(no subject)
1. Aftermath
Man, wow. I expected some backlash from the verdict, but I can't believe that Sharpton and friends are still trying to pressure the government for more charges against the same guy. I know that a lot of people feel that they are above paying attention to the Trayvon Martin thing, but I think it's been important to pay attention to. This whole ordeal has revealed some interesting things about where we're at as a society, and it really disturbs me. I guess the one thing that really bugs me is how many people have been whipped into hysterics based on their feelings and not the facts. When I read commentary from the anti-Zimmerman crowd, it's just baffling how many people repeat misinformation that they wouldn't repeat had they payed attention to the trial and absorbed the evidence presented in the trial.
I also find it bizarre that legal analysts have been predicting this acquittal from day one, yet everyone seems shocked by the outcome and they seem to think that the verdict is only one that could be borne out of racism. I think that this shows the natural consequence of living in a thought bubble as many people do. I actually anticipated a manslaughter conviction because while I supported Zimmerman's claims, I also considered the opinions of other people who were sure the jury would be worked up by their emotions and compromise on the verdict. So I wouldn't be outraged by a conviction, though I probably wouldn't agree that it was the right verdict, given the weakness of the prosecution's case. Yet I'll bet that the people who are just totally shocked over the acquittal never bothered to pay attention to the opinions of anyone who didn't tell them exactly what they wanted to hear about this case. They shut out the opinions of us pesky "Zimmerman defenders" and gravitated towards "experts" who told them the lies they wanted to hear about the facts of this case. As a result, they think that racism must have caused the verdict because they've never taken the time to truly consider anything that doesn't fit their world view.
Despite my frustrations, the aftermath of this case gives me hope. The entire public isn't as wildly irrational as I thought. According to Rasmussen Reports, 48 percent of Americans agree with the not guilty verdict while 34 percent agree with the guilty verdict. That's a pretty comfortable margin. And I think this number reflects my experiences looking at the case online. While the media and left-slanted sources make it seem that the whole world was against Zimmerman, I did notice that there was quite a bit of unrepresented dissent in the comments section of any story covering this case. And I actually found that the stats for blacks weren't as bad as I imagined. 68 percent disagreed with the not guilty verdict, but that's very good for the black community, which has been known to give near unanimous support of just about any other matter. That means that over a quarter of blacks did not disagree with the verdict. And on YouTube, I actually saw videos from several black vloggers in support of Zimmerman, so I always knew that it wasn't the case that all black people wanted to hang Zimmerman. It also shows you how dishonest the media has been for trying to make this case some sort of race issue. It seems to me that many people did see through the manipulation. It's just too bad that you can't tune into CNN and see the true perspective of Americans reflected in their programming. I think just about every black correspondent on that network says the same predictable lines on race when they talk about this case. You have to travel to the netherworld of Fox News to discover the realization that not all "people of color" think alike.
So with this in mind, I'm proud of the modest efforts I made to get the truth out there and support Zimmerman even though it wasn't popular. I didn't start a blog or make YouTube videos or donate to the defense fund, but I took the time to correct misinformation whenever the opportunity presented itself. And I suspect that the efforts taken by us who supported Zimmerman to get the truth out there is part of the reason why the responses to this verdict have been relatively tame. I notice that there was a bit of a snowball effect when it came to those of us backing up Zimmerman. A few people took the opportunity to spread the truth, and as a result, the organized defense for Zimmerman online began to grow. People used their online presence to share the discovery, discuss Florida's self-defense laws, and clear up the misinformation that was being spread about Zimmerman. I think that things would have gotten pretty ugly without this balance being introduced to the conversation, though I guess you could say that they got arguably ugly even with our best efforts.
I think that this case really highlights the power of the information age. "Activists" can't just hop on the news and manipulate everyone with misinformation and then expect everyone to fall in queue. And it is also refreshing to see that people armed with the facts will resist those who try to play on their emotions. Yes, emotion has its place, but we've given way to emotions way too much. I'm glad that lately we've been willing to put emotions aside in favor of facts and principles. And I think that this entire Trayvon Martin ordeal has strengthened the research savvy out there of those who are willing to get to the truth of the matter rather than continuing to let the media or community activists influence their opinions with distorted information. So while I have been frustrated by the public response to this whole Trayvon Martin fiasco, there is a silver lining.
