VOTE for TRAYVON! Get mad now, but REMEMBER in NOVEMBER!
Many Americans are disturbed by the Zimmerman verdict. But while the actions of the Sanford PD, the judge, jury, prosecution, defense team and witnesses all played a part in the outcome and are deserving of scrutiny, the actions they took were to a great extent constrained by the legal context in Florida, Seminole County and Sanford, which, even short of Stand-Your-Ground, obviously heavily favors gun carriers who use their weapons. As Attorney General Holder noted today, the "trickle-down" effect of Stand-Your-Ground has obliterated "the duty to retreat" in personal confrontations, a principle at the base of civil society for several thousand years. This law ripples across age, race and class creating bastions of "gun privilege" that threaten to further separate us as citizens and as a nation.
But what can we do? The laws that slanted the Zimmerman proceedings toward gun owners or that let the Sanford PD off easy or that resulted in limitations on prosecution evidence or allowed witness misconduct or misleading/limiting jury instructions on manslaughter were passed in the Florida legislature, and not just through the influence of ALEC. As we have seen with increasing frequency in recent years, Conservatives, with their seemingly monolithic faith in their own power, do not believe in the "no-win scenario" and are willing to change the rules to produce the outcome they seek like a batch of demented Captain Kirks whose "cheating" earns them an award for creativity (see "The Koybayashi Maru Scenario"
. That award most often results in a reduction of YOUR political power and rights as a US citizen, and it must be stopped and reversed or democracy as we know it (or think we do) will face extinction and, as many of you feel, we are already pretty far gone. But in this case, Conservatives are not cheating; they're merely using the ballot box (aside from voter disenfranchisement efforts) to great effect on the STATE and local levels. The facts of the case encountered a perfect storm in that courtroom
So, whether marching on the streets or ranting at home floats your boat, honor your emotions now, but then go REGISTER to VOTE. Do it NOW as there are plenty of documentary and even physical hurdles and obstacles (in many states), so that you can meet the challenges posed you by the very lawmakers who most need to be unseated. This is the first step toward a VOTE for TRAYVON, a direct counter to the kinds of legislation that emboldens (particularly) gun-toting, authoritarian males who are desperate to play god, one of whom did exactly that in this case without a thought to his responsibilities as an adult, as an American or as a "civilized" human being.
If we do not rally to get these dangerous gun laws curtailed across the country, than we will not only be less safe and less free, but we will salvage nothing from the killing of this young man but tears and anger.
I am furious at the outcome of this incident and trial, but I am also registered to vote and I will REMEMBER in NOVEMBER!
I hope you will consider doing the same.
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