Can someone spoon-feed BS to the media and sucker them into believing it? Well, watch this TV newscast from California after the recent crash of a Korean airliner in San Francisco, and tell me what you think…
Something similar happened in the Zimmerman case. The family of the deceased, understandably filled with grief and anger that their unarmed son had been shot to death by a man never arrested for it, hired Attorney Benjamin Crump. Crump in turn brought in a high-powered public relations firm associated with left wing political causes, as reported by the Washington Post: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-04-12/lifestyle/35450681_1_trayvon-martin-story-george-zimmerman-unarmed-teenager .
The story fed to the press would outrage anyone…and, predictably, it outraged everyone. The family provided a picture of Trayvon at age 12 or 13, which the media ran with the ugliest picture of Zimmerman they could find. The meme of a huge armed adult “stalking” a “helpless child” was born fully grown, to a Godzilla-like size. It loomed over America unopposed. The investigating officers and the State’s Attorney’s Office knew that the evidence showed something else: Zimmerman attacked by Martin, who towered over him, beat him to the ground, clearly smacked his head into the concrete, and might have even gone for his gun. But cops and good lawyers don’t try their cases in the press, and no voice rose loud enough with the facts to drown out the roar of the fantasy.
We can only imagine Zimmerman’s own emotional turmoil at that time. Like many Americans in their twenties, he was not yet fixed on a career and far from his peak earning years: the cost of hiring attorneys must have been terribly intimidating. He did not stay in touch with his original attorney, Craig Sonner – who, I thought, had an excellent grasp of the case and would have done very well for him – and Sonner and his co-counsel had nothing to work with. By the time Zimmerman had retained Mark O’Mara, the false perception had become a national reality. While O’Mara did an excellent job of trying to get the truth to the public, it was too late: his voice was simply drowned out by the media’s “all Trayvon, all the time” crusade against his client.
The egregious editing of the dispatch tape by one major network, and the false report by another claiming that Zimmerman’s clearly visible, well-documented head injuries were non-existent, will be taught as warnings in journalism school for evermore. I expect that legal settlements by those networks in the suits brought by Zimmerman will be huge.
One function of the grand jury is to reassure the public that a case has been investigated and the evidence evaluated. The State’s Attorney of jurisdiction, Norm Wolfinger, had a reputation for being both tough and fair, and had already scheduled this matter to go before the grand jury in the next session, when he stepped away from the case, apparently at the request of Governor Rick Scott, who appointed Angela Corey as special prosecutor. It was necessary to show an outraged public that their anger had found receptive ears.
When Ms. Corey announced that she would bypass the grand jury, it was clear to any criminal justice professional that she was going to indict him on her own, via an offer of information. There is generally one reason why a chief prosecutor will take a case away from a grand jury: the prosecutor wants an indictment and doesn’t think a grand jury that has heard the evidence will deliver one.
At this point, the die was cast. The show trial was inevitable, and America had experienced a triumph of propaganda that would have been worthy of Joseph Goebbels or Josef Stalin. Even today, after the opportunity to watch three weeks of intensive trial broadcast live minute by minute which brought much of the truth to light, a majority of Americans seem to be ignorant of the facts and still convinced that a self-appointed vigilante racially profiled a black child and murdered him. Never mind that the facts in evidence clearly showed otherwise.
When that TV station in California realized they had been pranked on the “Sum Ting Wong” broadcast, they admitted it and apologized. The mass media, sadly, has not done the same in the Zimmerman matter.
Can anyone now say the Zimmerman trail, was anythig more than “COVER UP, KANGAROO COURT, AND RAIL ROAD JOB”, all roled into one?
BTW, I laughed my ass off, when that San Franciso TV News “Talking Head so gravely read off those obviously phoney oriental Pilots, supposed official names (Something Wrong, We are Too Low, Holy FxxK, Bang, Ding Owhie”.
Gues “Stupid is, as Stupid Does”?
When that TV station in California realized they had been pranked on the “Sum Ting Wong” broadcast, they admitted it and apologized. The mass media, sadly, has not done the same in the Zimmerman matter.
