Jury time deliberating good or bad?

[Turk]

Right, Pablo. The race baiting and keeping the "race card" in play by the media is horrible.

This case met their criteria for stirring up all this. What about all the other killings? What about what happens in Chicago EVERY DAY? See this everyone??

I sure hope most of the regular population sees all this now.

If you don't, WAKE UP!!

 

[Pablo]

Trayvon Martin started his own downhill slide when he decided the thug life was for him. "Did he deserve to die?" is NOT the question now though. That question in a questionable trial has been asked and answered. Zimmerman was acquitted. He is innocent of the crime.

"Why does one race want every case to be a landmark civil rights case when it involves someone of the same supposed group?" could be the question now. It was settled a long time ago. We are all equal under the law in the USA. Get over it. Why turn a local event rife wife stupid decisions into a national example? Well look at the top. HE should never have meddled in this thing. It's a tragedy one young man's life didn't turn into anything, and no one will really know which way the guy would have gone.........but of course the press who seem unable or unwilling to investigate and report current scandals seem to find some racial junk at every turn, so naturally this "child" was killed because he was African-American. Must be true, CNN said so!

I found one quote on a web news piece (AP) particularly interesting but not unique:

Quote:
In Manhattan's Union Square, hundreds of people gathered to voice their passions over the verdict, hoisting placards with images of Martin.

Some tempered their anger, saying they didn't contest the jury's decision based on the legal issues involved.

But "while the verdict may be legal, a system that doesn't take into account what happened is a broken legal system," said Jennifer Lue, 24, an Asian-American resident of Harlem.

"Everyone should feel about this, whether you're Asian-American or African-American," she said.


So what does "a system that doesn't take into account what happened" mean exactly? So all we are told by MLK and all the schooling and everything - skin color doesn't matter. Well unless you are in a court of law, I guess.

 

[DBMaster]

Hear Ye, BITOGers:

Fox and CNN are no more news sources than Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and SNL are. They don't turn current events into comedy, but neither do they "report" in an unbiased fashion.

It was shown recently that watchers of CNN and Fox often know LESS about real current events than people who watch NO TV news.

Where to get objective reporting? Now that is the question. I sometimes flip back and forth between CNN and Fox just to see how much the commentators editorialize, cut off their interviewees when they start saying something the interviewer doesn't like, and actually start arguing with their so-called experts. This is not news.

 

[MrOctober44]

You! Guy`s are a Joke!!! No one deserve to die walking Home? 17 old. All the Thug talk is Crazy! Y`all act like he was the ONLY Bad Kid in WORLD, If he was your Kid it would be a different story! And you got to look at GZ past Too!! it`s two side of the story,

 

[Trav]

The guy was out looking for trouble, found it and ended up going to a gun fight with a box of skittles. The jury agreed. NOT GUILTY! Case close.

Some trumped up Mickey Mouse civil rights charge would be a real crime but with this gang its to be expected.

 

[DBMaster]

Stupid met stupid and death was the result. It happens all the time. I hear almost every weekend about a bar fight that turned into a stabbing or shooting and that is just in my neck of the woods. This is really not much different.

Death is rarely ever "deserved" by those who suffer it. The issue here was one of legal definitions. You are free to disagree with the jury's decision, but if you respect our system of laws you must abide by it.

I, personally, would be very nervous about being judged by a jury that had never heard anything about this case. I know all about the bias issue (see my post about Fox and CNN), but do these people live in caves in the hinterlands? If your only qualification was that you knew little to nothing about the case that is scary in itself.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Originally Posted By: 97tbird
Fox news should be described as a curse that dragged down USA in that history book.


You are joking right? Fox news has a lot of stupidity but they seem to be one of the few TV news outlets not carrying the water and kowtowing to the powers that be. The sycophantic "press" - CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC... they are they not much better than a propaganda group. It's disgusting. You know they never did show any photos of Trayvon Martin after the point he decided to go Thug Life. They only showed little boy pics, not 6'2"+ pictures, smoking, holding guns......why would that be?


The polarization of America has been (sadly) orchestrated by the media. Everyone who squeals loudly about Fox is just repeating the mantra that is the desired outcome. More people now admit to watching Fox for "news" than any other media outlet anywhere. Fox exists because the other major media outlets are "in the tank" for the leftists/liberals and do not reflect reality.

The outright lies reported re: Martin/Zimmerman were but one example of why Fox enjoys such ratings. MSNBC blatantly edited the 911 call to reflect their bias in the case, and the childhood photos of TM were ridiculously prejudicial and designed to foment anger and hate. The folks who bought in believe, and obviously the media has been successful in their efforts.

