Saturday, March 31, 2012

US Military And White House Cover-up Of Massacre in Kandahar And Court Challenges US Anti-Terrorists Law NDAA Which Brands Journalists and Dissidents As Enemies of The State



#JusticeForTrayvon UPDATE:

More evidence that Zimmerman's account of the shooting of Trayvon is not holding up.
Zimmerman had no signs of having been in a battle for his life
Funeral Director says no evidence on Trayvon's body that he was involved in a fight just before his death.
Zimmerman had a Jekyll and Hyde personality and had been in trouble at work and with the police over violent reactions.

Funeral director says Trayvon's body didn't look like he'd been fighting as video that shows Zimmerman unhurt on night he shot teen 'could be used as evidence' in trial By DAILY MAIL .co.uk, 30 March 2012 |

New video shows no signs of trauma on George Zimmerman's face
This is despite claims that his nose was broken in 'sucker-punch'
Parents call surveillance footage 'the icing on the cake'
Zimmerman's father claims Trayvon told his son 'you're gonna die now'
Witness' mother says she doesn't believe Zimmerman acted in self-defence
Student newspaper sparks outrage with 'racist' cartoon about case


'When he snapped, he snapped': Former co-worker reveals how 'Jekyll and Hyde temper' cost Zimmerman his security guard job
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER , 30 March 2012


George Zimmerman’s 'Jekyll and Hyde' personality came to be such a problem that he was fired from his job as a security guard, years before the Trayvon Martin case, according to a former co-worker.
The co-worker who told the New York Daily News that he has since lost touch with Zimmerman, described Zimmerman as one of the guys, but with a dark side.
The unidentified man told the paper: 'Usually he was just a cool guy. He liked to drink and hang with the women like the rest of us'.
He added: 'But it was like Jekyll and Hyde. When the dude snapped, he snapped.'
It was that attitude that led to Zimmerman ultimately being fired.
The man told the Daily News: 'He had a temper and he became a liability. 'One time this woman was acting a little out of control. She was drunk. George lost his cool and totally overreacted'.
'It was weird, because he was such a cool guy, but he got all nuts. He picked her up and threw her. It was pure rage. She twisted her ankle. Everyone was flipping out'.
That same year, Zimmerman, then 21-years old, was arrested at a university bar when he became involved in a scuffle with state alcohol agents.
As one of his friends was being arrested for serving underage drinkers, Zimmerman started becoming verbally abusive and pushed an agent.
He was arrested after a scuffle ensued but avoided conviction by entering a pretrial-diversion programme.
American War Crimes:

Massacre in Afghanistan just another cover up by US military and the the White House. The US government and its quisling Mainstream Media erroneously claim one American soldier committed the murder in Kandahar province in Afghanistan on March 11, 2012 when in fact eye witnesses report more than one soldier took part in the massacre. From Mi Li to Afghanistan
massacre the American military and white House tries to cover up the reality.
These cover-ups are just the routine response by the USA . Then Americans wonder why so many people and nations don't trust Americans. Even Obama is trapped in this defensive mind-set that American soldiers rarely do anything wrong even when it is obvious that US soldiers and CIA and Special Forces have been out of control since shortly after 9/11.
It is either a matter of poor leadership that such incidents occur or the killing of civilians is just another part of US government and US military's ongoing policy to terrorize the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan so they will eventually capitulate.
Even Obama refuses to come to terms with the fact that the US forces and NATO have killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians and that these killing were not accidents but part of America's policies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen etc.
In Iraq over 1 million civilians have been killed for which the US government and military should be held accountable . It is not a matter of a few bad apples or whatever excuses the Americans come up with but rather either policy or criminal negligence for which the US authorities should be forced to answer at the International Criminal Court. The US has committed a number of war crimes but the US and President Obama like the previous Bush Regime believe that these international laws and agreements ie Geneva Conventions do not apply to Americans.



Anatomy of a Massacre Dateline SBS Australia via Information Clearing House,March 30, 2012

What really happened on the night of March 11 when 17 Afghan civilians were massacred in Kandahar province?

Many Afghans, including some of the survivors that night, believe more than one U.S. soldier was present in the two villages where the killings took place.

With unprecedented access to Afghan military investigators, Yalda Hakim travels to the villages where the massacre took place and interviews survivors of the attack, as well as Afghan guards at the US military base that housed the alleged gunman.

US soldier Robert Bales is in custody, facing charges of mass murder, but Afghan investigators suspect there may have been at least one other killer involved.

INTERVIEW WITH YALDA - Yalda Hakim explains to SBS Radio's World News Australia how she was able to get such unprecedented access to the massacre investigation.


Posted March 30, 2012



Jornalists and activists challenge Obama's new anti-terrorism law which extends the definition of support for terrorism has been broadened to include Journaists and activists who are critical of US policy.

This is disturbing because once again Obama rather than ratchetting down the fear mongering about terroists threats has instead ratched it up.

US Anti-terrorism Law Curbs Free Speech and Activist Work, Court Toldby Paul Harris at Guardian via Information Clearing House, March 30, 2012

Controversy over NDAA centres on loose definition of key words, such as who are 'associated forces' of named terrorist groups

By Paul Harris in New York

March 30, 2012 "The Guardian" -- A group political activists and journalists has launched a legal challenge to stop an American law they say allows the US military to arrest civilians anywhere in the world and detain them without trial as accused supporters of terrorism.
The seven figures, who include ex-New York Times reporter Chris Hedges, professor Noam Chomsky and Icelandic politician and WikiLeaks campaigner Birgitta Jonsdottir, testified to a Manhattan judge that the law – dubbed the NDAA or Homeland Battlefield Bill – would cripple free speech around the world.

They said that various provisions written into the National Defense Authorization Bill, which was signed by President Barack Obama at the end of 2011, effectively broadened the definition of "supporter of terrorism" to include peaceful activists, authors, academics and even journalists interviewing members of radical groups.

Controversy centres on the loose definition of key words in the bill, in particular who might be "associated forces" of the law's named terrorist groups al-Qaida and the Taliban and what "substantial support" to those groups might get defined as. Whereas White House officials have denied the wording extends any sort of blanket coverage to civilians, rather than active enemy combatants, or actions involved in free speech, some civil rights experts have said the lack of precise definition leaves it open to massive potential abuse.

Hedges, who is a Pulitzer Prize-winner and longtime writer on the Middle East, told New York judge Katherine Forrest on Thursday that he feared he might be subject to arrest under the terms of NDAA if interviewing or meeting Islamic radicals could constitute giving them "substantial support" under the terms of the law.

"I could be detained by the US military, held in a military facility – including offshore – denied due process and incarcerated until 'the end of hostilities' whenever that is," Hedges said. He added that the law was already impacting his ability to work as he feared speaking to or meeting with sources who the US government could see as terrorists or advocates of violence.

"Any kind of language in my presence that countenances violence against the US … given the passage of the NDAA, really terrifies me," he said.

Testifying alongside Hedges was Kai Wargalla, a German organiser behind Occupy London, and a supporter of WikiLeaks, which has extensively published secret US government documents.

Wargalla said that since British police had included Occupy London alongside al-Qaida on a terrorism warning notice, she was afraid of the implications of NDAA. She said that after NDAA was signed she was no longer willing to invite an Islamic group like Hamas to speak on discussion panels for fear of being implicated a supporter of terrorism. "We are on a terrorism list just under al-Qaida and this is what the section of the NDAA is talking about under 'associated forces'," she said.

Author and campaigner Naomi Wolf read testimony in court from Jonsdottir, who has been a prominent supporter of WikiLeaks and a proponent of free speech laws. Jonsdottir's testimony said she was now afraid of arrest and detention because so many US political figures had labelled WikiLeaks as a terrorist group.

Despite receiving verbal assurance from US officials that she was not under threat, Jonsdottir testified she would not travel to the US despite being invited to give lectures in the country. "[The NDAA] provisions create a greater sense of fear since now the federal government will have a tool with which to incarcerate me outside of the normal requirements of the criminal law. Because of this change in the legal situation, I am now no longer able to travel to the US for fear of being taken into custody as as having 'substantially supported' groups that are considered as either terrorist groups or their associates," said Jonsdottir in the statement read by Wolf, who is also a Guardian commentator.

In an opening argument, lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that they would try to show the definitions used in the NDAA provisions were so unclear that it would have a "chilling" effect on the work of journalists, activists and academics even if no one was actually detained.

Friday, March 30, 2012

#JusticeForTrayvon Video George Zimmerman No Evidence of Injury


#JusticeF0rTrayvon


UPDATE: Video of George Zimmerman in handcuffs taken to police station the night of the shooting.
Note There is no sign of blood on Zimmerman's head though he claimed that Trayvon Martin beat Zimmerman's head against the curb. For someone having his bashed against a curb he appears not to have any head injury-if he did the police would have called an ambulance or took him to hospital emergency. Head wounds often bleed a lot even when not serious. So were the police negligent in not taking Zimmerman to the hospital or is Zimmerman's story unraveling.
For the police the video at least showed that they took Zimmerman into custody with hand cuffs on.
So the problem for the police department is what happened next.
Why didn't the police which would have been normal procedure test Zimmerman for alcohol or drugs and given they had him custody for a few hours why didn't they do a background check on Zimmerman.
We know Zimmerman had called 911 to tell them he was suspicious of some person usually African-America, the forty calls he made were all deemed false alarms.
In most places or jurisdictions when someone calls in a number of false alarms they are given an official warning followed by fines and eventually a court appearance-why didn't this happen in Zimmerman's case.
CBS still appears to suggest that Zimmerman was the real victim.
But if he was following Trayvon and there was an altercation according to the self-defense law Trayvon would have been justified in doing what he felt was necessary to defend himself.


