BOY IN THE HOODIE

A guy walks into a bar. he pulls out a gun and shoots at his grandma who is drinking in the corner. He misses. Granma pulls out her gun and shoots back, she misses. The guy shoots his grandma dead and tells the police that because she shot at him, he feared for his life and shot her in self defense. he gets off Scot free.

Thought this was going to be a joke? Well it is -only the joke is on us. When did 'stand your ground' become 'chase them down' anyway? How the hell can you start a fight, and when that fight goes badly for you, you decide to shoot your way out of it and then claim self defense? Zimmerman shouldn't have been allowed to use the 'stand your ground' law, it should have applied to Martin; he was the innocent person minding his own business and doing absolutely nothing at all wrong. He was the one being stalked  and harassed by a gun toting maniac. Since the law says you only have to think someone is going to hurt you, I think that qualifies. Martin even did more than the law requires when he tried to get away from Zimmerman, who himself said Martina ran away from him. (he realized that didn't sound so good for a self defense case and changed it to 'skipping away' WTF?)

The most damning evidence against Zimmerman, beside the dead teenager's body- is his own words which he could not keep straight. Despite the fact that Hannity slow pitched leading questions, all but answering them for him for best defense results. When Hannity asked when he went for his gun Zimmerman actually said "At this point it wasn't MY GUN or HIS GUN, it was THE GUN." as if he wasn't responsible for bringing the gun into this. Like it was just THERE, flaoting in the air maybe and they both had an equal chance at it.  How were Zimmerman's lawyers allowed to say that Martin was NOT an unarmed teenager because he hit Zimmerman's head against the ground? Is the whole world a weapon? if so, we're all armed all the time.

The whole process favored Zimmerman from the beginning. They drug tested the murder victim, but not they guy who shot him? The police were more than happy to just take his word for the whole thing. It took six weeks for him to be arrested or charged with anything.

To add massive insult to injury, Zimmerman's lawyer said that the very idea of prosecuting his client was "disgusting". Then he said he it was sad (and for a second I thought he would slightly redeem himself by saying it was sad that someone had died, but no. . .) that "It took this long to get Zimmerman the justice he deserved." TOTAL DOUCHE.
One more symbol of just what they are Zimmerman said in his interview with Hannity that "He had NO REGRETS about what happened that night." That he didn't want to second guess God's plan. God's plan? God's plan was for him to kill an innocent unarmed teenager and get away with it?

And finally, the irony of ironies, in the 911 tape after accusing Martin of "looking suspicious" and "acting like he was on drugs"  just two among many wild assumptions. You can hear him get one thing right when he complains that "the bad guys always get away..."

© C. Erich Dunne  july twenty-thirteen

TRICK FOR CHEATS addendum

Democrats and liberals are so busy celebrating the victory they've already declared on social media sites, they haven't noticed that they are getting their asses kicked on the state and local levels. That's the tealibans new plan, change the nation one state at a time. Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio, North Carolina have already fallen. The first thing they do is redraw voting districts to ensure democrats are never in charge again. The fact that Scoot Walker survived his recall vote is proof enough of that. The only hope for this country is for a lot of conservative voters to wake up and realize the GOP is not on their side, that they don't care about their God, their religion, their values, or their future. All they want to do is dismantle the government so their wealthy masters can rule this country like kings.

SHARIA FLAW

ALEC must be hard at work again. Anytime you see state after state introducing extremely similar bills in rapid succession, you can bet ALEC is behind it.

This time around Tealiban politicians all across the nation are introducing into their various state houses legislation  banning Sharia law. Is this even necessary? Have I missed something, has there been a mad rush to pass Sharia in this country? Did we suddenly elect a majority extremist Muslim congress while I was taking a nap? Even if there were such a movement doesn't the Constitution already take care of this? I can't image there being very much in Sharia law that would pass Constitutional muster, or is the whole thing an exercise in religious intolerance; freedom of religion just so long as it's my religion?

It's just another distraction by conservative politicians who conjure up an imagined threat to pander to the fearful and the hateful, and delude their Tealiban followers into believing that they are doing something great to protect the country.  Just like when they keep proposing to make English the "official" language of the United States. Also when they mandate mandatory sentences for non-violent drug offenses. Or confiscate the cars of d.u.i. drivers for education money, and last and definitely least, baggy pants laws.

