Posted on 04/16/2012 4:16:18 AM PDT by expat1000
Andy Warhol predicted that in the future everyone would be world-famous for 15 minutes. What he neglected to mention was that they were just as likely to be infamous.
Zimmerman had decorated his flyers and website with the famous quotation attributed to Edmund Burke, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing." His activities reveal a man who took those words to heart, who put his time, money and safety on the line to become one of those good men who do something. But the problem was that Zimmerman had been reading Burke, when he should have been reading Kafka.
"Someone must have slandered Josef K., for one morning, without having done anything wrong, he was arrested." That is the famous opening sentence to Kafka's novel, "The Trial", words that have far more to do with the way we live now.
George Zimmerman is not on trial because he shot a black teenager during a scuffle. It's not the facts of the case that brought him here. It's his name. Had his last name been Pereira, none of this would have gone anywhere. And it's not the name alone, it's that in this time and place lynching him will help make the political fortunes of everyone from the man in the White House to his cheerful smiling prosecutor who is already counting her campaign cash and book deals.
Zimmerman with his book of quotations from the great thinkers of history, a man who clearly believes in the old fashioned virtues, is particularly ill-equipped to understand what is being done to him and why. The quotation that he plastered on flyers while investigating the beating of a homeless black man and on his own website, is more apt than he realizes.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is indeed that good men do nothing, but as a corollary to it, those are exactly the sort of men that evil will go after. It does no good to read Burke quotations to a Kardashian society which makes its determinations not on truth or justice, but on its omnipresent need for entertainment. Trying to reason with it only makes it angrier. Talking about virtues and decency to people who have none either confuses them or infuriates those few who understand the concept in some distant way.
We aspire to behave the way that George Zimmerman did, to contribute to our communities, to defy the conventional wisdom and speak out when we see wrongdoing. We believe that all that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing. And we are only a misstep away from being George Zimmerman, from doing the wrong thing, from intervening in the wrong fight, drawing the wrong cartoon or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, a heartbeat away from appearing at the bar of the kangaroo court of stage managed public opinion.
In our own way we are all George Zimmerman. We think that society should be moral and rational, and that people should do the right thing. But that's not what it is. It's an insane braying donkey's laugh as the thieves, large and small, rob the people blind and then muscle them into a lynch mob to go after some handy victim. It's George today, it will be someone else tomorrow. Maybe someone who even deserves it. But it won't be the people destroying the country, because they're the ones leading the mob.
George Zimmerman has been chosen to serve as a gladiator in the circus that distracts a bankrupt nation from the criminal folly of its leaders, large and small. He has been assigned white team colors, had an NRA badge pinned to his lapel, and is being shoved out into the stadium while the lunatic mob howls for blood. The Emperor of Hope and Change has already made the thumbs down gesture, the courtiers are rushing out to fix the match.
Like Kafka's protagonist, Zimmerman has been protesting all along that this is some sort of mistake. And he's right. It is a mistake. Had the engineers behind the lynch mob gotten a good look at his photo, they might have pulled back and looked for a better victim. Someone who more properly fit their bicoastal idea of a "cracker" to string up on the crooked scales of Lady Justice. But once a mob has gotten started, it's hard to shut it down. And there's no real need to stop.
In the past, a media organ that reported a blatant lie might have at least paused on getting caught, but we live in a post-fact society now. The only thing that happens is that the media shrugs and doubles down on the narrative. George Zimmerman isn't white? Just call him a white-hispanic. Insist that Latinos are really white even though your entire practice has been to loudly scream the opposite. Accuse anyone who points out that Zimmerman doesn't look much like Larry the Cable Guy of being a racist. Problem solved.
Zimmerman thinks it's a mistake because he's not guilty. But as Kafka might have told him, guilt or innocence has little to do with it. Zimmerman wasn't indicted on charges of shooting a man, but of being a racist, of being the living embodiment of American inequality, NRA lawmaking and a dozen other sins. These are not charges that he can ever shake, because they are not legal crimes, they are political crimes.
The true charges against Zimmerman are 'class charges', they indict him as the representative of a class, white racists, gun owners and the entire heteronormative patriarchal class of men who quote Edmund Burke, carry guns and feel entitled to trail troubled black teenagers in their community. Lynching Zimmerman is not about putting one man away, it is about putting everyone away. It is about the absolute triumph of the system and its ideology and about putting the individualist in his place, in a small cell and an orange jumpsuit.
The original title of "The Trial" was "The Process" and we are always in the middle of a process. The process begins before we are born and ends only when our bodies and estates are disposed of to the complete satisfaction of the system. The point of Kafka's book was not whether the defendant was innocent or guilty. The point of the process was the process. The purpose of the trial was the trial.
We are all on trial under the system. That is the nightmare that Kafka anticipated. It is a reality that was already taking hold in the Soviet Union even while he was writing. The purpose of the trial is the absolute power of the system and its ability to snatch up anyone, examine them and then dispose of them. The theater of the trial informs everyone who lives under the system that they are at its mercy.
