The Daily Caller:
Former NAACP leader C.L. Bryant is accusing Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton of “exploiting” the Trayvon Martin tragedy to “racially divide this country.”
“His family should be outraged at the fact that they’re using this child as the bait to inflame racial passions,” Rev. C.L. Bryant said in a Monday interview with The Daily Caller.
The conservative black pastor who was once the chapter president of the Garland, Texas NAACP called Jackson and Sharpton “race hustlers” and said they are “acting as though they are buzzards circling the carcass of this young boy.”
Let’s look at this story from another vantage point. If it weren’t for Al Sharpton, where would this story even be? Where was it before March 5 when Al Sharpton got wind of it? It was nowhere. Not even a blip on the radar.
I think it is fair to say that Al Sharpton is a black leader, as is Jesse Jackson. I haven’t heard much out of Jackson but I have followed Al Sharpton. He has gotten much more mainstream in recent years and I have certainly seen him temper his remarks a great deal more than he used to. Isn’t it perfectly normal for black leaders to come out and address issues involving black people? That’s sort of what happens with subsets of people. The women’s groups have their leaders, the Christian groups have their leaders, the Tea Party has its leaders, the gays have their leaders. and so forth.
The Reverend Sharpton has picked up the banner. He quoted his mother: If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. Sharpton’s mother passed away last week. He continued on this case. He said his mother would have expected him to do so. Had it not been for people like Al Sharpton, this story would have never seen the light of day, especially if the Sanford Police Department had anything to say about it. Don’t forget, they kept Trayvon Martin as a John Doe for 3 days.
Something is very much wrong with this story. We don’t know what happened because none of us were there. However, people seem to be clearly on one ‘side’ or the other. it appears to be breaking right along party lines. I never thought dead kids and shooters would have political charges. The break isn’t along racial lines as much as one would think, at least with white people. Oddly enough, the Hispanic community appears to be relatively quiet on the matter.
There appears to be a cover up. Let’s get to the bottom on it. The old thread has reached 100. Let’s move things here.
I am going to go out on a limb and speculate. After seeing this latest video footage, it seems that George had some friends on the force. What are the chances that some of George’s friends did a little cover up to protect George after he made a really horrible mistake and shot a kid? What are the chances that the Sanford Police Department is ready to explode? Something happened that was not normal. We need to find out the truth, past all the celebrities, past all the black panthers, past all the civil rights leaders. Something is rotten in the state of Florida.
As I understand it, the feds initiated their investigation before Al got involved.
Various agencies are investigating the incident. Until those investigations are complete, we should all take a deep breath and relax.
Good morning, Starry. I am just amazed that this sad incident is falling down along party lines. I am not sure why I am amazed. My roots should make me well aware of this phenomena.
Where are Zimmerman’s cuts, bruises and broken nose? He certainly looks in decent shape to me.
There are no medical reports.
The lead investigator wanted to charge Zimmerman. Why didn’t that happen?
The continual efforts to make a man walking around with a .9mm and more than 100 pounds heavier than Trayvon Martin a victim are shameless.
Ok I am going to ignore the suggestion made here of a police conspiracy and instead agree with you that maybe the Rev Al and Jesse have a plan. If you trust these two to be more than racial ambulance chasers, consider that vastly more young black men are killed by other young black men and that more white and hispanic men are killed by young black men that any combination of vis versa. You have heard the statistics, so what to do. It could – could – be that the Rev Al and Jesse have jumped onto this case in no small part because they have been unable to get the government, the Obama Justice Dept., the media and the black community itself to react to or get engergized about the black on black crime and hope to turn the energy here to that issue. Now that would be important if Zimmerman is not taken as a scapegoat in the meantime.
I have never suggested that Jackson or Sharpton have a plan. I try not to think about Jesse Jackson.
Actually, it is very possible to look at this situation without fixating on either of those 2.
I don’t particularly care about Zimmerman being any one thing or the other. How many black kids kill other black kids is not really an issue here, is it? Zimmerman is neither. Do I think he made a racial slur, sure. Do I think he is a racist? I have no idea. He could have just been showing off. I don’t necessarily think words alone make someone a racist.