All of those are examples of policies that sound like good ideas to the average idiot, but don't stand up to close scrutiny. I've covered Sharia already, so lets move on. English as the official language. English is the overwhelmingly dominate language in the United States. Almost all business and government function are conducted in English and that is not likely to change. The purpose of this law is to separate us from them. To make sure they know this is our country, and we don't tolerate differences, if they want to live here they're gonna have to be just like us. I always thought if this nation had an official language it should be along the lines of Sioux or Navajo -it was their country first.

Mandatory sentences sound good to the law and order (I like to see people mercilessly punished) crowd. Keeps those pussy bleeding heart judges from being too lenient. Until of course you realize you're going to have to let violent robbers, rapists and murders out of prison to make room for all the weed dealers. Plus I've never liked the whole idea of mandatory anything. You can never foresee all of the circumstances or consequences of your own actions much less anyone else's. Justice should be meted out by humane reason, not an exceptionless set in stone rule book. There can be no justice so long as rules are absolute.

School systems loved and pushed this one. People convicted of DWI, DUI's would have their vehicles confiscated and sold, the money going to schools. I imagine they thought they would be getting Mercedes', Lexus', and BMW's. Not realizing of course that anyone who could afford a nice car could therefore most likely afford a nice lawyer as well. And there is nothing easier for a nice lawyer to beat than a traffic offense especially when the cops are too busy with released violent criminals (see above) to spend all day in court for a traffic ticket. So all the schools got were twenty year old beaters that the owners didn't care about or couldn't afford regular car maintenance, much less even a bad lawyer. So the whole thing ended up costing them money. The rich got their cars back, the poor didn't. They couldn't sell the junkers they got and had to pay for their storage.

Baggy pants laws. This is more of a local issue, but every so often I hear another councilman proposing an ordinance to outlaw baggy or sagging pants. I'll admit nothing looks more retarded than some idiot with his pants below his ass walking around having to hold them up with one hand by the belt. (yes most of them I've seen do have belts, which they can't use and still be able to walk) Is this what we want our overworked police doing with their time instead of catching criminals? Is this what we want our overburdened courts dealing with all day? Fashion? This is America everyone has the right to dress however they like, Even if it is stupid as hell. If you don't believe me then you've never been to Wal-Mart.

Like i said, they propose policies that they know will sooth and calm the fearful, and appeal to the desires of  the hateful. It is nothing more than a distraction and waste of time and resources.

© C. Erich Dunne  july, twenty-thirteen.

TRICKS FOR CHEATS

Christians have a saying that goes; "The Devil's greatest trick is to convince people that he doesn't exist." Republicans have a trick of their own. They have convinced millions of people that the only voice they have, the only source of power and protection, their only means for justice and fairness, the institutions of government and the courts, is not only their greatest enemy, but an unprecedented threat to their future and their freedom.
They believe that getting rid of the government will make them freer. In fact, I believe the exact opposite is true. The power held by the government will not disappear with government, it will simply transfer to those that have the only other means for power; money. This means that decisions about labor, the environment, education, healthcare, and a whole host of other issue that will affect everyone will be made by the extremely wealthy and their corporations. Under this system average people will have no say in those decisions that will impact them the most. there will be no one to vote out of office for not representing you.
Litigation will not be an option either. By then the courts will be powerless to stand up for your rights. Under the guise of "tort reform" If they cannot take away your right to sue altogether, they will make it pointless to sue by severely limiting the amount of damages that you could collect, or the degree of responsibility corporations can be made to answer for.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a supposed non-profit which writes model legislation that promotes a corporate agenda for it's members nationwide. These model bills are voted on in secret at posh resorts with legislators and corporate executives having equal say. If agreed to they are then distributed and introduced into state governments across the country. ALEC also has a hit list of federal departments that it would like to see eliminated, including, but not limited to; the Departments of education, environmental protection, energy, commerce, labor, as well as the FBI and CIA. Their ultimate goal is to shrink government and it's power, and to privatize as many of it's functions as possible to maximize profit. Their greed is limitless, they desire is to own and rule everything unchallenged. Becoming the new lords of the land while the average citizen lives as a serf, working their lands and paying them tribute. They believe this outcome is their God given right.
We need these agencies and a strong federal government. It is far too easy for a corporation, some special interests, or even an extremely wealthy individual to control a smaller entity like a single state. Only by combining our voices and looking out for one another on a national basis can we stand up for ourselves and our future. Some things are too important to be operated for profit and have to be left to the public sector or democracy will truly be lost.

© C. Erich Dunne  june, twenty-thirteen.