin. If the mainstream media continue to stir up racial tensions with falsified and edited portrayals of the Martin/Zimmerman confrontation, there will be riots and maybe even deaths regardless of what a jury might find after a possible trial.

Joel Farnham said...

Your opinion offends me Bill

Sorry, this is the right link. That was the Oakland killings.

Unknown said...

Joel and Andrew: That's exactly what he was implying. The elections that year were the most Republican-leaning in years. Ultimately it led to the recall of Democratic Governor Gray Davis and the election of RINO Arnold Schwarzenegger. That's how white people riot.

AndrewPrice said...

Joel, Same here. I thought it was obscene to take a guy who had his brains bashed in and say, "oh look, he doesn't care so there was no harm." That really ticked me off even worse. I guess if you can mess up your victim bad enough, then you've done nothing wrong? WTF?

Unknown said...

tryanmax: Andrew laid out the sentences the thugs who beat Reginald Denny got. Essentially, wrist slaps. Denny, on the other hand, suffered permanent brain damage.

tryanmax said...

If I had a big website and the knowhow, I would set up my site to block anyone trying to view it from an AZ ip address. Conversely, if I were an AZ resident, I would immediately try to press charges against as many websites as I could just to make the point.

Which raises a question...need I be a resident of AZ to press charges under this new law? If the law is really as broad as the article suggests, I could be offended by the Google homepage. As Abraham Lincoln said, "The best way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly."

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, Let me clarify -- I thought the cops were well withing their rights until the very, very end. I have no problems with pulling him over or beating him to the ground or even beating him to keep him on the ground. But it struck me there came a point where even though he was still moving, they could have just cuffed him and been done with it. But they hit him a few more times. I thought they used excessive force at that point. BUT, taking everything into consideration, I would have considered that a reprimand-type misconduct, at the most -- maybe two day suspension for failing to control the situation.

The idea of putting them on trial was obscene. And then to keep trying them in the media and to insist that they would keep on trying them again and again until they got them, infuriated me. And then to try them again struck me as an absolute violation of the principles upon which our nation was founded -- that was totalitarian bullshit!

I also think King had no right to complain about any of this because he brought it on himself. He was the instigator and he was lucky he didn't die that night.


I agree with you about the parallel of the edited video. I recall seeing the LA video for weeks before we got to see the beginning where King charges the cops. What CNN showed looked like the cops hauled him out of the car and started beating him. The reality was very different. Again, media manipulation. CNN should have been sued by LA for the damage they caused to the city.

AndrewPrice said...

Joel, This Arizona crap is going on all over the country and it's "tough on crime" Republicans being led by the nose by "tough on freedom" Democrats. It needs to stop.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, If you can find a way to make sufficient "contact" with Arizona to fall within their "long-arm" statutes, then you could apply this law in any other state.

Lincoln's quote is an excellent one and is something conservatives need to learn. If the Democrats pass an over-reaching law, use it against their people until they cry uncle.

AndrewPrice said...

Here is a link to the video showing Zimmerman with injuries to his head -- very clear: LINK.

Also interesting, the ABC report shows the Al Sharpton rally and they don't have more than 200 people... in Miami! Plus, they are now trying to get the prosecutor investigated -- sure evidence of desperation.

Joel Farnham said...

It seems that the Race Hustlers can't get the requisite numbers up any more. Maybe they never could. I don't know. I do know that the Media does an incredible job of faking the outrage.

tryanmax said...

Yeah, but why did they cancel the second ambulance, Andrew!? If Zimmerman was really acting in self-defense, he should have taken a harder beating. The fact that he's not dead is proof that he's a racist! /sarc

AndrewPrice said...

Joel, That is a good question. That is a very small venue, so they obviously knew they would not get a lot of people. And they spread everyone out and covered the seats with coats and things to make it appear more full -- another trick. And yet, there can't be more than 200 people there IF EVEN. That is an incredibly small number, especially given the number of colleges and black churches that should have been in the area. Heck, a "free pizza" sign could have got that many people.

This strikes me as a "mass movement" without the mass, like a manufactured movement -- like OWS.... a liberal bluff.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, You have put your finger right on a problem with the human condition -- anyone can spin anything to create a conspiracy. And with the brainlessness of the internet, any of these ideas can quickly spin out of control with a willing audience.

T-Rav said...

I am SO sick of this anti-bullying crusade. If I hear one more thing about how awful it is to bully people, I am going to go out and ridicule a gay teen. Sheesh.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, It is really annoying and the more they tell me don't do something, the more tempted I am to do it. And I'm hearing it everywhere now. Arg.

tryanmax said...

I think we can trace the roots of the anti-bullying thing back to the Clinton Administration. It was then that the media declared that character doesn't matter.

