# Pitting the Zimmerman trial circus **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2013, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419 "2013-07-13T19:53:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/161 "2013-07-14T06:04:31Z")
> [@BlakeTyner](#): > > It’s bullshit like this that makes people contribute to the NRA. Really? That’s certainly seems to be stupid and pointless. My mother’s first husband was a captain in the army. After she found out that he’d spent two years raping his stepdaughter, then failed to pay child support after the divorce for his own kids, she protested by not paying her taxes. That was stupid and pointless too. But it kind of reminds me of this. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/162 "2013-07-14T06:14:06Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > When you have twice fought for your life against the likes of Trayvon Martin and Rodney King, perhaps you will be able to compose a response connected to reality and actually makes some kind of sense. Yeah, Rodney King sure was a helluva fighter. I remember [that one video, where he was whooping up on those 5 officers’ batons, pretty much using only his face and ribs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OauOPTwbqk). Those officers (and their batons) were sure lucky to make it out of that fight intact, weren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/163 "2013-07-14T06:27:07Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > You’re a worthless, stupid piece of shit. I have no desire to taint my mind by having a discussion with a racist moron, so go fuck yourself. Well, sir, ordinarily I would never have the presumption to dispute political and social views the logic and eloquence of which is so perfectly concatenated and without abruption that only the most heinous of sophistic blackguards would dare challenge them, but being the impertinent guttersnipe that I am, I dare to suggest that both practical experience and common sense demonstrate your opinions of the subject to be those of a garden variety kneejerk liberal ninny and not those of a thoughtful and mature adult accustomed and familiar with the ways of the world. In the future, perhaps you should consider giving the word “fuck” a rest, and try actually to engage other participants in the discussion with genuine ideas, rather than with churlish rants about them being “a worthless, stupid piece of shit.” I trust I have made my point, and have not thereby tainted your simple and vulnerable mind. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/164 "2013-07-14T06:28:58Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Yeah, Rodney King sure was a helluva fighter. I remember [that one video, where he was whooping up on those 5 officers’ batons, pretty much using only his face and ribs](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OauOPTwbqk). Those officers (and their batons) were sure lucky to make it out of that fight intact, weren’t they? You’ve never lived around animals like Rodney King and Trayvon Martin. I have. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/165 "2013-07-14T06:29:14Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Well, damn, I’ve spent years hanging around on this board establishing my reputation as the board’s racist monster, and now all of a sudden you turn up trying to hog my glory. > > Even so, this is a glorious moment. A Florida jury has affirmed our right to use deadly force to defend ourselves from feral proto-humans, and, having twice been the victim of black street violence, I fervently hope there will be yet another wave of Euro-Americans flooding the gun stores to buy the weaponry and munitions needed to deal with the Trayvon Martins and Rodney Kings of our decaying and disintegrating nation. > > The problem is not white racism. > > The problem is black lawlessness and violence. > > Trayvon Martin, rot in Hell. [Moderating] This is a formal warning for engaging in hate speech. This is normally the place where I include a stern warning against doing something lie this again, but in your case, I think I might prefer a clear cut opportunity to excise you from the SDMB. Then again, might not need to wait. Lets see what the rest of the mods think. To other posters, a quick reminder that wishing harm on other posters, even ones as nauseating as **Polecat** here, is against the rules. Try to be a little more circumspect in that regard, please. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/166 "2013-07-14T06:39:18Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > You’ve never lived around animals like Rodney King and Trayvon Martin. I have. :rolleyes: I think you’re about to become even more lonesome. Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/167 "2013-07-14T06:41:47Z")
> [@bump](#): > > common sense goes out the window I wish I could remember the name of my teacher who taught me this oh so many years ago; however, the lesson is still valid. Please remember this: > [@](#): > > _ **Monty’s Teacher from Way Back When** _: > > There is no such thing as common sense. “Common sense” all depends on where you grew up and what you were taught growing up. Again, there is no such thing as common sense. ---
**Author:** ![Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Omg\_a\_Black\_Conservative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omg_a_Black_Conservative)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/168 "2013-07-14T06:50:44Z")
I’m going to hell. I feel really bad for Trayvon’s parents (even though I think Zimmerman was ultimately justified in his actions), but I’m sitting here laughing at the number of racist, incoherent rants (i.e., “welcome to Amerikkka”, “fuck those crackers”, “it isn’t safe to be Black in America!”, etc.) showing up on my feed and on Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/169 "2013-07-14T06:56:17Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Well, sir, ordinarily I would never have the presumption to dispute political and social views the logic and eloquence of which is so perfectly concatenated and without abruption that only the most heinous of sophistic blackguards would dare challenge them, but being the impertinent guttersnipe that I am, I dare to suggest that both practical experience and common sense demonstrate your opinions of the subject to be those of a garden variety kneejerk liberal ninny and not those of a thoughtful and mature adult accustomed and familiar with the ways of the world. In the future, perhaps you should consider giving the word “fuck” a rest, and try actually to engage other participants in the discussion with genuine ideas, rather than with churlish rants about them being “a worthless, stupid piece of shit.” I trust I have made my point, and have not thereby tainted your simple and vulnerable mind. **Lonesome** You sound like an old Vietnam war vet: “I’ve seen THINGS man, I’ve seen THINGS!!” You seem to think this gives you a free pass to talk your hateful BS. Here’s the thing: If being a good person were easy, we’d be living in a Utopian world right now. The fact is, it’s NOT always easy being a good person. Which is why, if you’ve had such bad experiences with black people, you need to have the integrity and the strength of character to say to yourself "I’m still going to treat everybody with dignity and respect until they give me a reason not to.” You’ve failed in that regard. You’ve taken the easy way out, like a coward. