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Trial of George Zimmerman Could Trigger Another Rodney King
The Daily Beast ^ | April 18, 2012 | Mansfield Frazier

Posted on 04/17/2012 11:27:43 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Trayvon Martin’s shooter has a new lawyer. Mansfield Frazier hopes he’s advising his client to take a plea, since a protracted murder trial is the last thing we need.

As George Zimmerman faces murder charges for shooting Trayvon Martin, it’s worth asking if America is in danger of facing Rodney King, Part II?

That’s what I see down the tracks: If this case goes all the way to trial, it’s a train wreck waiting to happen. The time is now for strong hands to take the helm and steady the ship of state—not to mention our national racial, political and legal discourse. The paramount concern has to be to avert a large-scale racial calamity.

As Touré recently wrote, if sane adults are not careful, deliberate and measured in the handling of the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman affair, a dark time could descend upon America.

Look what’s already festering on the streets of Sanford, Florida. On the one hand we’ve got the three stooges of the New Black Panther Party running around Sanford, spouting off crazy ideas and becoming a total embarrassment to more thoughtful and reasoning blacks who simply want justice. On the other we’ve got the equally clownish neo-Nazis, goose-stepping around on their self-appointed mission to protect the white race. In this environment it wouldn’t take much to ignite the racial power keg we’re sitting on. One false or ill-conceived move in this case could allow the loony inmates—not Zimmerman’s current neighbors, but those who are imprisoned by their long-simmering racial hatreds—to fan the incendiary flames of bigotry into full-blown conflagrations of violence across the land.

As someone who watched the King riots unfold from a Los Angeles motel window (and sometimes from the balcony, when we weren’t too afraid to venture out), I’m here to tell you it was a nightmarish time. Thick, acrid black smoke from hundreds of fires hung over the L.A. basin for days as young, armed blacks and Hispanics roared around in open convertibles and jeeps, wearing bandannas and brandishing all sorts of weaponry. We could hear gunfire both in the distance and nearby. Stores that hadn’t been set on fire the first day were looted by the second, and by the third day TV stations were warning of an impending food shortage. A body lay in the gutter on Crenshaw Boulevard for the better part of two days before National Guard troops removed it.

We don’t want to go back there. Fortunately Zimmerman’s new attorney, Mark O’Mara, appears to comprehend the broader implications and potential danger of the situation, and seems well qualified to negotiate a fair outcome for his client, and indeed for the rest of us. He has the calm demeanor of a law professor, and speaks in measured, but not calculating, terms. His first comments seemed designed not to convince anyone of his client’s innocence, but rather to take the heated rhetoric down a few notches. He cautioned that everyone should allow the justice system to work.

So what would a fair outcome look like? To my mind, the government offers Zimmerman a plea deal that has him back on the street within this decade, and he accepts it quietly. That seems like a conclusion most reasonable Americans could live with. Of course, no matter how long or short any sentence may be, there will be those who disagree, some vehemently.

If O’Mara were successful in brokering such a resolution, he should be viewed as nothing less than a savior. A protracted murder trial of George Zimmerman is the last thing this country needs right now. America can only dodge so many racial bullets, and a not-guilty verdict in this case could very easily turn the racial cold war into a very hot one.

Of course, for such a plea scenario to work, Zimmerman will need to listen more to O’Mara than to any of the other voices clamoring for a piece of him. He’s in isolation right now, presumably for his own safety, but a side benefit is that it keeps the more rabid right-wingers from getting inside his head and convincing him to take the case to trial, based on the belief that no matter what the evidence shows, in Florida at least one juror will never vote to convict. Unfortunately, this reasoning is not crazy. The South, after all, is still the South.