AND THEY NEVER WILL…Till guns are gone and self-defense is a phone call away for everyone…as in it will be unlawful to resist any attack against you or yours….unless of coarse you are a paid enforcer for the ‘government’…controlled by progressives….imho
That news video on utube goes to show you that these talking heads are just that, a mouth and a teleprompter. Kind of like our Prez, come to think of it.
Thanks Mas, for what you have been doing to keep us informed. Unfortunately, some people are still convinced that GZ was stalking TM and was just looking for an excuse to use his gun. These people know what they know and will never listen to any thing else.
As a Florida voter who has previously voted for Rick Scott, it will be interesting to see the political fallout from the decision to name a special prosecutor. This was a rotten case from the beginning and the hype surrounding it has certainly hurt race relations since the verdict.
Relations between the African-American population and the Hispanic population have been strained for years and this issue has put everyone on edge. Having Mr Obama give his opinion was certainly unwelcome.
And wasn’t Sanford police chief Lee fired and replaced by Smith, an African-American? Wasn’t detective Serino demoted and/or forced to go back to patrol? Didn’t MOM state that he had filed like 7 complaints against the prosecution team for misconduct? Seems to me that the fallouts and lawsuits stemming from this witch hunt/media lynching are FAR from over. Heads should roll; people should pay big bucks.
I thought the OJ trial was a farce, but political interference to keep someone out of jail and prevent citywide rioting is easier to accept than what was done to Zimmerman.
Hard to believe that Scott and Corey are republicans, but we all know from how high the pressure was coming down.
You’re right , Mas, just as every politician knows, stick to your lies and keep repeating them and people will buy. Just two days ago I stupidly got into an argument over this case and got to hear from a Hollywood actress who shall remain nameless that “this poor kid had done nothing wrong and was just headed home to a game when he was gunned down” along with the nonsense “couldn’t he have talked to the kid, or maybe shot him in the leg or something?”. After all we know now this is RIDICULOUS fairy tale material, and yet intelligent (ahem) people can’t compute. The emotional reaction overrides all else.
I now understand MOM’s soft and unthreatening delivery during his closing arguments, and his softball approach to Trayvon-bashing. With an all-female jury, and knowing now the verdict rendered, it was the right call. I had thought him to be unimpressive and too subdued, but changed my mind.
Another great article, Mas. I’ve been on any number of websites with stories about the case and there are so many people who just won’t admit the facts. The last one I heard was GZ was chasing TM with his gun out and TM “stood his ground”!!!
Just about every broadcast I see about this case shows the smiling 12 yo Martin, they’re still pushing it, and they won’t stop. I’ve become convinced that the media want a race war. When they realized that the case was going against them, they started predicting nation-wide rioting if Zimmerman wasn’t convicted. When that didn’t occur, they’ve continued trying to stir up some kind of trouble. They are angry that the jury disagreed with their conviction of Zimmerman. What made them even angrier is that the jury was all women, and women are supposed to be reliably on the leftist plantation along with blacks, Hispanics, Jews and gays. How dare they run off from the plantation.
The American public is wide open to be made fools of by the liberal press and academia.
Mr. Zimmerman’s case shines bright and in the minds of gullible public he will forever be a savage murderer.
The American public sucked up the story that the United States lost the Vietnam war, that again was a load of horse hockey.
Our media and academia are our worst enemies.
The reason why there were no riots after the Zimmerman verdict is because people are scared. Even the low-info crowd can sense it. The Obama Administration wanted mass anarchy and cities burning. They wanted it so bad that they could taste it. Because that would mean instant Martial Law.
The entire country would look like Boston after the Marathon bombing. Jack-booted thugs marching through every neighborhood in America. Smashing windows to gain access to your home. Shooting your dog. Demanding that you surrender your firearms under threat of death. And that would have been the beginning of the end of America.
When the black community showed restraint and common sense, Obama went on TV with a clumsy attempt at race-baiting. It didn’t work, because everybody can see right through him.
What is it with the left they don’t want facts. It is all very predictable Israel, global warming , George Zimmerman etc.
Years form now at schools they will be studying this case about how a “white man” got away with murder.
Quote,…” will be taught as warnings in journalism school for evermore.”
