hiow much you wanna bet

If the state loses tourism dollars, Florida pols will use that an an excuse to drill baby drill.

An open appeal to any buisness wanting to move to Florida.

DON'T

I hate boycotts because they burn those of us who are liberal, who got this state BLUE for the past two elections, but now, i think that at the very least, central Florida needs to realize they cannot hide their redneck tattoos under a rich evening gown. Rick Scott needs to see that no one who wants to hire is dumb enopugh to get stuck in the mess of a state he has made.

FR is having a party

I wanted to be wrong (Zimmerman)

and I got accused of being a racist because I warned what could happen if Zimmerman walked.

I honestly thought they would at least give him Manslaughter, the laws way of saying "we could not convict you for murder, but we see your conduct was wrong, recklessly putting lives at danger and needs discouraging."

But That is is not the case, and I know that in this state, gun shop owners and GOP pols are lighting cigars, and this is the area that just got freed from the Voting Rights act.

2014 and 2016 will draw blood, as they know they only need to shoot one person to cause chaos.

Why some of us are worried about Zimmerman

Disclaimer: central Florida resident, not far from where this is going down.

I know that the Zimmerman trial annoys some people, and I can understand why, especially as the National Media, too afraid to work on real issues, latched on to this case and went "Oh Goodie, ratings for something other than policy that no one understands, including ourselves."

However, let me explain why the idea of Zimmerman getting off scot-free is a serious matter, and no, it is nothign to do with OJ style race riots.

Here in central Florida, we have a LOT of people who happen to be a combination of hardcore racists, and hardcore gun lovers. These are not just the good old boys, these are people who actively support militias, and who will tell you, with a straight face and clear voice, that they think they are in a civil war, with Blacks and Hispanics taking THEIR state from them. Some of these folks are old Dixie types, and some of them are New Yorkers that felt the blacks drove them out of "their" city. They have been angry ever since 2000, and when Obama won office, they got livid.

What Zimmerman did was nothign less than wish fulfillment for many White Floridians. It's and ugly fact, but true. Go to the Web Pages of papers like the Tampa Bay Times, and read as people alternate between being the cold, matter of fact killers to people the KKK would consider too crazy to recruit.

Now, what is scary is that this it that swing state of swing states, the ones where every governor from Jeb Bush to Rick Scott made a mess of the vote, and no one cared. Despite antics that are at best, incompetence, at worst, outright treason, this state went Blue.

But then again, we did not have a bunch of potential "lone wolves" out there, empowered by the Zimmerman verdict, who saw that Z will get money, be a hero, hell even get on Glenn Neck. All you need is one bullet, but there will be more, especially once the powers that be realize that if some Vote worker gets shot, people will stay indoors.

Laugh if you want to, look and you will know better than to laugh. This was an area that the VRA had to hold in place.

OK, I'll see your point and raise you one

First off, the fact he was able to walk, that Zimmerman did not even have to make bail, shows preferential treatment. It also allowed for a lot of evidence to get washed into the sewer, literally and figuratively. He was also able to have time to fund raise, which got him a better class of lawyer, as well as poison the jury pool.

And this was before the trial even begun.

So, yes I understand that we do not want an OJ style media lynch mob, fine, but when the process is skewed, and done so in such a blatant manner, where no one even has to pretend they are staying within limits, than we cannot claim Justice kept her blindfold on.

ok Hear this..

What is at stake is the intent of Zimmerman. We know very well that he was told not to engage. We also know that most neighborhood watch programs discourage lone patrols, and flat out ban weapons.

http://www.huliq.com/3257/national-neighborhood-watch-director-criticizes-zimmermans-actions-trayvon-martin-shooting

From said quote:
In addition, although Zimmerman broke no laws because he has a concealed weapons permit, it's something that Neighborhood Watch strongly discourages. "There's no reason to carry a gun," Tutko said. "You do not carry a weapon during neighborhood watch. If you carry a weapon, you're going to pull it."

So ,this guy was already acting beyond the limits set aside by the NATIONAL DIRECTOR of neighborhood watch. He was also taped as saying "they always get away, fu___ing Goons." I will not even get into the debate about whether he really said "goons" or a word that would just happen to describe the race of the dozen people he called in about the week before.

And yes,he had to prove he felt threatened. He felt threatened knowing he was armed, not knowing if the kid was armed.