The very randomness of choosing Zimmerman, the contempt for the basic facts of the case, has become part of the message. The message is the same. The facts don't matter. The decision making process doesn't matter. Leave your evidence and your Burke quotations at home and watch how the wheels spin, the gears grind and the blood flows. The message is that the system is absolute and there is no escape.
This is evil. It is the very essence of evil. It is an evil that Zimmerman could not have seen coming or understood when he was out patrolling his community. It's an evil that is all around us. We can catch glimpses of it on the evening news, in the sneers of anchormen, the practiced smiles of politicians, it's there in Angela Corey's helpless grin, it's there in the mountains of paperwork, the lines of tiny print, the lines of people waiting at bulletproof windows, the morality mobs forming up digitally for the next victim to string up, the next popular opinion to enforce, the next skull to crush.
The beast that is doing its best to swallow up Zimmerman knows no facts or truths, it has no virtues, only goals. It cares nothing for what he did or did not do. Its only goal is to swallow him whole. It has eyes made of cameras, teeth made of guns, network cables for guts, a mind made of slogans and a nervous system that always needs stimulation. The beast may fail in its task, but it will let out a brief howl and move on to the next victim.
For all that the beast seems terrible to Zimmerman now, it is no larger than Obama's water dog, it is one of a thousand such animals wandering through studios, courtrooms, legislative offices, chambers and all the corridors of power. If it should fail, it will break up into a thousand pieces, the reporters will go back home, the racial hucksters will head to the next trouble spot, the protesters will go back to hanging out on street corners, the cops will ride past them, the prosecutor will treat it as a learning experience, the lawyers will add it to their calling card, and the politicians will sniff the air waiting to see which way the wind blows.
In movies trials end in some larger conclusion, some lesson learned, some principle defended. That will not happen here. The people who run our system no longer believe in those things. They don't read Burke, they don't even hang Andy Warhol on their walls, he has become too structured for them. There are no more lessons except the lesson of power, the grand game of guilt and terror, the spectators crowding the bars to see the tigers roar, the blood flow and the knowledge that they could be down there.
White guilt. Entitlement. Patriarchy. Heteronormative. Critical race theory. All that empty gabble of words is a way of defining power and power rests with those who make their words into law. Those who use them to destroy meaning and feed those who believe that words have meaning to the lions.
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for enough people who say things like that and mean it to be fed to lions. Not even on purpose, but because they stuck their head up at the wrong time, they caught the eye of the insect eyed Big Brother collective of critical racial theory thinkers and gender role debunkers, of sensitivity counselors and nightly news provocateurs, of politicians running on race and running away from race, of the rich playing class warfare against themselves and the poor who know that money comes from the government, and the uniformed and pantsuit clad minions who oversees the circus that keeps the system going a little longer.
We are all Zimmerman. One of us might be next. One of us will be next. The system is always hungry and the beasts must be fed.
LOL! THAT'S gonna leave a mark, unless perhaps you're an idiot on DU milk cartons across the nation!
Hear, Hear!
Zimmerman is a political prisoner!
Orwell must be spinning!
STE=Q
You wouldn’t recognize a hero if one walked up to, introduced himself, and kicked you in the nuts.
Love those posters “Vet”!
STE=Q
Bless you & thank you
“Do NWVs have the right to question strange people walking through their (the NWVs) neighborhoods? I’m not a lawyer, but I would think not.”
I’m not trying to call you out specifically, but your statement concerns me! What’s wrong with you people?
A citizen darn well has the right to question strange people walking through their neighborhood, and following them to see what they’re up to, and shooting them dead if they attack them (if the attack, which I am not certain of), or shooting them dead if their life is in jeopardy.
Zimmerman had the right to follow, to ignore the dispatchers suggestion or request, to question Trayvon (if he did). He did not have the right to restrain without clear evidence of criminal activity - and there has been nothing presented that would indicate that he tried to restrain Trayvon.
All the howling about him “disobeying a direct order”, following Trayvon and whatall is pure poppycock. Even the question of whether or not Don’t Back Down is applicable here is used horse fodder. Self defense is the question. If it can be shown that there was a reasonable possibility that Zimmerman legitimately feared for his life, then the law says he must be acquitted - provided that it cannot be shown that he did something illegal to cause the attack.
This means that Zimmerman should be acquitted if he did not illegally provoke the attack even if he did any of the following:
Followed Trayvon
Ignored the directions of the dispatcher
Questioned Trayvon
Told Trayvon to get off the street
Told Trayvon that he had called the police
Accused Trayvon of being a punk and a thief
IF - and the evidence we have indicates this occurred - Trayvon was beating Zimmerman’s head on the sidewalk, then the shooting was justifiable self-defense.