Given our post-modern J-schools, it will be taught as a context of how to better cover up lies from here on out.
Quote, “I expect that legal settlements by those networks in the suits brought by Zimmerman will be huge.” Probably, but these are multi-billion dollar corporations; for them the suites will be mere pocket change.
Quote, “It was necessary to show an outraged public that their anger had found receptive ears.”
Where I come from, this is called “MOB RULE”.
to Alonzo Gomez:
Being republican only means that you want to spend and tax at a slightly lower rate and the government you want to remain part of should grow just slightly more slowly.
Both parties are party to being the power-elite whose main concern is, apparently, along with the mainstream media, to continue a high level of circuses and enough bread to keep the citizens distracted from what they are doing…. Which is nothing but finding new ways to milk the economy to buy votes to keep themselves in power.
They pass laws that they are not subject to, on the one hand, and other laws that protect and benefit only themselves.
This case has been nothing but another national distraction meant to take our eyes off the real scandals that effect us all. Energy, healthcare, the 2d amendment, the first amendment, privacy, the military…. are all under attack by our government and we are misled by pictures of a sweet-smiling little boy presumably murdered in cold blood by a hulking and swarthy “white” creepy-ass cracker, as it turned out. NOT.
“Term limits” mean anything?
Nor will they ever admit it… The agenda is the driver in this day and age, not the truth. Thanks for the clear and concise explanations.
Wag The Dog.
Even Slate is saying that the “Juror B29/Maddy” interview was edited worse than an old-style ransom note:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2013/07/did_george_zimmerman_get_away_with_murder_no_juror_b29_is_being_framed.single.html
@Noah Vaile: you’re right. It’s a global problem and both parties ultimately have the same goal, controlling and fleecing the sheep. I’m a conservative libertarian so I align myself with many republican positions, but most are just symbolic. This country needs a reboot.
There’s an even uglier term than ‘kangaroo court’, ‘railroad job’ and even ‘mob rule’ to describe this whole mess…
LYNCH MOB.
there’s a big question for me that has not been addressed. part 9 mentions that Martin “might have even gone for his gun”. Zimmerman, in his on-scene police interview said that his jacket moved up; he felt that Martin saw it and said “you’re going to die tonite [mofo]” and reached for it. to me that seems like the breaking point of the incident, especially the jeopardy and when lethal force was definitely justified, rite there.
i do not believe that zimmerman made a decision to use lethal force due to his head being pounded on concrete or taking a beating for 40+ seconds. while the beating may be justified in itself, it seems like the focus has been that, rather than the point when martin reached for the firearm.
that seems to have been glanced over in the court. probably due to lack of evidence (martin’s fingerprint or dna on the firearm)? it was addressed in part 2 of this series; however overall i feel that it is not getting much exposure. do we only believe zimmerman’s story supported by available facts and skip over the hearsay?
I think that every armed person, when about to lose consciousness under a relentless beating, has a duty to use deadly force to prevent the gun from being used against them and from ending up in the wrong hands.
That’s why we have to avoid confrontations so much and to practice situational awareness and hand-to-hand combat. To me Zimmerman failed at that last part, but this doesn’t make him a criminal, just a well-meaning guy who fell a bit short when the chips were down.
The disarm issue was brought up in court and I remember the lawyers using a mannequin to try and figure out Martin’s exact position on Zimmerman and how accessible the weapon was, but there was much speculation there. Whether Martin actually saw the gun and went for it we’ll probably never know… but the risk was real, especially when you learn that Martin was looking for a way to get a pistol. Although that last bit of info wasn’t available to Zimmerman during the attack it’s a small window into Martin’s motivation and the possible outcome of the fight had Zimmerman not been able to fire (Zimmerman dead or a vegetable – Martin a freshly armed punk and criminal).
Thanks Mas. The media and white house went on a witch hunt and Lost.
“The egregious editing of the dispatch tape by one major network, and the false report by another claiming that Zimmerman’s clearly visible, well-documented head injuries were non-existent, will be taught as warnings in journalism school for evermore.”
Ah, you believe in ethics in journalism schools. How quaint.