Video shows Zimmerman without obvious injuries






Martin family lawyer: Video "icing on the cake" CBS



Also see : U.S. police detective says racism 'alive and well', Reuters, march 28,2012

MIAMI (Reuters) - A black veteran U.S. police officer said "racism is alive and well" in the United States and is evident in the case of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed African American teenager gunned down by a neighborhood watch volunteer in central Florida last month.

George Zimmerman, the white Hispanic crime watch volunteer, has managed to avoid arrest under Florida's controversial "Stand Your Ground" law because he said he shot and killed Martin in self-defense.

But Miami Police Department homicide detective Sergeant Ervens Ford, who has joined in public protests to demand justice for Martin, said in an interview that the law does not apply in the racially tinged case.

"He (Martin) would have had a better 'Stand Your Ground' (case) than Zimmerman," Ford said.

"It does not apply when you chase after a person, when you, essentially, are the aggressor," he said.

He was referring to the fact that Zimmerman, 28, said in a 911 call that he was chasing the 17-year-old Martin shortly before the shooting because he looked to be "up to no good" and was dressed in a "hoodie" hooded sweatshirt.

On the call, Zimmerman had also identified Martin as a black youth.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

#JusticeForTrayvon: Racist Paranoid White America Police Brutality and Spying On Protesters and Political Dissidents


The "Stand Your Ground" law, passed in 2005, greatly expanded the legal definition of self-defense in Florida. Similar laws have since been adopted by 23 other states, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.#JusticeForTrayvon
Racism in America
Public discussions over racism
Judging people by the color of their skin or the clothes they wear
Police corruption, prejudices, brutality and ill-legal spying



In America the police and Vigilantes can shoot and kill someone because of how they look and not what they have done or in the process of doing. These young Black Americans are at the least guilty of "Thought Crimes" since most black Americans are hoodlums according to the police and their well armed police approved vigilantes .

Some 26 states have now enacted these over the top wild west style "Shoot First" aka "Stand Your Ground Laws" which allows mainly white Americans to shoot and kill Black Americans based upon their own prejudicial views that all black Americans are suspect . So if vigilantes like George Zimmerman have a hunch that a black male is up to something the vigilante has the right nay the duty to shoot and kill the suspicious black male.

So because there is black on black crime the killing of a black man by a white man is not important not news worthy
The reason the Trayvon killing became news was that the killer was not charged or even investigated properly. For instance they did drug testing on Trayvon's corpse but not on George Zimmerman.

The police also did a background check on Trayvon shortly after he was killed but the police did not do a background check on Zimmerman.


The police accepted Zimmerman's version of events over eye witness testimony and over the 911 calls Zimmerman made to police.
So a big part of the story is over the poorly or non-existent police investigation.

Bill O'Reilly and Fox news want us to believe that there is no problem with racism in America. They believe anyone suggesting there is an ongoing problem with racism in America are anti-America or UnAmerican who deny in their view that America is the most wonderful country in the world by any measurement .
The problem for Fox is that if America still has a problem with race or did in the past this would mean that America has flaws and injustices which thereby suggest America is not exceptional.

Bill O'Relly and Goldberg and Fox are also out to demonize Trayvon and liberals because they want to defend the American Gun Culture and the passing of laws to allow citizens to be better armed and to go anywhere they want to while carrying a concealed weapon.
They also want more laws to protect gun owners given the benefit of the doubt when they shoot someone claiming self-defense.

These are the same sort of media and political pundits and politicians who during the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s claimed the black protests were instigated by the Communist party and financed by the Soviet Union as part of a plot to undermine America.

Ed Schultz criticizes Bernard Goldberg and Bill O'Reilly for accusing liberal media for inciting racial divisions as "Race Baiters".

Pro Gun-Lynching Fox Attacks 'Mainstream' Media Over Trayvon Martin Coverage





GOP,Right Wing and Libertarians justify the killing of Trayvon Martin because he was black, wore a hoodie, had gold teeth and tattoos and so looked like a gangster.




Libertarian: Personal Liberty! Unless You're a Black Kid Wearing a Hoodie

Uploaded by SamSeder on Mar 28, 2012
From the Majority Report, live M-F 11:30am EST and via daily podcast at http://Majority.FM:
Libertarian Peter Schiff believes in personal liberty and freedom...and then degrades Trayvon Martin for what he chose to wear.



Police encouraged by authorities their commanders to over-react and justify roughing up Occupy protesters in New York .
President Obama and Dept. of Justice still silent over police brutality and the contravention of civil rights by police at Occupy Protests.

NYPD Spying on Liberals, Using Fear Tactics

Uploaded by SamSeder on Mar 27, 2012
From the Majority Report, live M-F 11:30am EST and via daily podcast at http://Majority.FM:
The NYPD is spying on liberal groups, sending undercovers as far as New Orleans. Looking at video from the NYPD evicting Occupy Wall Street from Union Square, you can see the tactics being used to make all police officer's feel like there is some threat...



NYPD Infiltrated Liberal Political Groups

Uploaded by TheYoungTurks on Mar 26, 2012
Via The Huffington Post: "Undercover NYPD officers attended meetings of liberal political organizations and kept intelligence files on activists who planned protests around the country, according to interviews and documents that show how police have used counterterrorism tactics to monitor even lawful activities...".* Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur break it down on The Young Turks.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

#JusticeForTrayvon : "Gun Nation" 6 Million Packing Heat and Counting , New Jim Crow and Congressman Bobby Rush's Act of Courage


America is becoming a nation which believes that the more citizens carrying guns in public the better as an article at Christian Science Monitor "Gun Nation" details:

In 2009, three times as many pro-gun laws were passed in the United States as anti-gun measures – a trend that experts say has only accelerated since then. Fully 40 states now mandate that anyone who asks for a concealed-carry permit and meets the qualifications must be issued one. One result: The number of concealed-weapon license holders in the US has gone from a few hundred thousand 10 years ago to more than 6 million today. In some parts of Tennessee, 1 out of every 11 people on the street is either carrying a weapon or has a license to do so.
Quote from: "Gun Nation" Christian Science Monitor by Patrick Jonsson March 11,2012

Congressman Bobby Rush Kicked Off House Floor For Wearing Hoodie


Was the shutting down of Congressman Rush to do with decorum or racism and defending the Racist Status Quo in Washington and Wall Street and the Mainstream Media.
Nancy Pelosi thankfully took a stand and supported Congressman Bobby Rush.

If Democrats had the guts all Dems would show up in congress wearing hoodies. That would of course require courage and integrity unfortunately most of the political representatives in Washington are on the pay rolls of the anti-democracy 1% and their enablers in the Media ,on Wall Street and on Main Street.

Many of them are also owned by lobbyists such as the NRA and the Gun Owners of America and so forth.

Should we take the speaker of the house at his word that he is concerned about decorum or is it because he too is ofended by some black person wearing a Hoodie???
So if president Obama was walking through a predominately white neighborhood would the police or some vigilante be permitted to stop and frisk him and to shoot him if he refused to be so treated as a common criminal.


Bobby Rush Discusses Wearing A Hoodie On House Floor CNN




MSM bias Favoring Shooter George Zimmerman against Trayvon Martin . CBS and other Mainstream Media are gleefully reporting that Trayvon Martin was not a saint and therefore deserved what he got???

New details deepen Trayvon Martin controversy CBS March 27, 2012





Police detective wanted to arrest George Zimmerman in the case of Trayvon Martin's death but state attorney said given the Stand Your Ground Law they wouldn't get a conviction -strange isn't that why cases are taken to court to find out if that's the case. So almost any shooting resulting in a death in Florida especially if the victim is black then the state will refuse to indict. So let me see is there any scenario in which a black person kills a white person in which the black individual could claim self-defense.

 So if Trayvon stood his ground and demanded Zimmerman explain his behavior and Zimmerman was reluctant to and Trayvon knocked him on the ground you would think Trayvon would be able to plead Self-defense no the white law makers and the NRA and Gun Owners of America tell us no way at that point Trayvon is now threatening the life of Zimmerman. In other words there is no scenario in which Trayvon could have claimed self-defense. OK If Trayvon hit Zimmerman only once or looked at him the wrong way according to these racist and KKK wannabes Trayvon is in the wrong no matter what.

Papantonio: Tea Party Rushes To Defend Trayvon Martin Killer

Uploaded by golefttv on Mar 26, 2012
Mike Papantonio talks with Ed Schultz about the Tea Party's attempt to defend George Zimmerman -- the man who murdered Trayvon Martin. They also discuss why it took so long for Florida Governor Rick Scott to make a public statement about the killing.



Homicide detective wanted to arrest Zimmerman after Trayvon's death but prosecutors said there was not enough evidence Trayvon's parents speak out at Democrats-only hearing on Capitol Hill
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER, March 27, 2012


The lead homicide detective in charge of investigating the Trayvon Martin shooting wanted to arrest George Zimmerman for killing the unarmed teen, the state attorney's office decided volunteer neighborhood watchman should go free instead, it was revealed Tuesday afternoon.

