Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
"If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," Obama said.
What? I can understand Obama's statement that "when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids." Okay, he's a parent, and his heart goes out to the boy's parents. Fair enough. But the statement above seems to say: "this boy's death really got to me because he's black." The message, I guess, is: "this boy's death really got to me because he's black and was shot by a white man. The same thing could have happened to my son, if I had a son." Still odd, no? If the President had a son, he'd presumably look like a student at Sidwell Friends.
The White House's initial reaction, oddly enough, was correct. They said they wouldn't wade into a "local law enforcement matter." But now that there's political hay to be made, Obama has called for a Justice Dept investigation of the incident (on the basis of what jurisdiction, I ask) and is now busy empathizing with the Martins on the basis of his hypothetical son.
Lest there be any doubt, I take no position on the guilt or innocence of Mr. Zimmerman. Like virtually everyone else who has commented on the case, I do not know Florida law and I have no first-hand knowledge of the facts. But that is why we have a criminal justice system - the truth will come out, without any help from Messrs Obama and Holder, thank you very much.
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Comments:
Jan '11
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Gold!
Apr '11
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Correction:
"because he's black and was shot by a white-hispanic man."
The New York Times went to the trouble of creating a brand new racial classification just for this case. Let us honor their efforts.
Oct '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Kony 2012 is out. Forgotten. Trayvon Martin is the new cause celebre for the perpetually outraged Facebook generation.
Many of my friends have linked to this idiotic article. Gaggles of privileged white kids are lecturing other privileged white kids on the thickness of their racial bubbles.
Never mind that the article itself is provably false -- that white people "look suspicious" to law enforcement all the time. Never mind that this case doesn't even clearly involve racial motivations. All that matters is the "narrative" (ugh - I know): America is an irredeemably evil and racist place.
Moral superiority is the world's most powerful drug. Rational thought has left the building.
Edited on March 23, 2012 at 11:01pmMay '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Having already settled on a demagogic and divisive election strategy that will make maximum use of racial politics and identity, this comes as no surprise whatsoever.
In the photo published by the Times, which is clearly a few years old, Trayvon looks sweet, handsome and, yes, a little bit like the president. In what appears to be a more recent photo, he looks a bit less sweet. No accident which photo the Times chose to run with.
Oct '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Well, there are people who have been predicting a Hispanic/black ethnic conflict. This may be it. I think I'm going to be sick.
Aug '11
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Did the police "act stupidly"?
Nov '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Gold! · 17 minutes ago
Exactly! Context is everything. Walking down a dark street at night, am I more likely to be concerned about 3 or 4 black teens walking home from a Bible study with the Good Book under their arms or a group of drunken white kids seeking mischief after partying at a rave?
The answer is obvious and is not skin-color driven
Apr '11
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Nice article Blake. What do you want to bet its author crosses the street if he sees some fine African American youths coming his way all wearing matching hoodies. Being weary is good, but being paranoid is bad. This is just a very sad incident.
Dec '11
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Its a sad situation, and I dont want to jump to a conclusion.
I dont think the president making an inoffensive statement on an issue of public controversy is out of line either.
Oct '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Trace, they do seem to be hyping the issue. It's as if they're saying this happens a lot, and could happen to anyone. They're trying to make people scared. I don't quite understand it--I don't think this is a political messaging campaign, but it does seem a little odd.
It may become politicized soon, though.
Aug '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
I think this is an uncharitable interpretation. The photo on the right in comment #4 absolutely bears a resemblance to photos of the President in his younger days that I've seen. Like it or not, human sympathies are aroused more powerfully by those who remind us of others we have strong feelings about, including ourselves. I haven't seen the President's remarks in context--they may well prove me wrong--but my gut reaction is that there is no need to assume that the only resemblance President Obama sees is race. This matter is heated enough with regards to race; no need to fan the flames.
Feb '11
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Idiotic doesn't do it justice.
Not mentioned is the douplplusungood fact that saintly Trayvon somehow ended up on top of Zimmerman, punching him in the face.
I live near Detroit, and I figure I know what happened. Zimmerman went up to Trayvon to ask him what he was doing where he was in the middle of the night, and Trayvon felt disrespected. So he figured he'd beat the crap out of his questioner, and brag about it to his friends later.
Unfortunately for him his victim had a gun.
Now I don't really know if that's what happened, of course. But I've heard endless examples of this sort of thing, and hence I have no sympathy at this point for Trayvon.
