JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Amid furious public pressure to make an arrest in the Trayvon Martin slaying, the special prosecutor on the case went for the maximum Wednesday, bringing a second-degree murder charge against the neighborhood watch captain who shot the unarmed black teenager.
George Zimmerman, 28, was jailed in Sanford - the site of the killing Feb. 26 that set off a nationwide debate over racial profiling and self-defense - on charges that could put him in prison for life.
Let the games begin...
UPDATE I: GAME ON!! -
"Calm, Calm, Calm" - Ya'll know what that's about (or you ought to!)
How politically expe-e-edient of him! (:rolls eyes:)
I'm sure the faithful will be swooning. Hell, if this NYT piece and the comments here so far are any indication - it's already begun. {smdh}
Now that the guys over there on the left have been laid down with his whole, "If I had a son..." thing - all he's got to do tonight, is use some variation of the Atticus Finch closing argument below, and he'll standout, yet again, with those guys over there on the right! Don't mean to exclude you other, "Others" - but 'Mockingbird' didn't include you guys either. Quite a commentary on the "Deciders" of invisibility in these alleged United States - particularly since, all of you also existed here 50 years ago and were equally shat upon. Just sayin...
Much as I hate to watch him on anything - I'll watch his introduction to the movie - just to see what he'll say.
UPDATE: This man is just so damned - predictable!
"50 years ago, a film came along that instantly captivated the nation. Based on the timeless novel by Harper Lee, “To Kill A Mockingbird” brought to life an unforgettable tale of courage and conviction, of doing what was right no matter what the cost, and it gave us one of the great heroes of American cinema – Atticus Finch played so memorably by the late Gregory Peck." (emphasis mine)
Too bad HIS "tale of courage and conviction, of doing what was right no matter what the cost" is so damned - forgettable.
"Half a century later, the power of this extraordinary film endures. It still speaks to us. It still tells us something about who we are as a people, and the common values that we all share." (emphasis mine)
Yep, it certainly "still tells us something about who we are as a people" - not sure about that "common values that we all share" thing, particularly since Black folk like Trayvon Martin's and Kenneth Chamberlain's families (just to name a few) are still looking for some of that "courage" and literally some "conviction" to this day.
Today marks the 44th anniversary of Dr. King's assassination, and in ways totally antithetical to those things for which he fought and died, we - with increasing gullibility and neediness - continue to accept the absolute, all-about-power wretchedness of the euro-centric powers-that-be. Yeah, they knew exactly what they were doing when they killed him.
They knew he'd become an even greater force with which they'd have to reckon, a force that not only his people would get behind - but one that many in the country as a whole would too. They knew his humanity, pitted against their obvious lack thereof, would be contagious, and therefore, a most effective contretemps to their various foot-on-neck machinations, designed primarily to keep Black and brown folk in their place - like today's, "Stand Your Ground" laws, Castle Doctrines, the Democratic party-revived, Obama-backed, Byrne grants (or Justice Assistance Grants - per Brother Ass-coverer) and, the "Secure Communities Act" of today.
They knew he would continue to explicitly "protest for right"and against their war-mongering, unlike the deus ex machina that is the Changeling. And they knew that the country wouldn't, no couldn't ignore him.
In his own words (long, but well worth the listen)...
Yeah, they knew exactly what they were doing when they killed him. They not only assassinated the man, they eliminated a more than worthy and powerful opponent, who could've brought some REAL change in which ALL of us could believe - in other words, a nationwide movement for justice and equality for everyone.
I know, I know - I said I'd try to post less about politics in general, and the Changeling in particular (especially since the country continues its descent into a political and moral vacuum with this two-party system of only a choice between hell and more hell - a vacuum from which I can see no signs of retreat in the near future) but, it's important to be aware that a Black face in the White House is no better than a white one as long as it continues to do the same things (photo: "New Imperialism," courtesy of Leon Kuhn).
h/t to my brother, nomad over at ironymous 2.0 for posting this yesterday:
Glenn Greenwald's recent, The Most Transparent Administration Ever™ shows quite nicely how this administration went from lauding FOIA, to forgetting about it totally - right under the noses of the American people - with barely a blink from his faithful sheeple.