Chris Serino, an investigator with the Sanford, Florida, Police Department, believed Zimmerman should be charged with manslaughter for shooting the 17-year-old in a gated community in Sanford Florida, according to reports.
But the local state attorney overruled him, saying there was not enough evidence to convict him of a crime.
 Tea Party, the NRA and Koch brothers turning America in the Wild West to sell more guns and kill off more members of hated minorities that is Blacks, Hispanics, illegal-immigrants???

Trayvon Martin's Lynching: The NRA & Jeb Bush Made Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' Law a Priority



And discussion at the Young Turks on The Stand Your Ground Laws

The NRA, Trayvon Martin & Gun Laws In America



Raging racism-News Analysis-03-25-2012
Uploaded by PressTVGlobalNews on Mar 26, 2012


The recent killing of a 17-year-old African-American teenage boy in Florida has stirred much controversy about racism in the United States as George Zimmerman, the teen killer is at large.




The "Stand Your Ground" laws have now been adopted in 26 states while some 40 states are also making it easier for citizens to purchase guns and allowing citizens to carry guns in more public spaces than ever before.
Christian Science Monitor published a well researched in depth report on America becoming a nation in which millions are armed all claiminf they need weapons for self-defense often based upon misinformation on crime rates across America. In fact violent crimes have been decreasing since the 1990s.

Gun Nation Christian Science Monitor by Patrick Jonsson March 11,2012


...A combination of favorable court rulings, grass-roots activism, traditional fears of crime, and modern anxieties about government has led to what may be a tipping point on an issue that just a few years ago was one of America's most contentious. Gun rights have now expanded to the point where the fundamental question seems not to be "should we be able to carry guns," but instead is "where can't we carry them?"

The answer: not very many places.

...The new North Carolina statute, in fact, is one of hundreds of new gun-friendly laws enacted by states and localities in the past few years alone. Mississippi lawmakers, for instance, recently voted to allow gun owners who take an extra safety class to carry hidden weapons on college campuses and in courthouses. Ohio has granted people with permits the right to bring concealed weapons into restaurants, bars, and sports arenas. A 2010 Indiana law stipulates that private business owners let employees keep guns in their cars when parked on company property. And New Hampshire, along with several other states, has removed restrictions on bearing arms in the ultimate politically symbolic place – the State House.

In 2009, three times as many pro-gun laws were passed in the United States as anti-gun measures – a trend that experts say has only accelerated since then. Fully 40 states now mandate that anyone who asks for a concealed-carry permit and meets the qualifications must be issued one. One result: The number of concealed-weapon license holders in the US has gone from a few hundred thousand 10 years ago to more than 6 million today. In some parts of Tennessee, 1 out of every 11 people on the street is either carrying a weapon or has a license to do so.

"It's a huge sea change, and one lesson to take out of all of this is that it's amazing how fast attitudes on constitutional issues can change," says Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, and the author of "An Army of Davids." "The thinking has turned in a way that many thought to be impossible only 15 years ago."

...But the vast majority of the momentum on guns is on the side of people who want a .30-30 rifle in their cabinet at home and the right to carry a Ruger in their coat pocket – anywhere. It is being driven, in part, by what could be called a "militia of one" mentality. While 20 years ago many people were arming themselves as part of a nostalgic identification with citizen armies, many today see carrying a gun in public as an essential right and a legitimate, even necessary, tool to ease peculiar and particular American fears about personal protection.

"People are buying guns to deal with their anxiety of feeling they have no safety or they have this need for their political sense of freedom, but not everybody shares that level of personal threat," says Joan Burbick, author of "Gun Show Nation," a critique of American gun culture. "And when you're going to insist upon this in public spaces or shared spaces like a basketball game or a park, then you're really intruding into where other people get their personal sense of safety."




also check out these links:

Trayvon Martin Was on His Cellphone Moments Before Being 'Lynched' By George Zimmerman


Plouffe doesn't like Sharpton's race summit idea Schultz


Papantonio: Trayvon Killer Should Be Charged With Premeditated Murder

Papantonio: Racism Prevalent at GOP Primaries


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

#JusticeForTrayvon Hoodies & Hijabs: Trayvon Martin Lynching & The GOP and Conservatives' Sleazy Attack On Trayvon Depicting Him As a Gangster???


Today's Menu:
Michelle Malkin's website Twitchy's racism and Faux Apology
Lynching Trayvon Martin
Killing Trayvon and now killing his reputation
Hoodies and Hijabs Shaima Alawadi murdered for being a Muslim in America
Trayvon murdered for being black in America

Michelle Malkin Twitchy Apology not much of an apology. Twitchy apology is one of those faux apologies the right is often accused of giving in which they claim that whatever they wrote might be true but has upset those who are just too damned sensitive. So showing a photo of a black teenager in baggy pants and giving the camera the finger was at first identified as Trayvon Martin but when Michelle Malkin was called out on this she makes her faux apology.

 What she does ,trying to be clever ,is to show the side by side photos and in the text strikes through the statement that this is Trayvon Martin.

But it is all just wink and a nod to her racist prone readers to realize that as far as Michelle Malkin and other conservatives are concerned all black teens look the same and supposedly all want to appear as tough gangsters so in the end these black kids get what they deserve according to the Conservative racist point of view.

In Michelle Malkin's mind and that of her racist conservative friends the kid in the picture no matter what his name could just as easily have been Trayvon martin since they (blacks)are all the same including in their perverse twisted racist mind-set is President Obama. So the kid in the picture can be depicted as being that of Obama's son if he had one.

Why #TeamDueProcess is important for justice; Correction and update: Twitchy issues apology for fake Trayvon Martin photo by twitchy staff, March 25,2012




Recognize these two people? If you don’t, we’ll help you out. The man on the left is George Zimmerman, the man accused of murdering the boy on the right, Trayvon Martin. The mainstream media won’t show you these two photos because they convey a message that no one else wants to take into consideration.

Correction, 8:56 pm ET March 25, 2012: We made a mistake. The photo on the right is not of the Trayvon Martin who was shot by Zimmerman. We apologize to our readers and to the Martin family.

The problem with this non-apology apology is that the damage is already done as the Right wing media in the US goes on the attack against anyone who sees this tragedy as having country wide ramifications. The Conservative movement over the last 40 years has always denied there was a problem with racism . They claim there was only a problem when the federal government got involved of issues of race. They insist their negative portrayal of black Americans is not racist but rather in their view reflects reality.

As has been said before the Conservative movement has never been comfortable with the notion of the federal or state governments defending vigorously the rights of Black Americans or other minorities. They appear to believe that all such issues should be left up to the individual states in which one state could pass measures as they are now doing aimed had making it more difficult for the poor and Blacks and other minorities from voting. In any other country just bringing up such a notion would be a scandal but in the US the very act of voting and the process of being a registered voter has been politicized by both parties at one time or another.



Trayvon Martin Lynching: Lawrence O'Donnell Challenges Orlando Sentinel ...

Uploaded by politicalarticles on Mar 27, 2012 A Coordinated Defense of 'Murderer' George Zimmerman By Republicans & The Corrupt Sanford, Florida Police Begins in Trayvon Martin 'Lynching' Case: http://www.politicalarticles.net/blog/2012/03/27/a-coordinated-defense-of-mur...




Plouffe doesn't like Sharpton's race summit idea

Uploaded by toddfein on Mar 25, 2012
How scared is the White House that there's a race controversy going on? Listen to David Plouffe, the inside the WH guy who coordinates policy with David Axelrod at the campaign, run for national defense cover rather than discuss leading a summit on race. 3-25-12


This could be Obama's golden moment as it were for him to take a stand and not hedge his bets fearing upsetting the Republican Party or Conservatives.


Dishonoring Trayvon Martin New details in the case don't undermine the charge that Sanford cops acted irresponsibly -- they underscore it by joan Walsh at Salon.com,March 26,2012

...It’s hard not to notice that the push-back began once President Obama made his remarks Friday. Two consummate race-baiters, Newt Gingrich and Pat Buchanan, blasted the president. Gingrich called his remarks “disgraceful” and suggested Obama’s comments meant he wouldn’t have been concerned about the murder had Martin been white. Buchanan said the president should stop siding with those who are “stirring up racial rage.” An expert on stirring up racial rage, Buchanan is the last person to be giving Obama advice about race.

The fact is, whatever turns out to be true, the president was right: This case looks like too many others where a young black man was gunned down for being a young black man. A 17-year-old was shot to death, and no one was taken to a police station to be questioned about it. It then took police three days to locate the dead boy’s family. Now they’re sliming him with anonymous leaks.

Whether or not Martin was wearing a hoodie, or had ever used marijuana; whether or not he and Zimmerman had an altercation that night: at minimum, the cops botched this investigation, and didn’t do anything like what should have been required in a case when an unarmed 17-year-old shows up dead. That’s the bottom line here. Trayvon Martin didn’t have to be a polo-and-khakis-wearing Boy Scout to have his rights respected. Did some of his family’s defenders go too far in depicting him as a fresh-faced child, as some on the right allege? We don’t know that. We only know that the family and their many supporters have cobbled together a movement to demand justice, and they’ve used the facts they had at their disposal. Had the cops done their job, they wouldn’t have had to.