Using his weapon was not a case of stupidly getting into a situation he had to shoot his way out of - it was a case of taking intelligent (and as it appears to have turned out) necessary precaution and protection with him in case he came across someone intent on doing the neighborhood harm and willing to do Zimmerman harm if thwarted in his original purpose. Apparently Zimmerman had sufficient training to leave the scene alive and his alleged assailant dead - which is, after all, the entire purpose of carrying a handgun in that situation in the first place (or should be). Any other purpose would be illegitimate and/or stupid.
From all indications, someone got himself well in over his head...but it wasn’t Zimmerman.
We don’t know what Zimmerman said to Martin. But if you’re out walking close to your home, do as many people as want to have the right to walk up to you and question what you’re doing? Or do you have the right to walk close to your neightborhood without being accosted by other people? Again, we don’t know if Zimmerman said anything to Martin. And whatever he might have said wouldn’t justify Martin attacking him and threatening to kill him if that’s what happened. Again, we have to wait for the evidence to emerge.
You are one of the freepers to whom I sent a copy of HONOR, the screenplay I wrote about the Haditha Marines. I was asked to write it because of my experience with the military. The final scene was used by the Haditha Marines website.
Of all the Freepers who saw the script you were the only one who never even acknowledged receiving it. That was utterly classless but I half expected it.
You also said you were writing a novel...how's it going?
So, I will repeat it here --- you are classless.
First - Martin was not walking close to his home, he was a stranger in the neighborhood and was walking close to his father’s girlfriend’s home.
But - in answer to your question, a person can question anybody’s purpose in any public space at any time if they want to. Repeated questioning could give rise to a request for an injuction - but to question a strange person’s purpose in a gated community that has had frequent robberies in the recent past - seems perfectly normal to me.
BTW - any time I am in a strange neighborhood (particularly, though not necessarily a gated one) and a resident questions my purpose, I respond politely - because I respect their concern for their neighborhood, and recognize that I am the unknown “intruder” in their environ. Such are the actions of peaceful citizens in a peaceful society.
I saw a map that proported to show the path Trayvon took, if it is accurate, it is no wonder Zimmerman was suspicious. If I am a stranger in a neighborhood and I am wandering off of the main road, onto sidewalks and pathways between houses or apartments, I am perfectly prepared for someone to inquire about my business there. I am also not surprised if I notice someone watching my actions closely. AND should I notice such an observer, I take myself quickly and directly to my destination.
Traaon Martin was behaving suspiciously, there may have been good, innocent reasons he was doing so - I am not inferring any motive to his actions, good or bad. But Zimmerman’s known actions were those of a reasonable man in the situation: Recent robberies, NWV, suspicious behavior.
These known actions are:
Identifying Martin’s actions as suspicious
Calling 911 to report the suspicious activity
Keeping an eye on the suspicious stranger
Trying to determine where said stranger went, when he disappeared from view
-GAP IN KNOWLEDGE-
IF the reports of him having his head slammed against the concrete are true, and the evidence seems to support that claim, then it was reasonable to use deadly force at that point.
If there is no more evidence than what is current public knowledge, a jury cannot follow the laws of evidence, presumed innocence and reasonable doubt and not acquit Zimmerman.
For a conviction, there must be:
New evidence of which the public is not aware at this time
Incompetent defense
Improper or incomplete intruction to the jury
Incompetent or unconstrained jury
Under Florida SYG, immunity not acquittal.
Now that prosecutors have brought charges against George Zimmerman, you probably think that a jury is going to hear the facts and decide the case. Think again. Under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, if George Zimmerman can convince a judge that he acted justifiably, he is entitled to immunity from prosecution. That means no jury; no conviction; no jail. Think of it as a big “Get Out of Jail Free” card. It is worth repeating: Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law does not just provide an affirmative defense; it provides immunity. The distinction is extremely significant
He was probably just too polite to tell you that parts of the screenplay were not from "legitimate, reliable sources"...
That ilk cannot comprehend how hard it is to acknowledge receiving something that you didn’t receive. ... And if I actually received it, it was less than memorable to my old brain, obviously.
Sorry sparky...the screenplay was written with the active cooperation of Marines who were there that day andde-classified official documents. BTW...what have you done with your life?
NOYFB, twerp.
Notice its tagline ... living down to its expected level.
So? As you have shown us, one "perceived flaw" causes the whole work to fail, and become illegitimate and unreliable.
I'm sure many could pick out "flaws" in your little hobby piece.
You’re right. My statement was presuming a trial, but there are many things that may happen prior to trial - SYG immunity still being one of them.
LOL! BTW, it sure got offended by your supposed "slight", didn't it?
I'll have to read your "America, We Need To Talk" @ http://porchmaunderings.blogspot.com/
You were polite enough not to go off on me for not knowing it was on The Porch. Thanks.
As I thought...nothing to talk about. and, my hobby, as you call it, earned me enough to retire at fifty...how are you doing?
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