But after a few weeks of isolation and the counsel of O’Mara, Zimmerman may decide going to trial isn’t in his best interest. If O’Mara is as savvy as he seems, he will probably inform his client of the stark legal facts: The state overcharged him with murder 2 for two reasons: it’s a bargaining chip to force him to accept a lesser charge, and a means to keep him locked up pretrial. The way the legal system is designed, it’s difficult for someone being held in custody to win acquittal. Even if he went to trial and managed to get a hung jury, the state would surely retry him (multiple times, if necessary), until they get a conviction or he’s spent more time in the county lockup than he would have spent in prison if he’d just pleaded guilty in the first place. And even if he were acquitted, let’s not forget the specter of a federal indictment being handed down.

In all of this, the upcoming bail hearing is key: If the judge doesn’t grant bail, Zimmerman had better start listening real intently to his lawyer.

The wild card is his father, Robert, who has so far sounded like a knee-jerk far-right ideologue. In an interview he said, "I never foresaw so much hate coming from the president, the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP," and this was before Obama said anything about the case! It will be virtually impossible to keep Robert Zimmerman away from his son, which means he’ll have ample opportunity to whisper Stand Your Ground rhetoric into his ear, possibly ginning up Zimmerman’s courage and convincing him to go to trial in spite of the danger of being convicted.

We all need to pray that Mark O’Mara is successful in bringing about a fair outcome for his client, for justice, and, more important, for America.



TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cw2; cwii; florida; georgezimmerman; raceriots; racewar; trayvonmartin; zimmerman
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To: lentulusgracchus
I noticed that they incorrectly placed a Roman soldier in there, but otherwise it was the best painting I found that made my point. BTW, have you ever read any of the Casca series by the late Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler, and if so, did they amuse or infuriate you?
161 posted on 04/18/2012 2:07:34 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (Ich habe keinen Konig aber Gott)
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To: PoesRaven2

Here’s the thing though: They’re not the masses! Blacks make up, at best, 12% of the population of the United States. How in the world does such a small minority dictate anything to the majority? My late father’s generation wouldn’t have knuckled under to this nonsense, nor any before that. Why do we? We haven’t been disarmed! We are the largest army on the face of the Earth!

What Good Can a Handgun Do Against An Army?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/2312894/posts


162 posted on 04/18/2012 2:14:18 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (Ich habe keinen Konig aber Gott)
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To: ridesthemiles

My late father had just retired from the Marines and was working a construction job in Watts when it all started. Said it was the worst situation he’d ever been in. He was in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War!


163 posted on 04/18/2012 2:26:17 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (Ich habe keinen Konig aber Gott)
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To: Dedbone
Zim should plead guilty to littering for failure to police his brass.

I believe I read his brass was still chambered. That's been cited as evidence two guys were fighting over the weapon, interfering with its cartridge ejection mechanism.

164 posted on 04/18/2012 2:54:16 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: cynwoody

interesting.

so the rumors are:

brass was still in the gun (assuming an automatic)
the shot entered from below and traveled at an angle up and out the upper back.
the fight happened in the back of houses
the person shot staggered to the back of houses
it was not raining
it was raining

this mob conclusion is as clear as mud.


165 posted on 04/18/2012 3:11:22 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
No, I hadn't heard of that series. Wasn't Barry Sadler the guy who wrote "Ballad of the Green Berets"?
166 posted on 04/18/2012 4:38:21 PM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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To: mrsmel
We are still the majority for a while. If we're ever going to act in concert, it needs to be soon.

That holds true for a wide range of cultural issues: time is running out.

167 posted on 04/18/2012 4:43:12 PM PDT by DNA.2012
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
How in the world does such a small minority dictate anything to the majority?

By controlling fungible, swingable, corruptible boxes in the biggest cities, and a 95% straight-ticket voting bloc. For how that works, metasearch on "Richard Daley", "Sam Giancana", and "Chicago 1960".

Power, man. Like Stalin said -- it's who counts the votes.

168 posted on 04/18/2012 4:43:32 PM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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To: mrsmel
They say they are anti-racist. What they are is anti-White. Anti-racist is a code word for anti-White.