The facts, the lies, and the unknowns in the Trayvon Martin case by Ryan Witt at examiner.com, March 25,2012

...there is at least some evidence that race played some role in the shooting.

Zimmerman made 46 calls to 911 in the year before the shooting. Most of those calls involved Zimmerman reporting young, black men. One time Zimmerman called about a 7 to 9 year old black male who “looked suspicious” according to him. When Zimmerman called 911 to report Martin he knew nothing about Martin other than the fact that Martin was walking in his neighborhood and “looking around.” Martin was unarmed at the time, carrying a bag of skittles and a bottle of ice tea.

CNN has closely examined one part of the 911 tape in which Zimmerman allegedly refers to Martin and others as “f*cking coons.”

...What we do know is that Zimmerman himself said he was following Martin first when he called the police dispatcher. We also know that Zimmerman was carrying a 9 mm handgun while, as stated earlier, Martin was unarmed. The 911 dispatcher specifically told Zimmerman to stop following Martin after reporting Martin’s “suspicious behavior.” Zimmerman evidently ignored that directive. At the very least, the entire conflict likely would have been avoided had Zimmerman simply drove past Martin.

Even if Martin first hit Zimmerman it is not a slam dunk case of self-defense. Martin weighed 140 pounds, while Zimmerman weighed over 250 pounds. In order to use deadly force against Martin Zimmermann would have to believe that his own life was in danger from an unarmed boy nearly his half his size. One is not entitled do shoot someone else merely because the other person hit them. Specifically, in order to claim self-defense Zimmerman would have had to reasonably fear for his life at the moment he pulled the trigger. If Martin first hit Zimmerman, and then Zimmerman gained the advantage and was on top of Martin when he shot him this likely would not be a case of self-defense. Multiple witnesses from the scene say that it was Martin, not Zimmerman, who was crying for help moments before the shots were fired.

The crime scene, and specifically the position of both Zimmerman and Martin at the time the shots were fired, would be crucial in determining the validity of Zimmerman’s self-defense claim. At this point those facts are unknown. Some witnesses have testified that Zimmerman was on top at the time of the shooting, and that Martin was found face down after being shot. If these facts are true, it is hard to imagine how Martin posed a serious threat to Zimmerman in this position.

Finally, there is the evidence of past behavior. Martin was never involved in any known incidents of violence before being shot by Zimmerman. Zimmerman, on the other hand, was charged with resisting arrest with violence and battery on an officer in July of 2005. The charges were later dropped based on pretrial errors. Zimmerman's ex-fiance also made allegations of domestic abuse after a pushing match in an apartment.


What Everyone Needs To Know About The Smear Campaign Against Trayvon Martin (1995-2012)
By Judd Legum at Think Progress.org,Mar 26, 2012

Over the last 48 hours, there has been a sustained effort to smear Trayvon Martin, the 17-year old African-American who was shot dead by George Zimmerman a month ago. Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, said, “They killed my son, now they’re trying to kill his reputation.”
Thus far these attacks have fallen into two categories: false and irrelevant. Much of this leaked information seems intended to play into stereotypes about young African-American males. Here’s what everyone should know:

1. Prominent conservative websites published fake photos of Martin. Twitchy, a new website run by prominent conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, promoted a photo — purportedly from Martin’s Facebook page — that shows Martin in saggy pants and flipping the bird. The photo, which spread quickly on conservative websites and Twitter, is intended to paint Martin as a thug. As Twitchy later acknowledged, it is not a photo of Trayvon Martin. [Examiner]

2. The Sanford Police selectively leaked irrelevant, negative information about Martin. The authorities told the Orlando Sentinel this morning that Trayvon was suspended from school for ten days “after being found with an empty marijuana baggie.” There is no evidence that Martin was under the influence of drugs at the time of his death, nor would prior possession of marijuana be a reason for killing him. It’s unclear what the relevance of the leak was, other than to smear Martin. [Orlando Sentinel]

3. On Fox News, Geraldo said that Martin was dressed “like a wannabe gangster.” Bill O’Reilly agreed with him. The sole evidence is that Martin was wearing a hoodie. Geraldo added that “everyone that ever stuck up a convenience store” was wearing a hoodie. [ThinkProgress; The Blaze]

4. Without any evidence, prominent right-wing bloggers suggested that Martin was a drug dealer. Right-wing blogger Dan Riehl advances the theory, also advanced in a widely linked peice on a site called Wagist. There does not appear to be any evidence to support this claim whatsoever. [Riehl World View]

5. Without any evidence, a right-wing columnist alleged that Martin assaulted a bus driver. Unlike Zimmerman, Trayvon has no documented history of violence. This allegation continues to be advanced by a blogger on the Examiner even after the real reason was leaked to the police and confirmed by the family. [Miami Herald; Examiner]

6. Zimmerman’s friend says Martin was to blame because he was disrespectful to Zimmerman. Zimmerman’s friend Joe Oliver said that Martin would not have been shot to death if Trayvon had just said “I’m staying with my parents.” Of course, Zimmerman was not a police officer, and Trayvon had no duty to tell him who he was or where he was going. [NBC News]
The final part of the effort to smear Trayvon Martin is to link him and his supporters to irresponsible fringe groups like the New Black Panthers and marginal provocateurs like Louis Farrakhan. Threats by these groups are serious and should be investigated, but they have nothing to do with Martin or his supporters. The leader of the effort to associate Martin with these groups is Matt Drudge. You can see how he is framing the story today here.

Ultimately, whether Martin was a perfect person is irrelevant to whether Zimmerman’s conduct that night was justified. Clearly, there are two different versions of the events that transpired on February 26, the night Trayvon was killed. There are conflicting statements by witnesses and conflicting evidence as to who was the aggressor. Zimmerman has the right to tell his side of the story. But his opportunity to do this will come in a court of law after he is charged and arrested. In the meantime, Zimmerman’s supporters should stop trying to smear the reputation of a dead, 17-year-old boy.

Hijabs and Hoodies

and there has been another tragic race /religion based murder in this case the murder of an Iraqi-American Shaima Alwadi who is a Muslim. In effect she was killed because her assailants noted that she wore an Hijab Muslim head scarf.
So we have people being judged by something they wear in the case of Trayvon some think he deserved to be killed because he was wearing a Hoodie whereas Shaima Alwadi was murdered because she wore the Hijab.

Those who have been trying to get more attention by the media about this tragedy are questioning why the media has spent so little time on this murder of an American Muslim. We know if this could have been spun as an honor killing the right wing and the Islamophobes would be all over this story but not when the story reflects badly on Non-Muslim Americans.

Iraqi Woman’s Death Sparks Online Movement at mashable, March 26,2012

With national attention on the Trayvon Martin case, another racially-charged case is moving into the spotlight. Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old Iraqi immigrant and mother of five, died on Saturday near San Diego. Her death comes three days after her daughter found her severely beaten on Wednesday in her home of El Cajon, Calif., next to a note saying “go back to your country.”

Immediately after the AP reported her death, the story became the #1 worldwide trending topic on Twitter. Users quickly compared #RIPShaima and the hijab she was wearing — a mark of her Muslim faith — to the #RIPTrayvon hashtag and the hoodie he was wearing when he was shot and killed by a neighborhood watchman. Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera had claimed that Martin’s hoodie was the cause of his death, a comment which sparked an online wave of hoodie-wearing in protest.

In the same way that the hoodie has become emblematic of support for Trayvon Martin, the Facebook page “One Million Hijabs for Shaima Alawadi” has become an online destination for advocates of Alawadi. On the Facebook page, users are sharing photos of themselves wearing a headscarf, posting articles and videos relevant to the case and planning community events to raise awareness. A status update posted on Sunday, along with a photo of Alawadi, states the reason for the cause and urges citizens to take a stand:

This is #ShaimaAlwadi. Now look at her smile. She could be your daughter, your sister, your friend. We cannot let the children in this country grow up in a world so full of hatred that a woman wearing a head scarf is afraid for her life, that a black kid wearing a hoodie is afraid for his life, a world where the victim of sexual violence gets the blame for the actions of the perpetrator because of what she was wearing. Enough. The color of your skin, your gender or your outfit cannot be used an excuse or an invitation for violence. We are all Shaima. We need a Million Hijab March.