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/170 "2013-07-14T08:20:14Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Moderating] > This is a formal warning for engaging in hate speech. This is normally the place where I include a stern warning against doing something lie this again, but in your case, I think I might prefer a clear cut opportunity to excise you from the SDMB. Then again, might not need to wait. Lets see what the rest of the mods think. > > To other posters, a quick reminder that wishing harm on other posters, even ones as nauseating as **Polecat** here, is against the rules. Try to be a little more circumspect in that regard, please. > [/Moderating] I could kiss you for this! I was sitting here wondering how the mods could let a post like that fly, and I find out it didn’t. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/171 "2013-07-14T08:23:31Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > You know, most people don’t think like that. Your constant attempts to demonise your enemies make me wonder about your state of mind. You remind me of the opposite of one of those fundamentalist nutcase preachers always on about the evil temptation of THE GAY, because they are closet bottomists. > > Are you, by any chance, a closet misanthrope? Only if that closet is made of glass. His misanthropic ways are just directed differently than most. I do in fact think he projects how he would feel if he believed X. Anyways, I’m quite glad that the jury didn’t go for manslaughter, as that would have just prolonged the case for no reason. It would have been overturned on appeal, I’m sure. This trial was useful for one thing, though. It served as a litmus test–for both sides. You got the people who were obviously being racist, and you’ve got the people who were projecting their own distaste for racism into the case. It was quite enlightening. ---
**Author:** ![A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@A\_nice\_guy\_with\_an\_opinion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_nice_guy_with_an_opinion)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/172 "2013-07-14T08:39:36Z")
If I had a son, he wouldn’t look like the dead kid that attacked whatever a white-hispanic is. Skittles for all. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/173 "2013-07-14T12:14:29Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > Perhaps you’d prefer a picture of me lying on a sidewalk next to a church while two black thugs beat me half senseless. As long as you’re offering. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/174 "2013-07-14T12:38:45Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Bearing in mind that “Not Guilty” is not the same as “Innocent”, he’s going to be acquitted. > > That doesn’t change the fact that he shouldn’t have done what he did. Looking out for your neighborhood does not mean that it’s up to you to do what he did. Also, when you have a gun and the right to carry it, it is incumbent upon you to do everything you can to avoid having to use it. It is not there so that you can get into a bad spot and use it to get out of the trouble you could have (and should have) avoided. > > This is a bad thing all around. I don’t know that justice is served by this no matter how it turns out. I don’t always (usually?) agree with you, but I completely agree with this. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/175 "2013-07-14T13:22:13Z")
Florida is so fucked up that a man can hunt down an innocent person and kill him dead then claim he thought HE was in danger. The dead boy has no voice. Whoever wins a brawl also wins in court because his victim is DEAD. It is beyond belief. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/176 "2013-07-14T13:22:26Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > [Moderating] > This is a formal warning for engaging in hate speech. This is normally the place where I include a stern warning against doing something lie this again, but in your case, I think I might prefer a clear cut opportunity to excise you from the SDMB. Then again, might not need to wait. Lets see what the rest of the mods think. > [/Moderating] Well, with all due respect, I am not sure I would define Polecat’s comments as “racist.” The cold truth is that black-on-black crime is epidemic, and the occurrence of black-on-white crime is much higher compared to white-on-black crime. It’s unfortunate this the case. But it is what it is. Furthermore, his comment on TM was simply an opinion based on his belief that TM was the perpetrator, and he believes TM wished to inflict serious bodily harm on GZ. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/177 "2013-07-14T13:41:34Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Well, with all due respect, I am not sure I would define Polecat’s comments as “racist.” The cold truth is that black-on-black crime is epidemic, and the occurrence of black-on-white crime is much higher compared to white-on-black crime. It’s unfortunate this the case. But it is what it is. Furthermore, his comment on TM was simply an opinion based on his belief that TM was the perpetrator, and he believes TM wished to inflict serious bodily harm on GZ. He called black people “feral proto-humans”. If that’s not racist, I’m not sure what is. Whilst there is some truth to the suggestion that black people commit more _violent_ crime (but not overall crime) than average, his “reasoning” is so far beyond the pale that it can fairly be considered hate speech. In my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/178 "2013-07-14T13:45:12Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Well, with all due respect, I am not sure I would define Polecat’s comments as “racist.” The cold truth is that black-on-black crime is epidemic, and the occurrence of black-on-white crime is much higher compared to white-on-black crime. It’s unfortunate this the case. But it is what it is. Furthermore, his comment on TM was simply an opinion based on his belief that TM was the perpetrator, and he believes TM wished to inflict serious bodily harm on GZ. Not seeing the hate speech, either, or at least not compared to other stuff that gets posted here all the time. But I guess I’ll wait for the ATMB thread. n.b.: I think the poster is a piece of shit, with a twisted view of the world, but we have lots of posters like that here. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/179 "2013-07-14T13:53:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Not seeing the hate speech, either, or at least not compared to other stuff that gets posted here all the time. But I guess I’ll wait for the ATMB thread. Calling black people “feral proto-humans” isn’t good enough to trigger your hate speech alarms? ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419/180 "2013-07-14T13:53:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > n.b.: I think the poster is a piece of shit, with a twisted view of the world, but we have lots of posters like that here. I am standing right here! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pitting-the-zimmerman-trial-circus/663419.md?page=10)