What is the primary purpose of bullies? To build character, of course. So the problem is that, just because character no longer matters, doesn't mean it instantly goes away. Not with all these obsolete bullies around still instilling character in people.

So, in order to fully eradicate all this unneeded character, first we must eliminate the bullies. Simple! Either that or I'm way to tired to still be online.

Individualist said...

What I find interesting is the claim that voice experts state that the screaming in the other call which was made during the fight could n ot be Zimmerman. The reason I find this interesting is that the individuals that make this claim be they experts or not do not have to submit their testwork and conclusions to any scrutiny. We don't even know the names of the experts oor who they work for. They are simply "experts" so we should believe them.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, Uh...

That's an interesting theory. So you think bullies were created for the purpose of building character and once we stopped worrying about character, they essentially became surplusage? Interesting. LOL!

tryanmax said...

That's silly. I know enough about audio to tell you that the quality of both recordings--especially the one with the voice in question being in the background--is too poor to rule that out definitively.

What goes for images goes also for audio: degradation hides a multitude of sins. Yes, you lose the ability to say for certain what is, but along with that, you lose the ability to say for certain what isn't.

AndrewPrice said...

Indi, I learned a lot time ago that experts in these kinds of fields are all charlatans. They just reach the conclusion you want them to reach and then fill in the blanks with fake theories. Never trust any of them.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, Very true. But that would prevent these people from reach the conclusion they have been paid to reach... so we need to ignore certain facts which stand in the way of a paycheck.

Trust me, I've seen these people in action in courts and it's ALL bullsh*t.

tryanmax said...

Andrew, if you ever need a charlatan to testify about digital imagery...

Individualist said...

I read Stacy Koon's book. The media made Rodney King out to be an innocent victim. The purposely hid the part of the tape were King breaks the hold of four cops from the ground gets up and bull rushes one of them. Instead they loop the same two strikes in such a way to make it look as if King is continuously beaten.

Koon admitted to not following police procedure in his book and ordering strikes to King's joints and limbs. He did this because the four cops were unable to subdue King who was becoming more dangerous and violent and police procedure stated the elevation had to be deadly force.

After reading this book and remebering the coverage I felt that the responsibility for the carnage in the riots was as much the main stream network news as anything esle.

This is turning out to be the same. They want riots in Orlando and Florida if they are not handed Zimmerman's head.

AndrewPrice said...

tryanmax, Let's hope I never need anyone to testify again. Ug.

AndrewPrice said...

Indi, I agree. The LA riots were CNN's fault and I have no doubt that the MSM would have been happy to see riots throughout Florida. But it doesn't sound like they are going to get their wish. Plus, I suspect Florida is better at handling these things than California. That's the same reason you won't see riots in Virginia... because the cops don't mess around.

Individualist said...

Not only that but North Central Florida and rural areas like Sanford have Southern Whites and Southern Blacks. Say what you want about the racial history of the south the one thing they did have over the Yankees in the North or the Californians is that the Southern Blacks and Whites could still talk to one another. Something a New York upstate liberal did not have the capacity to do.

Individualist said...

Tyranmax

Silly or not it is touted on the three minute news blurb on the radio as

"It has been determined the screams in the tape could not be Zimmermans"

This is how the Minitrue operates.

AndrewPrice said...

Indi, In my travels in the south, it was obvious to me that blacks and whites get along MUCH better than they do in the big liberal enclaves like New York and California. I can't say why that is, but it seems to be true. The least racist places in the country that I have found were all in the South and the West. The worst are the Northeast and the Coasts.

T-Rav said...

Endgame.

Unknown said...

Andrew and Indi: Whether there are riots in Florida or not, the race-baiters don't care. They've made this a "national racial crisis," and they'll work mightily to find a way to get riots started somewhere. The front-line demagogues are aging fast, and they need to find new leaders to stir up race hatred. Those leaders are often at the head of the mob, then become famous for faking their concern and attempts to still the troubled waters.

I suspect that that if Zimmerman is exonerated, or found guilty of something less than first degree murder, the riots will start in Chicago and Los Angeles--the homes of "no justice, no peace." And if Obama is reelected, that's when the Justice Department will step in and charge Zimmerman with violating Martin's civil rights. And Holder will probably go after the police and the prosecutor for conspiracy to violate Martin's civil rights as well. Post-racial president indeed.

You're absolutely right about attitudes toward race. San Francisco, the big liberal bastion, is today the most racist city I've ever seen since the civil rights days of the 60s. Up here in the Tehachapi Mountains and high desert, there is a large Hispanic population and a slightly smaller black population. Interracial strife is rarely encountered. You have to go down into the valley to Bakersfield to find anything like the racial animosities you find in urban centers.

AndrewPrice said...

T-Rav, That's the police report. So it confirms that there were injuries and he his back was wet as if he had been lying on his back. And it looks like multiple witnesses.