Though Shaima Alawadi’s case was quick to gain worldwide traction upon her death, it took weeks for Trayvon Martin’s case to receive national attention. As both the New York Times and On the Media reported, the diversity — or lack thereof — in newsrooms may have something to do with this. Most of the notable media figures who first reported on Trayvon Martin’s case and pushed for further investigation are black men. Likewise, looking at the Twitter stream of #RIPShaima, many of the top tweets about her death are coming from those who identify with her or have close ties to the Arab world:

Tasneem Raja@tasneemraja
I don't wear a hijab, but nearly every other woman in my family covers. Shaima could have been my mother, aunt, cousin, sister... #RipShaima
25 Mar 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite
Butheina HK بثينة@butheina
Hoodie or hijab - this needs to stop #RIPShaima #RIPTrayvon facebook.com/pages/One-Mill…
25 Mar 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite
Imran@RKSTNI
When a hate crime happens in this country it happens to ALL of us. We cannot afford to sit idly by. #RIPShaima #RIPTrayvon
25 Mar 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite
Paul Rieckhoff@PaulRieckhoff
As an Iraq vet, and as an American, I am beyond outraged by Shaima's death. This could have been so many of my friends. #RIPShaima #IAVA

Monday, March 26, 2012

#JusticeFor Trayvon Sen. Chuck Schumer Request The AG Examine "The Shoot First Vigilante Laws" and American Evangelical Taliban To Liberals & Non-Christians: 'Get Out' of America! (Santorum Pastor Intro)

#JusticeForTrayvon:

American Skin 41 Shots
Uploaded by malaguita1987 on Feb 9, 2008
SUBTITULADO EN CASTELLANO, ACTUACIÓN EN EL MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (2000)
SUBTITLED ON SPANISH, TAKEN FROM MADISON SQUARE GARDEN'S PERFORMS (2000)



Jesse Jackson Trayvon As Martyr the death of an innocent :
Churches Amplify Call for Justice for Trayvon

Published on Mar 25, 2012 by AssociatedPress
African-American community churches around the nation on Sunday amplified the call for justice in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Jesse Jesse preached a sermon on the teen's death in Eatonville, Fla. (March 25)




The justification given for the killing of Trayvon Martin appears to be flawed on several grounds.

George Zimmerman's first line of defense which was accepted without question by the police was that he invoked the "Stand Your Ground Law". The police investigation was tainted by the officer's in charge with their acceptance of Zimmerman's statement about this incident as being the truth without questioning what happened by asking eye-witnesses and going over other evidence such as the telephone calls Zimmerman made to the police. The police didn't bother to check out Zimmerman's back ground or recent behavior such as calling the police over 40 times in the past year reporting on suspicious activity which all turned out to be false alarms or trivial.

My own opinion is that this law is just a new form of "Jim Crow" law or a re-introduction of laws permitting Lynching under a different guise or branding.

In reference to the Travon Martin killing I was suggesting that of course one of the big issues here is Florida's "Shoot First" Law aka "Stand Your Ground Law" which may have been enacted motivated by racism so it would be objectionable just on those grounds.

The other connected issue is that this law and its counterparts in 25 other states in America should be examined because they appear to encourage "vigilantism" which undermines law and order and the public's well being.

The law intended or not leads to an escalation of threats and violence in what otherwise might be a simple altercation or misunderstanding. For this we can suppose hypothetical situations which might result in an unnecessary tragedy. For instance a white person who is apprehensive whenever Black people come near them in a public space that when approached by a black person they shoot them but later it is discovered the black individual wanted to ask the time or to get directions or mistook the white person for someone else or is simply a panhandler . Given this scenario we can change the skin color of the apprehensive individual : so an African American or Hispanic is approached by a white person and "Shoots First " would these proponents of these laws support the person of color's interpretation of events and immediately drop the case calling it self-defense.


I suggested that the US Attorney General's office should investigate these laws to determine if they are unconstitutional or contravene the rights of individual citizens or is enacted against a specific group or minority.

There are those who ater examining these Shoot First laws argue that these laws are either poorly written or written deliberately in a manner that opens them up to fairly wide latitude for interpretation .

Another question would be whether or not these Vigilante laws are within the jurisdiction of a state to enact or enforce-ie is this a case of over-reach by these states.

Schumer calls for federal probe of 'Stand Your Ground' laws after Florida shooting at Fox News, March 25, 2012


Sen. Chuck Schumer is calling on the Justice Department to investigate so-called "Stand Your Ground" laws following the fatal shooting of an unarmed Florida teen.

The law, a version of which was enacted in Florida in 2005, allows for individuals to use deadly force -- even outside their home -- if they feel threatened.

Since the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, Republican leaders have called the killing a tragedy but argue that the law in question did not actually apply to this case.

Still, Schumer wrote in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder on Sunday that the laws themselves should be investigated.
"These laws seem to be encouraging vigilantism by allowing individuals to use deadly force as a first resort," Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement.

Schumer asked Holder's department to probe whether the laws "are creating more violence than they are preventing," and whether potential murders are "going unprosecuted" because of them.

He estimated that 23 states have some form of this law.

Schumer cited statistics in Florida showing that before the law was approved, the state averaged 12 justifiable homicides per year. The average subsequent to the law's enactment was 33.

GOP tweaking law and order message as the tide sympathetic to Killing of Trayvon Martin increases
Meanwhile public opinion and the media showing concern over the "Stand Your Ground Laws" as being a form of Vigilantism which puts everyone at risk.
Given the high profile of the Trayvon Martin case the republicans and conservative appear to have gone into damage control mode fearing the back lash over the "Stand Your Groud Laws" which have been enacted in 26 states.

Republican leaders express sympathy, support 'stand your ground' at Fox News.com ,March 24, 2012

Republicans leaders are saying the fatal shooting of an unarmed Florida teen is a tragedy but remain supportive of the “Stand Your Ground” law the state passed in 2005 and say the legislation doesn’t apply to the case.

Former GOP Gov. Jeb Bush, who signed the bill into law, said Friday evening the law shouldn't protect the neighborhood watch captain who hasn't been arrested in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

"Stand your ground means stand your ground,” Bush said following a speech at the University of Texas at Arlington. “It doesn't mean chase after somebody who's turned their back."


The Young Turks comment on Pastor introducing Rick Santorum at a political/religious rally.
American Evangelical Taliban To Liberals & Non-Christians: 'Get Out' of America! (Santorum Pastor Intro)



The Young Turks comment on Christian Right Pro-Life Leader Randall Terry in a bizarre video in which Terry attacks progressive Media including Rachel Maddow, The Young Turks, Talking Points Memo,Salon .com,mediaMatters.org



Anyway adding to this Randall Terry while speaking to pro-lifers wears a funky purple hat and a Man-Fur (coat) ala Oscar Wilde or Truman Capote. Is he sure he's not Gay.
This seems to be a pattern among the Christian Right pro-Family, Pro-Life anti-Gay extremists that a number of their most outspoken leaders turn out to be Gay. I have no problem with these Conservative leaders being Gay but it is the irony and hypocrisy which is may seem funny but is also disturbing.


Sunday, March 25, 2012

#JusticeForTrayvon Gun Owners Of America Defend George Zimmerman And US Motto "Shoot First "

#JusticeForTrayvon

Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America claims that in fact Trayvon Martin somehow managed to knock his stalker George Zimmerman to the ground and to beat on Zimmerman and at that point George Zimmerman had the right to shoot and kill Trayvon Martin.
Note Larry Pratt has been profiled at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

So according to Larry Pratt and other conservatives no matter how this incident is viewed Zimmerman was in the right and the Black teenager Trayvon Martin was in the wrong.

The basic assumption is either Blacks are always in the wrong and its OK to stalk an African-American because by being black he or she is possibly up to no good. But if a black man were to follow some white guy and the white man turns around and trips the black guy and then the black guy has a right to shoot the white guy ? Or is only the white person allowed to have a gun and allowed to shoot someone he perceives as a threat such as a black guy who was folowing him. Again no matter what the black guy is always in the wrong whereas we are supposed to always give the white guy the benefit of the doubt. This is the very essence of this type of racist based law.

The law grants certain rights to white people while denying the same rights to black people.

Cenk Uygur Blasts Gun Owners of America's Larry Pratt for Defending Murder of Trayvon Martin by Heather via Crooks and Liars March 23,2012


While the media and internet were abuzz with the tragic death of Trayvon Martin the governor of Florida was too busy to really bother about the death of another African-American teenager instead Governor Rick Scott was more concerned with pushing ahead with his Tea Party agenda ie allowing for School Prayer ,drug testing state employees,fighting Obamacare etc.
So as the article below states that Gov. Rick Scott has little interest in dealing fairly with minorities or with the poor.

Trayvon Case Not Exactly Top Priority for Florida's GOP Governor: Between school prayer, drug testing state employees, and fighting Obamacare, Rick Scott has had a few other things going on. —By Adam Weinstein at Mother Jones, March 24,2012


Last Monday, Rick Scott—Florida's beleaguered freshman tea party governor—made a powerful executive decision: He signed legislation to require drug tests of state employees. On Friday, he acted decisively and signed a controversial pro-school-prayer bill into law. His top cop, Republican Attorney General Pam Bondi, spent the week on one of her top priorities: promoting the state's Supreme Court case against President Obama's health care reforms. The state's Republican Party this week also began airing a new pro-Scott ad, two years ahead of his next election, and Scott's also taken to bragging about his recent legislative accomplishments.

Somewhere in there, the governor addressed Trayvon Martin's killing.

As the public furor grows over Martin's shooting and the fate of his killer, Scott—one of the nation's least popular governors, and host of the Republican presidential convention this summer—seems to be struggling with how to respond to the case. It's not that he's done nothing. Last Monday, about the same time the Justice Department expressed its interest in Trayvon's case, he sent a one-paragraph letter to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (the state's FBI) directing the agency to investigate. He met with a group of protesters on Tuesday—though he didn't accede to their wishes to set up a task force on racial profiling.

