Last night, George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the death of Travyon Martin. Zimmerman's supporters and his detractors will never come to a consensus on his guilt or innocence. However, one thing we should all be able to agree on is that only two people know for sure what happened on the fateful night of February 26, 2012 and one of them isn't in the position to give his side of the story.
One of the sad aspects of this case is how it became a left-right issue. I think it turned into one because of the involvement of the Rev. Al Sharpton and the comments made by President Barack Obama. Just to be clear, I don't think the actions and/or words of these men made it a political issue. It was how these actions and words were interpreted by many on the right which turned it into one. Because many on the right have a dislike/hatred for the Rev. Sharpton and President Obama, I think they automatically took what they perceived to be the opposite side. What many on the right seemed to have missed is that the Rev. Sharpton only became involved after being contacted by the lawyer for Travyon's family. It's not like he was combing the internet and thumbing through newspapers looking for a case in which the victim was black. Also, the Rev. Sharpton took action and President Obama said what he said (only after being asked to comment by a reporter) because they wanted justice to be served... which is perfectly understandable.
"If anybody watching this show -- either live or on the Internet -- doesn’t believe that if an African-American shot a 17-year-old white boy walking through a neighborhood carrying ice tea and Skittles…if they do not believe that an arraignment would be scheduled by the next morning for the African-American shooter and that the white boy’s family would be called immediately…that an office would actually drive to the white boy’s home and sit down with the parents on the couch and console them because they have lost a 17-year-old son. If you don’t believe that this case and the handling of this case by the people in Florida has nothing to do with race, you are living in a fantasy world."- Joe Scarborough, 3/21/12
Here's my question for the righties: If one of your loved ones was killed and the killer was still walking the streets, wouldn't you want some answers?
With the not guilty verdict, the NRA folks must be dancing in the streets. I don't know about you, but I don't feel safe in those streets... especially if I was in Florida. You think I'm kidding?!