But some do not. I was in a client's home just this AM, a nice middle aged black man who had the news on the TV as I came into his home. After some discussion it was apparent that this man was very well informed and had realized that the special interests were simply drumming up the racial overtones when this killing had NOTHING to do with race. Our conversation was very illuminating to me, and it gives me hope that not all are drinking the kool aid.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: MrOctober44
You! Guy`s are a Joke!!! No one deserve to die walking Home? 17 old. All the Thug talk is Crazy! Y`all act like he was the ONLY Bad Kid in WORLD, If he was your Kid it would be a different story! And you got to look at GZ past Too!! it`s two side of the story,


Sorry, he was suspended, what 3 times from school for violence. He puched his bus driver in the face. He punched Zimmerman (threw the first punch) in the face and proceeded to bash his head against the concrete. Sorry, that is thug like and I think any one of us would be scared for his life. No doubt he was going to beat the you know what out of "that crazy cracker that was following me".

Yes, he was a thug. Different than getting in a fight or 2 in school and learnig from that and not getting in any more. He was headed in the wrong direction and unfortunately his luck ran out. It's a shame all around but you make your choices and have to live with them.

Oh, and if it were my kid who decided to pursue the tug life and died because of that, yes I would be upset, yes I would mourn him, yes I would wonder what I did wrong. But in the end you make your choices and all you can do is teach right and wrong and the dangers of wrong. If they choose wrong, you can't do much about it other than try to show them right.

 

[DBMaster]

I get the gist of what Steve says above. My prejudice is pretty much against ALL news outlets. I saw very little objective reporting of this case. To me, that is why this case is landmark. I am getting VERY tired of "trial by media." Whether or not a person is really guilty of a crime matters less than you think because they are "rotationally challenged" either way.

If you're guilty and go free, in a case like this, you still cannot enjoy the freedom that is supposed to entail. That is because most of us already tried him based on all the incredibly biased "evidence" presented to us by our favorite spin doctors.

Digging through all the fluff and bias that is called news nowadays pretty much means that even the smartest among us have no clue about what is really going on around us. You have to dig, observe a variety of sources, and then make your own decision. It is HARD people! I question my own opinions all the time now because of this.

Information is all around us and readily available, but like the vast majority of email your friends and family forward you the information is worth exactly what you paid for it.

 

[Mystic]

I am going to go right on watching Fox News no matter what anybody says. I don't know how anybody can stand to watch CBS, NBC, ABC, or MSNBC News unless they are robotic and have drank the kool aid. I am not saying that Fox News is perfect but they certainly do a better job than the other networks. I think Fox News leans a little right wing but they even employ and bring on many liberal commentators. Many of the recent scandals in government have been reported by Fox News and the other news outlets seem to try to conceal those scandals. I took a journalism class in junior high and I was a reporter for the school newspaper. We were taught that the job of the news media is to report honestly the news to the public. We were never taught that the news media was supposed to be a force for social change.

When something happens I sometimes watch CNN in addition to Fox because CNN does a pretty good job with major events, such as the airliner crash in San Francisco. And I will watch local news for local events and for major events like the huge forest fires in Colorado. The major news outlets, even Fox, treated the huge forest fires in Colorado like non-events but they were not non-events in the State of Colorado. But of course Colorado is a 'fly over' state. The fact that the forest fires were largely ignored by the major news media is just one more indication how out of touch they are with important events and with the American people.

 

[DBMaster]

My dad lives in Colorado so I agree that news there is as important as news anywhere.

I see no less bias on Fox than CNN. It's just a different flavor of bias. So, the winds of conservatism can affect the way viewers respond. When things don't seem to be going well socially many will retreat into conservatism. Believe me, I am not a liberal, either. When I watch Fox the commentators LITERALLY state their own opinions.

Kool Aid keeps being mentioned. Jim Jones has forever changed our lexicon. I maintain that ANY polar opinion set is a form of this Kool Aid. Far right and far left cannot be right. But, we do not seem to appreciate moderates much these days. I think that may be the root cause of a lot of our sociopolitical divide. You are allowed to see merit in two arguments and compromise toward a solution, but these days it's "my way or the highway."

I should know. I live in Texas. If we aren't already, we should be the butt of every political joke out there.

 

[MrOctober44]

y`all made like GZ is the Victim! lies and made up story! If the kid was a Thug as all you said he would had a Gun too! and quit bring in RACE the story

 

[SteveSRT8]

I wonder how many folks in TX have actually read the law that has everyone in such an uproar there? I cannot believe that any real person could actually read and comprehend it and vote against it.