In Scott's most substantive moves, he appointed a new special prosecutor to the case after meeting with Martin's family, and he's agreed to set up a task force that will investigate the state's expansive "stand your ground" self-defense law. But Scott's chosen prosecutor has been attacked by a respected law school dean as having "no enthusiasm for defending citizens," and the task force will be led by his lieutenant governor, with its members picked by Bondi and four top state legislators—all of them pro-gun Republicans. Scott signaled that the task force would tread carefully on Second Amendment ground, saying in a statement that it would "investigate how to make sure a tragedy such as this does not occur in the future, while at the same time, protecting the fundamental rights of all of our citizens—especially the right to feel protected and safe in our state."

As a result of these moves and his other recent legislative priorities, it's been difficult to gauge just how much interest the governor takes in Trayvon's case. But since taking office 14 months ago, he's made serious missteps before when attempting to engage Florida's minorities; they reacted harshly to his gutting of public schools and social services, his drive for prison privatization and voting-rights restrictions, and his push to drug-test welfare recipients at their expense. He's also been criticized for passing over minorities in his Cabinet and judicial appointments. In December, he tried to connect with a group of black student protesters by mentioning that he'd once lived in public housing. ("We're not poor!" one of them shouted back.)




*Countdown with Keith ...: Ben Jealous of the NAACP demands justice for Trayvon Martin, resignation

Uploaded by Current on Mar 21, 2012
Ben Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, describes his concerns about the Sanford Police Department in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin shooting and calls for the resignation of Sanford, Fla., Police Chief Bill Lee. "In Sanford if you kill a dog you end up in jail the next day. Trayvon Martin was killed, this beautiful boy was killed, and his killer has been allowed to walk the streets for weeks," Jealous says.




"Shoot to Kill" May Soon Be Replacing "In God We Trust" as US Motto by Mark Karlin at Buzzfash ,March 23, 2012

All the white sheets are flying off now, as white males are in open warfare against blacks and women. They've been using code words against Obama for nearly four years (no birth certificate, Muslim, etc.), but now we're just seeing hardcore racism without the filter - and misogyny without the euphemisms.

One comment on Facebook, in response to yesterday's BuzzFlash at Truthout commentary ("If Zimmerman Were Black and Trayvon Martin a White Teenage Athlete, Zimmerman's Ass Would Be in Jail"), nails it: "If Trayvon were white and Zimmerman black, headlines would be 'Crazed Black Man Kills Child for Skittles and Iced Tea.'"

Of course, Glenn Beck hasn't been getting much face time or love lately from the media - which affects his mega-income - so he decided to jump on the verbal lynching band wagon. On his website, the Blaze, Beck has a blog (by Mytheos Host) that basically calls Trayvon Martin a criminal and implies that he was deserving of being shot. Remember when blacks were lynched for looking at white women and being accused of being up to "no good."

Racist whites are coming out of the woodwork now. The fear of the other -- black, Muslims, Mexicans - has now become a virulent public cancer destroying our civil society and democratic principles.

With great emotional impact, President Obama stated today that: "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon." It was a powerful reassertion of our social responsibility to having equal rights without regard to race -- or simply being a member of "the other" category. We are one national family.

The Florida "Stand Your Ground"/License to murder law is just lynching with a bullet - along with a get out of jail free card.

At a gun range courting the NRA vote in Louisiana, Rick Santorum took a couple of shots as a supporter shouted "pretend it's [the target] is Obama."

"Shoot to Kill" may soon be replacing "In God We Trust" as the official motto of the United States.

Newt gingrich accuses Obama of inciting racism but this remember is the guy who said no more Mosques should be permitted to be built in the USA until Saudi Arabia allows Chritians to build churches in Saudi Arabia . Gingrich laughably claimed the Mosque Islamic center built in New York near the 9/11 ground zero was built to show that Islam was on its way to taking over America.

Newt Gingrich Condemns President Obama’s Thoughtful Words About Trayvon Martin, Calls Them ‘Appalling’ (AUDIO) by Stephen D. Foster jr. at addictinginfo.org March 24, 2012

What is truly appalling is that Newt Gingrich would use this tragedy as an opportunity to accuse the President of being a racist, when in fact, President Obama was being personal and identifying with the family who lost their son. If Gingrich had actually paid attention to everything President Obama said, he would have heard the President trying to unify Americans. Instead, Gingrich chose to be nasty as always. Here is what President Obama had to say in full.

“I’ve got to be careful about my statements to make sure we’re not impairing any investigation that’s taking place right now. But obviously this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through and when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids. I think that every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this, and that everybody pulls together, federal, state and local to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened…But my main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon. And I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and we’re going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.”

Supporters of ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws don’t back down by Brian Wellner qcttimes.com March 24,2012


Sponsors of “Stand Your Ground” legislation in Iowa and Illinois said they still intend to push their respective self-defense gun bills even in light of the national debate spawned by the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida.
Florida is among 21 states with “Stand Your Ground” laws that give people wide latitude to use deadly force rather than retreat during a fight, regardless of whether the action takes place in one’s home or on the street. Iowa and Illinois have “Castle laws,” in which the use of deadly force in self-defense is restricted to one’s home.
A Quad-City area lawmaker said he sponsored a “Stand Your Ground” bill in Springfield last month that languished. He intends to reintroduce it again.
“I support the lawfulness of using very strong force, if necessary deadly force, in self defense when you’re off your property,” Rep. Rich Morthland, a Republican from Cordova, said Friday. “I think it’s appropriate.”
Morthland said what happened in Florida is a tragedy and echoed President Barack Obama’s comments Friday morning that every aspect of the case needs to be investigated.

Jason Rosenbloom in 2006 considers himself the first victim of the Florida "Shoot First Law" and he believes bcause of that law he did not see justice done in his case. His case shows one could use any number of excuses claiming you feared for your life.

Florida man lives to tell of 'shoot first' horror by Tom Brown Reuters, March 13


MIAMI (Reuters) - On June 5, 2006, not long after Florida enacted the first "Stand Your Ground" law in the United States, unarmed Jason Rosenbloom was shot in the stomach and chest by his next-door neighbor after a shouting match over trash.

Exactly what happened that day in Clearwater, Florida, is still open to dispute. Kenneth Allen, a retired police officer, said he shot Rosenbloom because he was trying to storm into his house.
Rosenbloom told Reuters in a telephone interview this week he never tried to enter the house and was in Allen's yard, about 10 feet (3 meters) from his front door, when he was shot moments after he put his hands up.

Now living in Hawaii, Rosenbloom said he had been unaware of the growing outrage over last month's shooting in Sanford, Florida, of an unarmed black teenager by a neighborhood watch captain.

...Allen was not arrested in the shooting of Rosenbloom. Sergeant Tom Nestor of the Pinella's County Sheriff's Office said Allen was found to have acted in self-defense when he pumped two rounds into Rosenbloom with his 9mm semi-automatic pistol.

"He meant for me to be dead and he never called 911," said Rosenbloom, 36, adding that Allen, now 65, bent over him and using an expletive, warned him not to tangle "with an ex-cop" as he lay bleeding on the ground.

"The police closed it on his words alone," said Rosenbloom, explaining how the case that began with a complaint about him leaving eight trash bags on the curb instead of the regulation six, was closed after what he described as only a summary investigation.

"They made me the bad guy," he added.

Allen, contacted by phone in rural Georgia, said on Thursday he had "no regrets" about shooting Rosenbloom, describing him as a "little punk" who was "lucky to be alive."
He denied using profanity after shooting his neighbor, who he claimed had forced his way into the house and threatened to "beat my ass."


DNC chair: Repeal ‘Stand Your Ground’ law by david Ferguson at RawStory.com,March 24,2012

Democratic National Committee chairperson and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz has called publicly for the repeal of the so-called “Stand Your Ground” law, according to a post at Talking Points Memo’s Livewire blog.

The controversial law broadened the definition of what is considered acceptable force for private citizens to use when defending themselves and their property. It has been cited in defense of George Zimmerman, the Sanford, Florida man who shot and killed teenager Trayvon Martin in February.

Wasserman-Schultz posted on Twitter earlier today that the Martin case “is further evidence that Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground Law,’ which passed in 2005, needs to be repealed. The failure of the Sanford police to further investigate this crime as a result of their interpretation of this law is an injustice to Trayvon’s family and to all Floridians.”

The law is part of an initiative by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which has worked closely with the NRA to launch similar initiatives in state and local governments across the country. Opponents of the law argued in 2005 that “Stand Your Ground” would promote a culture of violence and result in “racially motivated killings.”

----
For the truly bizarre in US politics aseveral republicans tell American women to donate to Democrats in order that they have a voice in government.

GOP congressman to women: Give your money to Democrats by David Ferguson at rawstory.com, March 23,2012

Congressman Richard Hanna (R-NY) made a surprising request of women at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment yesterday. According to a report at Huffington Post, the Republican Representative told women to open their wallets, dig deep and donate their money…to Democrats.

“I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under assault,” he said, “I’ll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side — my side — has a lot of it. And you need to send your own message. You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can’t succeed without your help.”

Hanna is a pro-choice Republican and co-sponsor of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was passed by Congress in 1972, but which has yet to be ratified by the necessary 38 states to become established law. He was joined at the rally by his colleague, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, also of New York.

From the podium, Maloney mused that politics and society would be different today had the ERA passed at its inception. ”If equality had been enshrined in the Constitution for these past 40 years, I wonder if we would still be hearing today from right-wing presidential contenders that women should not serve in combat, that women should think twice before they seek to work outside of the house, that women should not use birth control, and that women who do are called names that are not fit to repeat here,” Huffington Post quotes her as saying.