Man, wow. I expected some backlash from the verdict, but I can't believe that Sharpton and friends are still trying to pressure the government for more charges against the same guy. I know that a lot of people feel that they are above paying attention to the Trayvon Martin thing, but I think it's been important to pay attention to. This whole ordeal has revealed some interesting things about where we're at as a society, and it really disturbs me. I guess the one thing that really bugs me is how many people have been whipped into hysterics based on their feelings and not the facts. When I read commentary from the anti-Zimmerman crowd, it's just baffling how many people repeat misinformation that they wouldn't repeat had they payed attention to the trial and absorbed the evidence presented in the trial.
I also find it bizarre that legal analysts have been predicting this acquittal from day one, yet everyone seems shocked by the outcome and they seem to think that the verdict is only one that could be borne out of racism. I think that this shows the natural consequence of living in a thought bubble as many people do. I actually anticipated a manslaughter conviction because while I supported Zimmerman's claims, I also considered the opinions of other people who were sure the jury would be worked up by their emotions and compromise on the verdict. So I wouldn't be outraged by a conviction, though I probably wouldn't agree that it was the right verdict, given the weakness of the prosecution's case. Yet I'll bet that the people who are just totally shocked over the acquittal never bothered to pay attention to the opinions of anyone who didn't tell them exactly what they wanted to hear about this case. They shut out the opinions of us pesky "Zimmerman defenders" and gravitated towards "experts" who told them the lies they wanted to hear about the facts of this case. As a result, they think that racism must have caused the verdict because they've never taken the time to truly consider anything that doesn't fit their world view.
Despite my frustrations, the aftermath of this case gives me hope. The entire public isn't as wildly irrational as I thought. According to Rasmussen Reports, 48 percent of Americans agree with the not guilty verdict while 34 percent agree with the guilty verdict. That's a pretty comfortable margin. And I think this number reflects my experiences looking at the case online. While the media and left-slanted sources make it seem that the whole world was against Zimmerman, I did notice that there was quite a bit of unrepresented dissent in the comments section of any story covering this case. And I actually found that the stats for blacks weren't as bad as I imagined. 68 percent disagreed with the not guilty verdict, but that's very good for the black community, which has been known to give near unanimous support of just about any other matter. That means that over a quarter of blacks did not disagree with the verdict. And on YouTube, I actually saw videos from several black vloggers in support of Zimmerman, so I always knew that it wasn't the case that all black people wanted to hang Zimmerman. It also shows you how dishonest the media has been for trying to make this case some sort of race issue. It seems to me that many people did see through the manipulation. It's just too bad that you can't tune into CNN and see the true perspective of Americans reflected in their programming. I think just about every black correspondent on that network says the same predictable lines on race when they talk about this case. You have to travel to the netherworld of Fox News to discover the realization that not all "people of color" think alike.
So with this in mind, I'm proud of the modest efforts I made to get the truth out there and support Zimmerman even though it wasn't popular. I didn't start a blog or make YouTube videos or donate to the defense fund, but I took the time to correct misinformation whenever the opportunity presented itself. And I suspect that the efforts taken by us who supported Zimmerman to get the truth out there is part of the reason why the responses to this verdict have been relatively tame. I notice that there was a bit of a snowball effect when it came to those of us backing up Zimmerman. A few people took the opportunity to spread the truth, and as a result, the organized defense for Zimmerman online began to grow. People used their online presence to share the discovery, discuss Florida's self-defense laws, and clear up the misinformation that was being spread about Zimmerman. I think that things would have gotten pretty ugly without this balance being introduced to the conversation, though I guess you could say that they got arguably ugly even with our best efforts.
I think that this case really highlights the power of the information age. "Activists" can't just hop on the news and manipulate everyone with misinformation and then expect everyone to fall in queue. And it is also refreshing to see that people armed with the facts will resist those who try to play on their emotions. Yes, emotion has its place, but we've given way to emotions way too much. I'm glad that lately we've been willing to put emotions aside in favor of facts and principles. And I think that this entire Trayvon Martin ordeal has strengthened the research savvy out there of those who are willing to get to the truth of the matter rather than continuing to let the media or community activists influence their opinions with distorted information. So while I have been frustrated by the public response to this whole Trayvon Martin fiasco, there is a silver lining.