AndrewPrice said...

Lawhawk, I think you're right, they will simply move the riots to a more willing city, especially if Zimmerman is tried and exonerated -- which he would be based on the evidence.

It's interesting that they are now going after the prosecutor because he just struck back tonight apparently demanding that the family stop spreading lies about the case. I read that he issued a statement knocking down half the things they've been saying. This sounds like the bridge-too-far for the race baiters in this case.

I'm not surprised about SF. The most racist places I ever saw were in the northeast -- Boston in particular. The things that average people said there would never have been acceptable in any other part of the country. And yet they mocked the rest of the country for being racist and backwards... if you can believe that.

StanH said...

Anecdote: When I was a kid in the early ‘60s I had black friends, by the end of the ‘60s they were magically enemies, this subsided as time went on, and the Bull Connor’s, Malcolm X’s of the world, thankfully faded away. Bear in mind, I was raised in South Georgia, ten miles from the Florida border. Flash forward to the early ‘70s and my move to Atlanta, and high school and I made friends with two dudes, Tommy & Mike from Boston MA, who we dutifully named both…Boston…ha. Two Irish lads from the NE who hated blacks with a passion, and the two cultures fought brutally. Georgia mellowed them out. Also those of use who remember forced busing, it went okay in the South there was some fighting, but in high-minded Boston, they went into riot mode, tearing the city and each other apart. My point, if there’s a riot, look to Chicago, LA, Oakland, etc.

T-Rav said...

Stan, one thing I have always wanted to understand better is race relations in the South pre-1964ish. In grad school, of course, we get told that it was violently racist and that blacks and whites hated each other, which I rather doubt; but I don't hear much pushback. I wish I knew more people from that time and place, so I could hear both sides of the story.

StanH said...

T-Rav, I was quite young in the ‘60s, but I remember the forced changes of busing etc. this was traumatic for all the kids, black or white, you know, the fear of the unknown. Most of the segregation had ended when I became conscious, Kennedy had been assassinated, Vietnam was at a broil, etc. I do know however with the old-timers, black or white, their impressions of each other were etched in stone, many things that we would find abhorrent today, but, I don’t remember hate. Make no mistake, there were some terrible inequities that had to be reformed, and were, and with all people of goodwill this has been a good thing, the haters will never be healed, Sharpton/J.Jackson.

Oh, these groups of people have re-segregated themselves in recent years, the establishment was up-in-arms, and it was the black parents that quashed this, and said butt out, it’s funny how the worm turns if you live long enough.

rlaWTX said...

I think awareness of bullying is a very good thing. There is a lot of damage that can come from being bullied, esp. if you have a laid-back or introverted temperament - less likely to respond and more likely to internalize.
However, what kids need is skills training, not new anti-speech laws. Such responses introduce good ole "unintended consequences" that take things to new levels, requiring new laws, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: Believe me, most of what you heard about the pre-1960s South was true. The hate seethed largely under the surface because the whites were in absolute control and enforced segregation. But lynchings were occasionally implemented on the flimsiest of claims, most often that a black man allegedly did something to a white woman (in one notorious case, the lynching occurred because the black man allegedly wolf-whistled at a white woman).

During the civil rights movement, the hate was partially transferred to northern and often white civil rights workers, who were called Jews, communists, and "outside agitators." The movie Mississippi Burning is an accurate depiction of the pre-civil rights South. Unlike Stan, I'm old enough to have seen it up close and personal.

And as Stan says, nearly five generations have passed since those horrible days, and race relations in the South are far better than they are in the allegedly race-neutral big cities of the North.

AndrewPrice said...

Stan, I grew up with black friends in Tampa, Memphis and Colorado. We were all fine -- never once worried about race or any of that. Then I went to school in the Northeast and I was shocking at the absolute hatred between whites and blacks up there. It was a real eye opener.

AndrewPrice said...

rlaWTX, The problem right now is the "training" they are offering. On the one hand, they want to deprogram bullies by teaching all kids to be weak. That's the wrong approach because it makes the good kids more vulnerable and does nothing to stop the bad kids -- in fact, it spurs them on. On the other hand, they are teaching kids "you can't solve this yourself, call for help from the authorities." That is again the worst response to a bully.

They need to teach kids how to stand up to bullies and how to not let it get to them. Teaching kids to submit to authority just makes them targets of bullies. And trying to eliminate bullying is impossible because it's part of human nature.

Anonymous said...

they are a sick bunch who totally subcribe to the theory 'the ends justify the means'. There is no level, no harm they will not stoop to reach a goal.I've been on their blog sites in the past enough to know that they have little to no scrupples and falsly beieve that they are superior to everyone else. In other words if you don't think like them --you are a moron, a dumb ass, etc.

Signed an EX-Leftist

Post a Comment