Hanna has broken with his party on women’s issues, and urged women voters to throw their support behind the other side, perhaps in hopes of ultimately building a stronger Republican coalition. Polls have shown that the GOP is hemorrhaging women voters since the party decided to make women’s health issues into a major plank in its 2012 electoral platform.
------
And here's more from the extremists who  now dominate the GOP and the Religious Right and the Conservative movement who intend to push for more laws to limit the rights of women over reproductive issues and even concerning divorce.

Rick Santorum told women who were pregnant after being raped that they must realize that the child was a gift from God and therefore they have no right to an abortion. Now another republican chimes in :

"...Wisconsin Rep. Don Pridemore helpfully suggests that, rather than divorcing an abusive spouse, you should try to remember the things you love about the guy while he is beating you up"
so now these conservatives want to restrict the laws on divorce or at least encourage women to stop complaing about physical abuse.

Wisconsin Lawmaker: If You Are Being Beaten, Just Remember the Things You Love About Your Husband by Jodi Jacobson at RH RealityCheck.org, March 23,2012





Saturday, March 24, 2012

#wearetrayvonmartin Obama Speaks On Trayvon Martin Geraldo Blaming the Hoodie And Maddow On Jeb Bush's Shoot First Law



One can hope that Obama will himself change from being dismissive or complacent or in denial of how widespread and deeply held racism is in America. Unfortunately the Trayvon Martin killing is not an isolated incident but rather part of a pattern of the killing of African -Americans and other minorities.

But also part of this pattern is that of police forces from Portland California to New York City to Denver to Florida to Arizona inventing a multitude of excuses for harassing African Americans and Hispanic Americans . The NYP uses a stop and search program in which they have stopped thousands of African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans not just late at night but in the day time insisting they the police have the right to do this even when there is no reasonable cause . The police it appears believe that the color of one's skin makes one a suspicious character. So the NYPD uses this tactic on predominately Blacks and Hispanics.
But police officers and police forces across America act as if the members of these minority groups do not have the same rights as other ie caucasian Americans.
So in order to defend their actions police lobby for laws that will give them the freedom to treat certain groups of citizens differently than others.
As is well known the American prisons hold a disproportionately larger number of Blacks and Hispanics compared to whites even though time and again studies show that all three groups commit crimes at the same rate. So blacks and Hispanics are no more likely to break the law than white Americans. Yet the prisons are filled with African and Hispanic Americans and is just an extension of Jim Crow and keeping minorities in their place.
These are issues which President Obama must address if he really wants to create a more just America. So the laws of the land are enforced differently given the color of one's skin.
As has been mentioned many times that the War on Drugs has become in the USA a war on African and Hispanic Americans. These laws are enforced rigorously on these minorities while are enforced a lot less rigorously on White Americans.


The shooter in this case was not a police officer but rather a vigilante who held racist views in which he stereotyped all young black men and teenagers as a threat to the community. Trayvon was not doing anything except walking back from the 7-11 to his father's house in a Gated Community. Zimmerman followed Trayvon and then shot him. Zimmerman made some racial slurs while on the phone to police saying those F... Coons so he was probably predisposed to not trust black people in general. His story that he shot Trayvon in self defense makes no sense since he was the one armed.
We also know now that Trayvon had called his girl friend on his cell phone telling her he was a bit frightened because some strange man was following him.

According to Geralo Rivera and Fox panel Hoodies are evil and Trayvon Martin put himself at risk by wearing a hoodie. Jeraldo Rivera blames the hoodie as much as the vigilante racist Zimmerman for Trayvon's death. By extension Jeraldo and the Fox News Channel panel blame the parents for letting their children wear hoodies or saggy pants. It's like blaming the rape victim for wearing seductive or sexy clothes and so forth so these bozos claim she was asking for trouble.

Geraldo Rivera Blames Trayvon Martin (Or His Parents) For Wearing Hoodie


Geraldo Rivera: Hoodies to Blame for Trayvon Martin Killing
Sam Seder attacks Geraldo's Hoodie Defense

Uploaded by SamSeder on Mar 23, 2012
From the Majority Report, live M-F 11:30am EST and via daily podcast at http://Majority.FM:
Guns didn't kill Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman didn't kill Trayvon Martin. Hoodies did, at least, according to Geraldo Rivera...





The reason the shooter racist vigilante Zimmerman wasn't arrested or more thoroughly questioned was because of Florida's outrageous "Stand Your Ground Law" The law says that a person even in a public place is permitted to shoot someone they feel they are threatened by . So the average white racist may feel threatened whenever they see an African American or Hispanic American and so could shoot someone who was approaching them asking for directions, or the time or who may have mistook them for someone else.


Geraldo makes matters worse by talking about Muslim Americans dressing like Muslims or Arabs and having untrimmed beards. So Muslim Americans and Sikhs or Rastafarians should cut their hair and beards to look more like average white Americans so they are not arrested or shot based upon their appearance. So much for individual rights ???

In response to this people outraged by the killing and the excuses for it including what Trayvon was wearing to protest against such stereotyping held a million hoodies march.


*Countdown with Keith ...: Ben Jealous of the NAACP demands justice for Trayvon Martin, resignation

Uploaded by Current on Mar 21, 2012
Ben Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, describes his concerns about the Sanford Police Department in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin shooting and calls for the resignation of Sanford, Fla., Police Chief Bill Lee. "In Sanford if you kill a dog you end up in jail the next day. Trayvon Martin was killed, this beautiful boy was killed, and his killer has been allowed to walk the streets for weeks," Jealous says.



New Lynching Style laws put into practice -Shoot first ask questions later
When Lynches were carried out mainly in the Southern States more often than not local police and other people in positions of authority and power the notables took part or turned a blind eye. The people who took part in lynchings were just a cross section of local white citizens . Lynching supposedly is no longer condoned but it has been replaced by police officers who believe that either overtly or are tacitly given permission to carry out what is tantamount to an Execution where the police officers act as judge, jury and executioner and more often than not they the police being on the side of the white elites in America get away with these extrajudicial killings especially if the person killed is black or hispanic.

This Stand Your Ground law in Florida and 16 other states is a way to give average citizens the same rights as a police officer to shoot someone rather than walking away or calling for help or phoning the police whether the incident occurs in a shopping mall or or on a sidewalk or in one's own home.
So as Thom Hartman and others point out such laws are brought about by people who believe that crime is on the rise when in fact it has been going down steadily since 1990.
Though I believe this is just racist attitudes being reflected in legislation which favors whites over visible minorities.
One can easily surmise if the police arrived on the scene of Trayvon's murder if instead it was a black man or black teenager holding a gun standing over a dead white teenager or white man the Black man would be arrested and roughed up unless instead the police decided to fill the Black man or teenager with lead .

It was Jeb Bush as governor of Florida who passed this new lynching style law in Florida some five years ago . It has led to a number of deaths for which the shooters were allowed to walk claiming self-defense.

Maddow defends Trayvon Martin; BLASTS Florida GOP for 'Stand your Ground' Law

Uploaded by orangecountyfldems on Mar 21, 2012
Rachel Maddow reviews the facts in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, and connects the dots to Jeb Bush allowing the 'stand your ground' law to pass in Florida. The tragic consequences of his lapse in good governance now overshadows the good press he'd hoped to offer Mitt Romney with an endorsement. -- TRMS



Though I would add as a side-bar:

Though it should be added that these police forces have been used to attack, harass, beat up, pepper-spray people taking part in the Occupy movement especially notable in New York, in Portland, Chicago on University campuses etc.. But in those cases the violent response of the police has been noted in part because groups of white Americans demonstrating are not usually treated that way.
But let me add that the police brutality meted out against Occupiers is not justified and for unknown reasons President Obama and AG Eric Holder have said and done nothing to investigate these obvious cases of police brutality and the contravention of the civil rights of these American citizens. This just goes to illustrate that the USA in certain ways is no better than some third world countries where the government and elite are indifferent to the treatment of citizens by police or military . The needs of the majority the 99% are sacrificed to the needs and greed and corruption of the 1% and their upper class enablers in this case including the majority of politicians, the government , the Pentagon and military industrial complex and Security and intelligence agencies.

The OWS protesters have been marginalized and demonized as a real threat to America .The thing is that these white mainly middle class university students or graduates being roughed up and gassed or pepper-sprayed/Maced, beaten, corralled or kettled during a peaceful protest is a shock to them since they have usually been treated better than those who are black or Hispanic. Now they get a better idea of how minorities are treated on a daily basis in America by those in positions of authority.

The police forces across America since 9/11 have been granted more leeway in the manner they treat any American citizen. It appears that the police act as if they are at war with their fellow Americans whatever the color of their skin .
Just go to Youtube for instance and watch the thousands of videos of police abusing citizens and ignoring their basic rights as guaranteed in the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights and court decisions affecting those rights.