I hope we find out what actually happened. But I suspect the politics has already made that almost irrelevant. People are picking sides based on their experiences, and the politics, and not waiting for a verdict based upon a sober evaluation of the evidence. Alas.
Dec '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Adam,
If Obama had a son he'd be driven around in an armored limo with 10 secret service agents around him. This is a joke.
The real question is why it is so cool to look like a gang banger. Gangsta rap is cool anybody who doesn't get it is racist. Really!!? When you lionize criminality you suck the good kids into emulating them. Lots of people have been hurt by gangs in hoodies. To just write that off and focus on one kid who was foolish enough to tempt fate is nonsense. To claim that a security guard's incompetent judgment represents professional law enforcement in America is stupid.
Obama and his gang of propagandists simply have no shame. Any opportunity to play the race card to the max gets their full attention.
Regards,
Jim
May '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Kenneth Gladney.
May '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Hegesias
This matter is heated enough with regards to race; no need to fan the flames. · 3 minutes ago
But this is precisely why the president's comments were inappropriate. He didn't shout "no justice, no peace" from the Rose Garden, but he effectively announced that he knows what went down. And by linking his comment to the Justice Department investigation he is already indicating a view that suggests local law enforcement, presumably because it is Florida, will be incapable of executing a just outcome.
There is nothing in his remarks that suggests people chill out until the process has run its course. There is everything in his comments to suggest outrage is fully justified. I doubt that these will be the last comments the president utters with regards to this matter.
Jan '11
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Can I use the term "dog whistle" in relation to the president's comments? There was no need to personalize the issue in the manner that he did. Not a huge foul, but as per usual, disappointing for the world's best rhetorician
May '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Joseph Eagar: Trace, they do seem to be hyping the issue. It's as if they're saying this happens a lot, and could happen to anyone. They're trying to make people scared. I don't quite understand it--I don't think this is a political messaging campaign, but it does seem a little odd.
It may become politicized soon, though. · 19 minutes ago
South is Republican. South is racist. Republicans are racist. Trayvon looks like me. He is the son I never had. The racists shot me. The only one that can make it right is the Federal Department of Justice. These Republicans go on about states' rights, but the states can't be trusted, only the federal government can be trusted. Prove you're not racist, vote for me.
Too paranoid?
Jun '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
unfortunately the criminal justice system is about to get hijacked by the race-baiters Obama, Sharpton and jackson. Same kind who hijacked the case of the cops in the Rodney King case, and the OJ case, and Duke case.
Zimmerman appears to be only white in the same sense that Obama is black -- one of his parents was. Zimmerman appears hispanic, and he is apparently mostly hispanic.
If Zimmerman were attacked, he may be not guilty. He will apparebtly say he was, and there are no other witnesses. If the crime scene is consistent with his story, and there is nothing else (like provocation), Zimmerman should be sent on his way, and the perpetrator, Martin, remembered as such.
If Zimmerman were not attacked, and the shooting otherwise unjustified, he should be convicted.
Those kinds of rational results become very difficult when the racism salsemen, like Obama, start peddling their wares.
Oct '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
Blake: Kony 2012 is out. Forgotten. Trayvon Martin is the new cause celebre for the perpetually outraged Facebook generation.
Many of my friends have linked to this idiotic article. Gaggles of privileged white kids are lecturing other privileged white kids on the thickness of their racial bubbles.
Never mind that the article itself is provably false -- that white people "look suspicious" to law enforcement all the time. Never mind that this case doesn't even clearly involve racial motivations. All that matters is the "narrative" (ugh - I know): America is an irredeemably evil and racist place.
Moral superiority is the world's most powerful drug. Rational thought has left the building. · 38 minutes ago
I don't understand. I've had white friends who occasionally got harassed by police for wearing hoodies and looking suspicious. This article is what drives me crazy about urban liberal white guilt: somehow, it assumes that every white person in America grew up with their level of privilege.
It also reinforces the belief--so precious to white liberals!--that non-elite America is racist at a Nazi level, and they must eternally guard against the little Hitlers who refuse to join their club.
Jun '10
Re: Obama's Bizarre Statement on Trayvon Martin
I see a middle aged black man that I don't recognize walkng a dog in my neighborhood, I don't blink. I see a white teenager in a hoodie who i do not recognize walking in my neighborhood at night, i watch him very closely.
Teenagers with time on their hands do destructive things.