Do I think there has been a cover up for a shooting. Absolutely. Something went down that shouldn’t have. There are bad actors in every profession.
Blue, look at what has been said and by whom. Which goal post keeps changing? Which one remains stationary?
Are you sure you aren’t letting your feelings about Sharpton and Jackson cloud your feelings on this issue? I have accused my husband of that. The more they are in the picture, the more he is going into thuggery mode with Martin. That’s really too bad.
@Moon-howler
LOL, Listen to your husband woman!
Why should I start doing that now? He can be an insufferable blowhard.
There is talk of a hate crime charge. I think that is overkill.
I don’t think it is a hate crime.
Yeah, this train went totally off the rails a while ago. We’ve got Spike Lee (major Obama supporter/donor) tweeting the address of a 70+ year old couple to all his followers, scaring them out of their house…..talk of a hate crime. This thing is just totally hosed.
Pokie, it really doesn’t matter who Spike Lee supports or doesn’t support. How do you think it matters who he supports? Spike Lee does something most of us think is wrong. Does it matter if he votes or doesn’t vote and what is the connection? None. It really just sounds stupid when you try to denigrate Obama in such a left handed way. Just come out and take a clear shot to the chin. Its more manly.
Do you think it is odd that Spike Lee supports Obama? How do you know it does? Would you think it was odd if he supported Mitt Romney?
Who hosed this case? I think that is becoming increasingly obvious. Trayvon Martin is dead. His parents was justice. Understandable. George Zimmerman is scrambling for his life. His family wants their son not to go to prison. Understandable. That is what all parents would want.
Check out the police department. This was totally mishandled.
Spike Lee ought to pay for protection for that couple and he ought to pay for protection of the real Zimmerman house. 2 wrongs don’t make a right.
I expect George is not in the country. Would you be?
Sure it does.
How? What would you do if he supported Mitt Romney? You are so full of it.
Justin Beiber also deserves a spanking for what he did to the Dallas grandmother. Tens of thousands of phone calls to her house.
I wonder who he supports for president? He is a Canadian but hell, that doesn’t matter. I bet he likes Obama also.
“Check out the police department. This was totally mishandled.”
Was it the police department or the prosecutors office that “mishandled” this? I mean, at first we were told that he wasn’t even arrested and just went home. Now we have video showing he was indeed arrested and let go when the story checked and the prosecutors office declined to prosecute.
So, who “messed” up?
BTW, classy of ABCNews to release the name of the 13 year old witness that sided with Zimmerman. Very, very classy.
Marin, you got me on the police dept vs prosecutors office. I don’t know. Someone between the two messed up. Are we sure Zimmerman was arrested? He could have just been brought in for questioning.
As for the 13 year old, his mother spoke with her attorney present. She might have given permission. I don’t think it was classless if she said yes./.
A boy is dead. We know who killed him. We aren’t fully informed of the circumstances of the killing, but it at least seems clear that the tragedy could have been averted if Mr. Zimmerman had left the matter for attention by the Police. I think that’s about as far as we can go with this for now. There were two direct witnesses. One of them is dead. The other is not disinterested.
Good morning, Scout. Good to see you.
Your words set off the demons in my head. I have a friend who reads here regularly. Her son is prison. He made a horrible split-second decision and shot his sister’s significant other. In that instant that it takes to pull a trigger, children lost a father. A young woman lost her significant other, his family lost a son, he lost his freedom and the dead man’s family lost a son/brother/uncle forever. The dead man’s children saw their father die.
This tragedy didn’t evolve out of a bad drug deal or a crime ridden neighborhood. It evolved out of poor decision-making at a critical time and someone thinking a gun was the answer.
I was raised my entire life around firearms of some sort. I have always been a gun owner. I have never been a gun carrier. The guns have always been kept very far away from the human beings in my house. I don’t trust myself in those split second decision. If I don’t trust me, why should I trust you to have better judgement in an emergency.
I don’t believe George Zimmerman is a bad person for one minute. I think George Zimmerman made a horrible mistake–one he cannot take back or redo. He wouldn’t have made that mistake if he hadn’t been packing heat.