True, but will a majority of Whites publicly acknowledge that before they become a disempowered minority?

169 posted on 04/18/2012 5:01:23 PM PDT by DNA.2012
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To: MrB; PapaBear3625
if you appease them, they’ll just demand more.

Ever see the movie "Judgment Night"?

Remember what happened to the Ray Cochran (played by Jeremy Piven) character?

170 posted on 04/18/2012 7:18:08 PM PDT by thecodont
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To: PoesRaven2

I was being sarcastic...


171 posted on 04/18/2012 8:10:12 PM PDT by LadyDoc
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To: Robert Drobot

“The prosecutor is seeking her ‘fifteen minutes’, and should be reprimanded by the court for her cheap attempt to use the court...”

The prosecutor is seeking her ‘fifteen minutes,’ and should be (disbarred and jailed) for her cheap attempt to use the court...


172 posted on 04/18/2012 9:00:32 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: lentulusgracchus

“By controlling fungible, swingable, corruptible boxes in the biggest cities”

Sorry for my iggernunce, but I don’t know what you mean by “boxes.”

“metasearch”

Is it ok to try that at home?

“Like Stalin said — it’s who counts the votes.”

Crucial. We should all be trying to light a fire under our local RINOs to implement effective poll-watching procedures. Which is to say, democrat thwarting procedures.


173 posted on 04/18/2012 9:24:09 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: dsc
Oh, I understands .... but "ignert" (how we say it in Texuss) don't cut it in life.

"Boxes" = ballot boxes. "Metasearch" is to search using an engine that engages multiple search bots, like Dogpile (Ask.com, Google, Yahoo!, others) -- instead of a single bot like Bing! or Hotbot or Lycos Search.

174 posted on 04/18/2012 11:38:07 PM PDT by lentulusgracchus
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To: PapaBear3625

THAT was my point: I was being sarcastic. Convicting a man who is innocent to stop a riot may make sense to leftists, but for Christians, putting a utilitarian reason as more important than a person’s life is blasphemy.


175 posted on 04/19/2012 1:20:47 AM PDT by LadyDoc
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To: lentulusgracchus

Mighty neighborly of you. Thank you very kindly.


176 posted on 04/19/2012 10:38:33 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: DNA.2012

“True, but will a majority of Whites publicly acknowledge that before they become a disempowered minority?”

As Samuel Adams said, “…it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds…”


177 posted on 04/19/2012 10:41:11 PM PDT by dsc (Any attempt to move a government to the left is a crime against humanity.)
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To: MrB

Hey MrB, I believe in what you are saying. It is time to cut this nonsense out and let the fools get violent. This rioting will not last long, and America can get back on course, after we dump the marxist in chief in Nov..


178 posted on 04/20/2012 12:18:37 PM PDT by No Surrender No Retreat
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

So what would a fair outcome look like? To my mind, the government offers Zimmerman a plea deal that has him back on the street within this decade, and he accepts it quietly. That seems like a conclusion most reasonable Americans could live with. Of course, no matter how long or short any sentence may be, there will be those who disagree, some vehemently.


Okay. We will let you have zimmerman’s skin for a decade in exchange for 1000 innocent black skinned men who were involved in churning up the hate and responsible to the lynching of innocent whites across the Nation getting even for Trayvon. Sounds “fair” to me in the context of this racist’s deal making.


179 posted on 04/21/2012 6:08:36 PM PDT by SaraJohnson
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To: Jack Hammer
February 26 is almost two months ago. Since Trayvon's death, probably 1000 or more black Americans have been killed by other black Americans, but no one is worked up over those victims...only about this one case because Zimmerman was originally reported as "white."

With the facts as they appear to be, if Zimmerman had any African ancestry, this guy would not be calling for him to spend the better part of 10 years in prison for defending himself. It's just that he is a "white-Hispanic" and therefore should be locked up.

180 posted on 04/21/2012 7:27:30 PM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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