For Some, Justice Isn't About Truth -- It's About Politics

We can all be thankful that calm seems to have largely prevailed in the immediate aftermath of the George Zimmerman verdict. For now.

But all manner of race-baiters, rabble-rousers, and political opportunists are lining up for the chance to publicly declare that a person's successful defense of himself against a young, motivated attacker – and his subsequent successful defense of himself in a court of law – is somehow proof that guns – and white people – are bad.

Early on our Narcissist-in-Chief stuck his nose into the middle of this tragedy by uttering racist comments about a case that had nothing to do with race. NBC News's shameless and unprofessional doctoring of George Zimmerman's 9-1-1 call sure looked like an act designed to increase racial tension in this country, even at the expense of truth. News outlets repeatedly used pictures of Trayvon Martin taken when he was 12-years-old, because up-to-date photos of an athletic young man acting like a gangsta didn't fit the narrative they desperately wanted to create. It may be foolish to expect anything approaching intelligent comment from a Member of Congress, but Florida's Rep. Frederica Wilson took things to a new level of irresponsible by declaring that a “sweet young boy” had been “hunted down like a dog, shot in the street”. The Black Panther Party even put a $1 million bounty on Zimmerman's head.

Given all the hysteria and misinformation, it is understandable that the average person might have a rather skewed perception of what took place that night in February 2012. But after hearing the evidence and deliberating for two days, a jury declared Zimmerman “Not Guilty” of all charges. That means he didn't “hunt” Trayvon Martin down; this “sweet young boy” jumped from the bushes and threw George Zimmerman to the ground, smashing his face and pounding his head into the concrete. Zimmerman feared for his life the night he shot Trayvon Martin.

President Obama says we should “honor” Trayvon Martin by asking “if we're doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis.”

Honestly?

This situation is nothing less than tragic, but the president's use of it to first fuel racial hatred and now to push his anti-gun agenda is simply unforgivable.

This wasn't an act of “gun violence” – it was an act of self-defense. According to the verdict – and one would hope a former professor of law would remember that "verdict" is Latin for truth, even without a telaprompter – Zimmerman would be dead right now if he hadn't had a gun.

Following the announcement, New Hampshire State Rep. Rebecca Emerson-Brown (D-Portsmouth) told the Portsmouth Herald she was "saddened" by the verdict. No doubt her experience as an art student and school board member makes her highly qualified to comment on this case. Would she be happier if George Zimmerman had been beaten to death that night?