I apologize to sound mean, but this issue, more than any NSA issue, or the usual fighting amongst ourselves, is what really makes me feel that DU has let in some scary people. Most Duers know why the gun lovers want their guns; Michael Moore did a very ugly, but true explanation. And frankly, I shudder to know,not think, know how this will feed into Florida's already crazy profile, with so many people thinking that if they went back to the Jim Crow days, they could avoid the chaos their beloved GOP has inflicted.

Something not discussed

This case is very much a referendum on "stand your ground." yes, there have been cases where the policy could be debated, but few where the flaws in that law have floated to the surface in such a vile, festering manner.

Zimmerman is the sort of person that admittedly, the writers of that law never imagined: a former cop beater, alcoholic, and domestic abuser walking around with a gun in a neighborhood watch program? One that makes calls on every black male that enters the neighborhood? However, he is a living example of the sort of person, and the sort of case, that shows why this law in dangerous, so of course, gun lovers are circling the wagons around him. It does not help that this state has been on the forefront of laws that somehow make it easier for whites to vote than non whites, and that the Scotus just struck down the Voting Rights Act, meaning that a lot of bigots who have been waiting to shift laws against civil rights are drooling!

I understand that this case should be about a legal matter, however, the cops ruined that when they only brought him in under NATIONAL PROTEST. If Zimmerman was smart enough to head abroad during the month he was allowed to wander, he would be harder to bring back in Florida than Ed Snowden ever would be. Zimmerman has already gotten more of a chance than half the poor sods in Florida's rather infamous Death Row, the one that executes more people than anywhere outside of Texas.

And let us not forget that the GOP wackos are still pissed that we have been a "Blue State" for the past two elections, as people get mobile in this swing state, not wanting a repeat of 2000. I confess, I am scared that someone wacko will make sure to shoot someone, right in time for election, so that people are scared to go to the polls. This was the state where thugs dressed as rent a cops and tried the "true the vote" scheme, to challenge people they thought were illegal. Now of course, they will be able to carry guns.

So, to sum it up, yes, law is law, even if we ignore the fact that a lot of law is written as a weapon of racial bias, which, sadly many do. However, I would appreciate it if people did not go into self-righteous homilies about how this is just a legal matter involving one person, one case.

THAT
IS
BULLSHIT.

The myth may die hard

Or we can make it real with our hands, hearts, and heads.

I wish I was

I know I keep ranting about how I am from Tampa, but our state has a way of being news fodder.

The situation: the right wing down here comes in two flavors:

1) The old confederacy which thinks everything was fine when self described "crackers" ran things
2) ex Northerners who blame Democrats and their support of Minorities for "ruining" back home.

These two vary in their honesty; the mask they wear, but both of them feel that blacks are a threat, and want their gawd-given right to shoot them if they feel threatened, thus why we have Jeb Bush's "stand your ground" laws that make Florida a fine place for psychotics to buy guns.

For example, The Tampa bay times is one of the more liberal newspapers in the nation; it is owned by a non profit so that it cannot be sold to some media Giant, and has become a haven for Liberal reporters that got fired from the Tampa Tribune. However, check out their comment section. You think DU has had infiltration by right wing?, heh, you will see people who state, in clear terms, that Tray deserved to get shot because he was in a white neighborhood. Now,keep in mind, we are one of those areas that the Voting Rights act had a choke on, because our elections had racism, even in 2012, lines for blacks and Hispanics at the polls were longer.

And let's be honest about something, but a disclaimer.

NO, for the 9999th time, I do not think that everyone who criticizes Obama is a racist. I am pissed at the way he let the NSA Bloom, when i hired the guy to either kill or at least cage it.

OK, now that has been done, let's also be honest, many people in Florida refused to allow a black president. It has many shades, from the people who are already on the Hillary 2016 ('because she was more, qualified, than that boy Obama) train to people that decorate their cars with bumper stickers that the EU would classify as "hate speech." The next election, be it Jeb, Hillary, or whoever, they will breathe easier.

I understand we do not want to lynch Zimmerman, but on the other hand, here is a person that many neighborhood watch organizations would have rejected (thanks to his criminal record) who carried a gun (again, many NW orgs would have banned that) and who, after several dozen documented incidents where he was chasing black males, finally said "they always get away." So he got out of his truck, took his gun, and at the very least, put himself in a fight after he was told "we do not need you to do that."

If he gets a slap on the wrist, a clear message will be sent to people that want to intimidate minorities with guns, and frankly, since the SCOTUS gutted the VRA, it is a message that will be acted on, by many little Zimmermans that frankly, will not even need the white sheets to hide their faces, but will brag about it as they bhecome the next TV made celebrity.