That is a lot of loss as a result of just a few seconds of bad decision.
This is an interview with Chris Tutko, former Manassas City Police Chief, explains clearly that Neighborhood Watch members are trained NOT to be armed – not even mace.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44258842/vp/46840388#46840388
I’ll take Tutko’s advice about not being armed, write it down on toilet paper and use it in the way I think it deserves to be used…..
He said Neighborhood Watch people weren’t to be armed on Neighborhood Watch. He said nothing about being armed in general, that I am aware of. If you can’t go by the rules of Neighborhood Watch then you shouldn’t join. Seems simple to me.
I actually don’t feel the need to be armed.
@Cindy B
Without even reading it, I would guess because jurisdictions don’t want the legal and moral responsibility of people they haven’t trained when they screw up.
@Cindy B
Actually, I heard Capt. Tutko when this aired. He was a good chief of police, in my opinion.
@marin (de-personalize this)
Here is my problem with people walking around armed. You think you have good judgement. I don’t know you or about your judgement. I also don’t know about your stability. Therefore, being around you makes it uncomfortable and even dangerous for me.
If you come swaggering in Starbucks, then I have to leave. I don’t know you. I don’t know your judgement.
Surely all gun owners can understand this.
“You think you have good judgement. I don’t know you or about your judgement. I also don’t know about your stability. Therefore, being around you makes it uncomfortable and even dangerous for me.”
Sort of like.. I don’t know. Wearing a hoodie? at night?
“Actually, I heard Capt. Tutko when this aired. He was a good chief of police, in my opinion.”
I’m pretty sure the organization he’s a part of wants to disarm every law abiding citizen they can… They want to take our guns away. Big Brady Bunch supporters.
Remember, he has no issue without y’all being armed but he gets to keep his weapon.
I think you are speaking out of turn about Capt. Tutko. I used to deal with him rather frequently when he was C.O.P. here. I never felt he had any sort of agenda at all other than to enforce the laws of CoM and Virginia. I know why Neighborhood Watch doesn’t want their folks armed. I don’t blame them.
Talking about wearing a hoodie is actually a very prejudicial statement. Kids all over everywhere wear hoodies. They are the style and they have been for over a decade. I would venture to say 95% of all hoodie wearers are totally innocent.
Wearing a hoodie has very little to do with using judgement. Carrying a gun demands that you are 100% in good judgement 100% of the time. All it takes is 1 nano second of bad judgement.
“I think you are speaking out of turn about Capt. Tutko.”
Maybe but if the organization he’s in a leadership position with aligns themselves with those that want to take away our freedom and liberty..
“Talking about wearing a hoodie is actually a very prejudicial statement. Kids all over everywhere wear hoodies. They are the style and they have been for over a decade. I would venture to say 95% of all hoodie wearers are totally innocent.”
Right. What I’ve pointed out is that you have no issue prejudicing a person because of something they’re wearing – a firearm – and then cannot understand that someone might feel the same way about a youth in a hoodie.
“Wearing a hoodie has very little to do with using judgement.”
I actually agree with you on that but not for the reason you think.. Wearing a hoodie at night may not be the best judgement as we’ve seen.
We have discussed that. I would advise my kid not to also. It isn’t because I am being flattering about the human race, however.
I don’t think we can equate wearing a gun to anything else. It is what it is. A wrong decision with a gun cannot be taken back. It isn’t like wearing eye shadow, tennis shoes, or turquoise.
How does one determine what an organization believes?
I believe determining when and where a person has a gun outside of his or her own home is not abridging anyone’s rights–just so you know. Tell me no guns in churches, bars, etc….I won’t argue.
“I believe determining when and where a person has a gun outside of his or her own home is not abridging anyone’s rights–just so you know. Tell me no guns in churches, bars, etc….I won’t argue.”
Sort of like a sign that says, “Whites Only”, right?
@marin that makes no sense. there are limits to gun rights. Like it or not.
“the tragedy could have been averted if Mr. Zimmerman had left the matter for attention by the Police” Presumably true, but irrelevant to the “Stand Your Ground” law.