Rev. Al: 9-year-old Trayvon pulled Dad out of burning house, dialed 911

[Amerigo Vespucci]

This is heartbreaking...his family is on and his Dad said "He almost gave his live for me, I won't stop fighting for justice until the day I die."

[CatWoman]

1. Niagra Falls here

[freshwest]

4. +1

[HipChick]

2. Trayvon is all of our sons now, we all should not stop fighting to get justice for him...

[LiberalEsto]

23. Beautifully stated.

[IndyJones]

38. That's how a lot of us feel. I want the justice system to work the way it should. I'm just sick

over that poor child's death.

[GentryDixon]

3. So, so sad.

Our country has been destroyed by conservative Republicans.

Thanks Sarah, you started this.

[RZM]

9. This is the second time I've seen Palin referenced in the Trayvon shooting

Why do we have to shoehorn her into every news story? She's not even all that influential.

And she didn't start anything. Racism, class issues, and gun violence have not been affected at all by Sarah Palin. They were serious problems before anybody outside of Alaska had ever heard of her. She'd be irrelevant if liberals would just stop obsessing over her.

Not trying to single you out here. It's just a bit of a pet peeve.

[GentryDixon]

11. You are correct about the

systemic problems, but in my opinion she made it "acceptable" to put the hate out there to influence the ill informed.

Opinions, we all have them.

[malaise]

16. Come on Rush Scumbaugh has been preaching hate for decades

Palin is a newbie when compared with Rush

[Aerows]

34. Exactly

He gave all of the right-wingers Limbaugh-tomies way before she hit the scene.

[CTyankee]

31. I agree that she was complicit in making hate speech acceptable.

In her "wonderful" acceptance speech at the repub convention in 08 she made a reference to herself as a "pitbull," later referenced herself to a grizzly bear, and specifically singled out "community organizer" (code for "black&quot for being a bad thing and a lazy thing. All of this signaled to the base that she was an ugly, vicious fighter (which is unfair to the animals involved!). What kind of people depict their character with such violent imagery?

Maybe that video of her talking while turkeys were being beheaded in the background was just window dressing, the backdrop of her evil narrative that wants to bring death and destruction to the lives of the poor and the nonwhite.

It is not sexist to demand that she be held accountable for her own image making.

[DallasNE]

25. "She Didn't Start Anything"???????

Who was it that produced the graphic poster with gunsights plastered over something like 17 Democratic House districts including that of Gabby Giffords. I think Giffords would take exception to your statement that gun violence has "not been affected at all by Sarah Palin".

[RZM]

26. My point is that people place way too much stock in what she says and does

She's not nearly as influential or important as the left makes her out to be.

I'm not here to rehash the Giffords thing. But I believe Loughner is a wacky nutjob and he would have done what he did with or without Palin's stupid map. I've never seen any evidence that he even saw it.

[rustydog]

21. Sarah did not start this, but she certainly held the torch high

[BlueToTheBone]

35. I'd say Lee Atwater

was a big part of what is happening today. Sarah is just a stupid woman with a huge ego and a nasty mouth. She doesn't get to have full credit for the horror that is the Republican party.

[liberalhistorian]

5. Not only that, but his father made

clear that Trayvon had respect for the law and his grandfather was a cop for thirty years. Zimmerman, otoh, was a nutjob with a record that includes assault of a cop and domestic violence. Yet Sanford and Friends continue to try to whitewash the murderer and vilify the victim.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. "Self-appointed Neighborhood Watch member, serial 911 caller"

All of these facts...not allegations, facts...surrounding Zimmerman, and yet local law enforcement isn't blinking.

[liberalhistorian]

13. Not to mention his criminal record, including

assault of a cop. That is why I just simply cannot understand their protection of him and their circling the wagons. It simply makes no sense, unless there's something else going on, like he's an informer or has some serious connections or maybe even has something on them. There HAS to be something else involved here.

[Shirley0401]

28. simple answer

He's white. The issue isn't JUST race, but it's got to be mostly race. The authorities were inclined, just as he was, to imagine all-too-easily how this boy could have been some sort of threat. I'm sure most of them don't actually believe, if you asked them, that all black people are criminals. But it's a question of assumption.
Since it blew up in their faces, they're going to do all they can to throw other explanations at the wall until something sticks. Their only other option is to publicly admit that they just assumed the white adult was telling the truth and that the black kid must have been up to no good.

[liberalhistorian]

30. Well, I don't doubt that it's racial,

especially on the part of the police, but Zimmerman is Hispanic, not "white." Of course, that doesn't mean at all that he can't be racist against other minorities, including blacks, which I firmly believe he is based on the 911 calls. What drives me crazy is the assertion of many, including his father, that he CAN'T be racist because he's Hispanic. That's bullshit.

And I didn't know that the current police chief had been brought in last May to help clean up and heal the department based on several incidents, including the one where the police lt.'s son beat up a homeless black man and was never arrested for it. And the same officers who responded to that incident and who made the decision on the ground not to arrest the son were, surprise surprise, the same ones who responded to this particular incident. Sounds like the whole police dept. needs to be seriously cleaned up and cleaned out.

[chill_wind]

37. Good points.

And Mother Jones has a bit more about the disturbing history of the Sanford PD.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/what-happened-trayvon-martin-explained

[Cali_Democrat]

6. And Zimmerman took the kid's life...

for walking while black.

[Faryn Balyncd]

8. My God!

[DianaForRussFeingold]

10. He was a HERO at nine years old...K&R

Trayvon pulled his dad from a fire..

I was watching his parents on MSNBC..
My heart aches for them!

[myrna minx]

12. I burst into tears while watching his parents.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

14. It was tough watching his Mom refer to her "baby boy."

I'm not a parent, I can't put myself in the shoes of anyone who is, especially in a situation like this. I can't even imagine the level of grief his family is suffering, and worse, they are suffering it under the watchful eye of the media.

Let's hope justice comes sooner than later.

[TBF]

33. They are always our babies -

I have two now and completely understand.

A few years ago my own dad had a heart attack and his new wife (who the rest of us tolerate but aren't close to) called me, but did not call his mother or sisters. When I called grandma to tell her she was furious that she had not been called immediately. She is 84 now and he is 66 - but he is still her baby.

[malaise]

15. I heard that and burst into tears

and he couldn't even save his son from that scumbag. They must be in so much pain over this senseless slaughter.

[Mnemosyne]

17. ...

[aquart]

18. A hero. The armed creep murdered a hero.

[Wait Wut]

19. It's times like this...

...I want there to be a God. Not the God of any manmade religion, but a God that we couldn't be aware of. One that has welcomed Trayvon and given him a new life. One that waits for Zimmerman and shows him how beautiful the life he took was. Shows him the smile he took from so many.

I want. I can't imagine what his parents wish.

[Odin2005]

20. !!!!!!!!!!!!

[MrMickeysMom]

22. Obviously a threat

Trayvon Martin, God bless your soul.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

24. ......

no words

[uponit7771]

27. If the stupid law that is protecting Zimmerman is repealed he'll be a hero again

....his grades were good.

such..

damn

[Uncle Joe]

29. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Amerigo Vespucci.

[WI_DEM]

32. Meanwhile Zimmerman is playing Barney Fife with a real gun.

[Mopar151]

36. Wannabe cops are kinda scary....

Paranoid and delusional, the last people you'd want to be real cops. My man "Mick Belker" (Hill St. Blues) said it best " We found the bad guys, Cap'n. They're all in his head, playin' Canasta."

[baldguy]

39. Trayvon saved a human life - George took one.

Who's still walking around, alive & free?