The problem there is the same as here, two vastly polarized sides simply cannot bear to agree. Mostly due to a complete mis-information campaign in the media.

Where was the media outrage in Chicago? Last month 12 black children under 18 were shot and killed by other black people. Didn't hear a peep about it. Since GZ shot TM there have been over 500 killed!!!

It's just as much about what is NOT reported as what is.

We are fed a careful diet designed to influence us in a desired direction. Those who realize this are careful to evaluate many differing sources and do a lot of thinking, as well as realize the UNTOLD story.

It is way too hard for some...

 

[DBMaster]

^DING DING DING DING!

I think that is what I was trying to say, but not as concisely. The abortion issue is not what I was talking about, by the way. Texas politics in general has become almost too polarized to be effective. Plus, it doesn't seem like the people at the top have really embraced the whole separation of church and state concept, though, morality and values are an important part of leadership.

Texas is doing this to itself. By making it cheaper to live here and maintaining a lax regulatory environment they are encouraging the influx of the very people that are going to want the handouts and be in favor of liberal politics. So, now this is MY opinion, they are absolutely bringing people into the state that they fully intend to disenfranchise once they are here. Wow.

 

[SteveSRT8]

You may wish to note that when in office our representatives are all about fussin' and a-fightin'.

But when they leave office for lucrative private sector jobs with the very companies that they were regulating they ALL get along just fine!

Amazing?

 

[Mystic]

I used to think of myself as being pretty liberal. I am still a registered Democrat but really I am an independent and I vote for whoever I think will be good. Today the people who consider themselves liberal have moved so far to the left of me that I am like a conservative. I did not change. They changed. I think I am closer to the majority of the American people who are sort of in the middle but not represented by anybody.

I have talked to people from foreign countries and found out what really is happening in several other countries and I am amazed how dysfunctional the American news media is. I talked to a Palestinian Christian recently and what he told me about what is going on in the Middle East was like another world compared to what the American news media reports. I don't really know how a person goes about finding the truth today when there are so many professional liars today.

The American news media has become completely dysfunctional and this is a major disaster because people have no where to turn to find accurate information.

My brother has been in over 100 countries and he told me a lot also. And my sister was in the Army for 20 years and it several countries and she told me a lot. When you hear stories from somebody who has been there and that you can trust and compare it with what the news media reports it is incredible how different the story lines are. My brother was in Iran for a while and he was there when the revolution started and he almost got killed. What he told me about Iran is a very different image compared to what I see in the news media.

 

[SteveSRT8]

My good friend is a Coptic Christian and also flips about how our media portrays Middle Eastern events. They are being slaughtered in the streets and we hear nothing....

 

[Mystic]

How is it possible for the American news media to be so completely, totally lost when it comes to reporting on world news? I just don't understand it. It is their job to find out what actually happens and report the news to Americans.

Based on what I have found out, from my brother, my sister, and others, the American news media is so lost when it comes to reporting news from other countries that they might as well just pull all of their people from those countries and give up on reporting foreign news.

I have heard terrible stories about what happens to Coptic Christians in Egypt and about horrible events in the Sudan and other places that go unreported. The Palestinian Christian I talked to said that the Israelites treat them worse than the Islamic Palestinians do.

When you talk to somebody who has actually been to other countries and especially if they have spent some time in foreign countries the story always seems to get very different from what we hear on the news. Maybe all of the top people at American news organizations need to be fired and replaced by new people so they can start over.

 

[Art_Vandelay]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

We are fed a careful diet designed to influence us in a desired direction. Those who realize this are careful to evaluate many differing sources and do a lot of thinking, as well as realize the UNTOLD story.


Indeed. Those who decide what to favor, what to omit and what to distort effectively have more control over society than any other force. The media ruins who it wants ruined. Elects who it wants elected. Voices who it wants heard and squelches who it wants silenced. It is the greatest weapon known to man and it operates under the illusion of propriety.

 

[andrewg]

Originally Posted By: Art_Vandelay
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

We are fed a careful diet designed to influence us in a desired direction. Those who realize this are careful to evaluate many differing sources and do a lot of thinking, as well as realize the UNTOLD story.


Indeed. Those who decide what to favor, what to omit and what to distort effectively have more control over society than any other force. The media ruins who it wants ruined. Elects who it wants elected. Voices who it wants heard and squelches who it wants silenced. It is the greatest weapon known to man and it operates under the illusion of propriety.

Well said.