For more on the subject of racism, police brutality and the mass incarceration of Black and Hispanic Americans see this selection of my earlier posts :


MLK's Dream Deferred : USA Apartheid and Democracy Now! "The New Jim Crow " by Michelle Alexander 1/2 at Gord's Poetry Factory,Jan.15,2012

Racist Jim Crow Laws Replaced By Mass Incarceration of African-Americans at Gord's Poetry Factory,May 09,2011

2 Million and Counting & The Racist Motivated War On Drugs: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander at Gord's Poetry Factory ,March 11 2010

Democracy Now & PBS Freedom Riders & Jim Crow Apartheid America at Gord's Poetry Factory, May 8,2010

Sheriff Joe Arpaio The Big Winner With The Passage of Arizona's Apartheid Style Anti-immigrant Law at Gord's Poetry Factory, May 02,2010

" Is Racism A Mental Illness ?" Conservatives Defend Offensive Racist Cartoon Slandering President Obama while Sarah Palin Calls Obama A Traitor at Gord's Poetry Factory,April 17,2010

#OWS Update: Stop Racist Mass Incarceration & Prisons For Profits Meanwhile Consumers Getting Robbed, Ripped-Off & Screwed By Investors and Oil Companies at Gord's Poetry Factory, February 23, 2012

Slavery, Racism, Segregation, Lynchings & The Celebration of The Confederacy of Southern United States at Gord's Poetry Factory, April 19,2010

American Apartheid: The Civil Rights Movement, "Jim Crow " the KKK & The 1979 Greensboro Massacre at Gord's Poetry Factory, September 22,2008

Glenn Beck's Hate Project: "America For Americans " & " Obama's Thugocracy" Part 4 at Gord's Poetry Factory,September 27, 2009



Friday, March 23, 2012

UPDATE: TYT 's first reaction to Trayvon Martin murder case

US Legalizes Lynchings and Executions :Trayvon Martin's Murderer Zimmerman In 911 Tape "F***ing Coons" Racism Alive and Well in Florida :Thom Hartmann Legal to Shoot a black teen in FL, but illegal to Shoot a Dog? Jim Crow Alive in USA???



The Lynching and execution of Black American Teenager Trayvon Martin
first some background and then commentary by Thom Hartmann and The Young Turks followed by my rant or perspective.

FLORIDA FAMILY SEEKS JUSTICE AFTER UNARMED TEEN SHOT BY NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

Uploaded by copwatchnews on Mar 10, 2012
The family of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is demanding answers after police have yet to release 911 tapes or make an arrest nearly one month after the unarmed African-American teenager was shot and killed by a white neighborhood watch captain in a gated Florida community.
Trayvon Martin was visiting his father, Tracy, who lives in a gated community in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, during NBA All Star Weekend. On Feb. 26, Martin went out to buy snacks during the game and was on his way back from a local convenience store, carrying only Skittles and an iced tea, when he was spotted by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman, a 26-year-old captain of the neighborhood watch, called the police to report a suspicious person in the area.

NOTE: According to the Martin family lawyer, Ben Crump, police told Zimmerman they would be there shortly and advised him to stand down, advice which he disregarded. Instead Zimmerman, whom Crump referred to as a "loose cannon," confronted the teen on the sidewalk near his father's home.


A police report indicated that Zimmerman, who was armed with a handgun, was found bleeding from the nose and the back of the head, standing over Martin, who was unresponsive after being shot. According to the report, an officer at the scene overheard Zimmerman saying, "I was yelling for someone to help me but no one would help me."

Despite his admission that he shot Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman was not arrested by police, only taken in for questioning, a move that has Martin's family infuriated.

NOTE: Further investigation by Crump revealed a past history of violence by Zimmerman, who was arrested in 2005 for resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.

Tracy Martin described his son, who loved sports and dreamed of being an aviation mechanic, as "a real mild-mannered young man," who "never got in trouble, never had any trouble with the law." The family is calling for Zimmerman's arrest so that, in Tracy Martin's words, "Justice can be served."
"If Trayvon Martin had been the trigger man, he would have been arrested," said his father.
Local police declined to comment on the case at this time although they did provide ABC News with a copy of the police report. The 911 tapes, say police, will be released next week - 9 March 2010





Thom Hartmann is outraged by the way the shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin was handled by the police. He says the FBI is investigating but I would say that given the FBIs record it tends to favor the police over the complaints of the citizenry or the media. And there is no incentive to do otherwise .


Legal to shoot a black teen in FL, but illegal to shoot a dog?

Uploaded by thomhartmann on Mar 20, 2012
Thom Hartmann discusses Florida's "shoot first" law and how it apparently played a role in the death of a black teen, shot by a neighborhood watch captain.



The Young Turks Cenk Uygur discuss 911 tape of the Trayvon Martin killing in which the gun man self-styled neighborhood watch vigilante Zimmerman appears to say "F***ing Coons" when talking to police on the 911 tape in characterizing Trayvon Martin a black teenager .

Trayvon Martin 911 Call - Did George Zimmerman Say 'F*ng Coons'?

Uploaded by TheYoungTurks on Mar 20, 2012
Did George Zimmerman, the infamous yet-to-be-arrested shooter of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, say "fucking coons" in his 911 call? Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks share their take. Many already believe Zimmeran singled out Martin as 'suspicious' simply because he was black.


And now my perspective and rant on the murder execution style or lynching of Trayvon Martin.

It appears that racism is alive and well in the USA even though the President of the USA is himself black.
There are those especially the members of the Conservative Movement and the Republicans and some Democrats and pseudo-liberals who after the election of President Obama proclaimed erroneously that now America was post-racism .

Just because there is a black man in the White House does not mean that now there are no racist in America or that there are no politicians or members of the media who are racist.

Defeating the prevalent and systemic racism in America can not be done by merely wishing it away or by a wave of a magic wand or merely by using the power of positive thinking.

To many Conservatives in America racism supposedly was never that big of an issue anyway. They like to deny the devastating effect on African-Americans by the Ku Klux Klan or by racist who controlled most of the Southern states and almost all of the towns and cities in the South.

The Conservatives like to play down the absence of anti-Lynching laws in the South or the North.
The numbers of African Americans murdered by Lynching is also down played and even dismissed out of hand as if Lynchings were an aberration rather than a frequent occurrence in America from 1865 to 1965 . Some would claim Lynchings rarely took place after 1940 or so but this is only true if by lynching one means a mob grabbing a black man and hanging him from a tree. But a lynching could be carried out by a couple of white citizens out of view of the public. Sometimes Blacks were just disappeared . Some 12,000 mostly African Americans are recorded as being lynched. But there also incidences of outright massacres of African-Americans by enraged white mobs .

Lynching some would call a form of rough justice dating it back to the Wild West as if such lynchings were the only way to see justice done. This is far from the case in the Lynching or extra-judicial executions of African Americans. More often than not those who were lynched were not guilty of any crime. Lynching in part was a tactic to terrorize African-Americans to remind them that white people were the ones in positions of authority and that all African-Americans were not equal to white Americans and that they were therefore of a lower status and had no rights .

It was not until 1965 that the rights of African-Americans were finally put into law and protected by the Federal Government and the courts.

Since that time many African Americans have been harassed ,assaulted and murdered by police and by white American citizens across America in most cases with impunity. The police are more often than not defended by those in authority. And when police are made accountable it is only because there is some public outrage over the shooting but even then the punishment handed out were and are light and somewhat laughable .

The message to police by those in authority is to make sure there are no witnesses or someone video taping when beating up or murdering African-Americans.

As for the average white citizen who murders a black american often the cases are not brought to trial or if they are the trial is a sham more often than not.

Unfortunately these injustices are still carried out against African-Americans on a daily basis including harassment such as stop and search for being Black while walking and pulling over African-Americans on the streets and highways because they are guilty or suspicious because they are Black while driving , they are then often treated roughly physically or with verbal abuse and intimidation and the unfortunate they can be arrested beaten or just shot .

In Florida they have a law which permits anyone even in a public place to shoot and kill someone if they feel threatened.
This law instituted by Jeb Bush as governor of Florida five years ago and is referred to as the Stand Your Ground Law and it is easy to see how citizens could take advantage of this law and murder someone who is not really a threat .

This law is rather outrageous since the shooter doesn't need to be made to stand trial or even go before a judge to explain the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

So the law which allows one to shoot first and ask questions later is a re-introduction of permitting rough justice and therefore allows for someone to execute another person with impunity-this it could be argued is just a new form of Lynching aimed mainly at visible minorities including African Americans and Hispanic Americans.

This is so called justice in America. Unfortunately President Obama and his regime has done little to either investigate the prevalence of racist laws and racist motivated actions on the part of police forces or of individuals on a police force.

Obama should have if he were concerned about such basic issues of justice set up some sort of task force or Congressional committee or other such group for instance by the Department of Justice similar for instance to the one set up by Robert Kennedy as Attorney General to investigate the Mafia.

Is Obama reluctant to do this because white Americans and the Republican party would object or because he doesn't see the issue as that important since it mainly affects poor African Americans and other visible minorities such as Hispanic Americans or those who are for instance Muslim Americans.

It seems odd that the African American community is not calling President Obama out on this issue which they should.
But as we have seen with the police brutality meted out to members of the Occupy Movement that Obama doesn't see it as a major issue or that it is up to local police forces to police themselves or he just supports the police unconditionally and some might suggest that Obama has been giving 'a wink and a nod' to the use of brutal force against occupiers or any other dissident groups. So he's not going to step in when the police or vigilantes mete out justice in their own way as it were.