It's Watch!... Neighborhood Watch. Not shoot.

No. I assume that because ANYONE flips the bird in a photo, it's part of who they are. And in general, unless the bird flipping is done with general mirth, it doesn't come from a happy place. So that aspect of that person's personality is there.

 

So someone who gives the finger is always someone who...what exactly? I gave the people the finger when I was a teenager. So do most teenage boys at some point, I'm guessing. Now they just do it on the Internet because they now do everything on the Internet.

 

It will be interesting to see what happens the first time some black person kills a white person in Florida in "self-defense." Not surprising, but interesting.
Let's face it. The Florida law legalizes murder. But only by the right kind of people killing the wrong kind. Hence the effort to make the victim here appear to be one of the "wrong kind."
Teenagers are often pains in the ass, regardless of their race, creed, etc. That doesn't explain shooting one out of fear and prejudice.
Boom, the "narrative" is changing by a mutual effort of the Sanford PD and the news media which caters to crabby old white people who live in fear and rage because they're gonna die soon. Narrative ain't facts.

 

Someone who has a willingness to respond to people with a middle finger. I don't understand how I'm being painted as some reactionary when all I said was that if they're using old photos of him, and not representing the truth of who he was, then it's dishonest.

 

Well, as has been established, it's not his photo so I felt like we had moved on from that point. I still don't see how someone giving the middle finger or swearing makes them more likely to be dangerous or suspicious.

 

Um, the new photo not being him doesn't preclude the photo that is being used being 3-4 years old, right? And since all I said was "using old photos of him" and not "using a photo of him smiling when he's actually throwing up middle fingers."

And maybe I'm old. But when I picture someone throwing up middle fingers, they certainly are not the bright spot of society.

 

There seems to be a pretty wide range of bird flippery.

https://www.google.com/search?q=flipping+the+bird&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=5OtxT_7aDuX50gGW88m2AQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CBQQ_AUoAQ&biw=1101&bih=588

 

Flipping someone the bird in a Facebook pic might be a little bit less of a mar on someone's character than, say, falling for a hoax ginned up by Stormfront. Jes sayin'.

 

Who cares if there's an old picture of him throwing up his middle fingers, he's just a kid, after all.

What matters is what happened that night, when it appears all Trayvon was doing was walking while black and wearing a hoodie.

 

No shit! You don't say! Hey, this whole "flipping the bird" thing might catch on!

Az, you're better than that. You know that and I know that.

But if you want to use Steve Austin and assorted friends of Lindsay Lohan as your mirthful way of poking fun, then have at it.

 

Appears to whom?

 

The bottom line in all of this is George Zimmerman was the original aggressor. If this serial 911-caller and self-appointed neighborhood watch man hadn't been out there with a gun that night - no matter what happened after that - Trayvon Martin would still be alive today. Let's not lose sight of that. There appears to be some effort of push-back to mitigate what Zimmerman did. To say Trayvon Martin wasn't an angel. He may have done some marijuana or flipped a finger. Oh no, can't believe a teenager would do that.

I'm all for finding out everything we can and waiting to form a judgment on whether Zimmerman should be charged with something until we know everything. But in the effort to push-back on the media handling of this or the Al Sharpton types, who tire me as well, I'm a bit put off by this smearing of Martin.

(And this is aimed not at anything or anybody on this particular thread. Just a general thought.)

Ultimately, Zimmerman is still responsible for what happened that night. The question is whether he's legally responsible or just morally.