Into Pre-Election Limbo

The Justice Departmnt and FBI have picked up the Trayvon Martin / George Zimmerman case.  Zimmerman can't be cleared before the election, so unless they can come up with convincing new evidence (audio wizardry on the 911 tapes?) this case goes into pre-election limbo.

I still think Zimmerman ought to be guilty of something, but under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" self defense law (aka "Shoot First"), the other party to their scuffle is dead and no other witnesses seem to contradict the self-defense alibi.

We get a new version of Zimmerman's story:

Zimmerman said he had stepped out of his truck to check the name of the street he was on when Trayvon attacked him from behind as he walked back to his truck, police said. He said he feared for his life and fired the semiautomatic handgun he was licensed to carry because he feared for his life.

The self-appointed self-important neighborhood watch captain wasn't sure what street he was on?  Or was he just double-checking?

The police captain had offered this (possibly hypothetical) version of events last week:

“Mr. Zimmerman’s claim is that the confrontation was initiated by Trayvon,” Police Chief Bill Lee said in an interview. “I am not going into specifics of what led to the violent physical encounter witnessed by residents. All the physical evidence and testimony we have independent of what Mr. Zimmerman provides corroborates this claim to self-defense.”

To claim self-defense, someone has to show there was danger of great bodily harm or death, Lee said. “Zimmerman had injuries consistent with his story,” Lee said.

Zimmerman had a damp shirt, grass stains, a bloody nose and was bleeding from a wound in back of his head, according to police reports.

“If someone asks you, ‘Hey do you live here?’ is it OK for you to jump on them and beat the crap out of somebody?” Lee said. “It’s not.”

Since we have the "not going into specifics" disclaimer it is not clear that the bit about "If someone asks you..." is Zimmerman's actual alibi.

Or, I suppose, Zimmerman could have asked that question, turned around, and gotten jumped.

The Feds will sort this out.  Either they clear Zimmerman next December or they indict him in October; there is no way they bring this to trial and risk an acquital or dismissal before the election.

ad more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/03/19/2703029/us-department-of-justice-fbi-and.html#storylink=cpy

Comments

[Captain Hate]

People forget how GHWB went after him

Not everybody...

[Dave (in MA)]

Re: folding on Keystone... Howie Carr was saying on his show today that if the poll numbers keep looking like they have been, he wouldn't want to be working in an Iranian aspirin factory this Fall.

[Sara]

CH: That is because I follow him and LISTEN to him.

[Sara]

Well since no one else is willing, I will say it:

CONGRATULATIONS MITT!!!

[Frau Steingehirn]

I'm glad one of our candidates is getting big numbers, Sara, and I think (A)Barbara joins you, too.

[Barbara]

I'm glad one of our candidates is getting big numbers, Sara, and I think (A)Barbara joins you, too.

Ditto from this Barbara.

[narciso]

Who is the US Ambassador to the Quai D'Orsay, not that it matters;

http://www.timesofisrael.com/france-clears-three-neo-nazi-suspects-in-jewish-school-shooting/

[Chubby]

Blair was Bush's poodle but Obama and Cameron are forging important alliances.

Lord, how I loathe hypocrisy.

[Threadkiller]

I was wondering if anyone has tackled the 3 vs 10 dilemma. How is it we were told it takes 10 years to ramp up production of oil, but the prez claims he increased it in only 3 years?

Seems like a problem. Either drill baby drill yields results much faster than we were told or Obama inherited increasing production from Bush.

http://floppingaces.net/2012/02/29/democrats-try-to-convince-us-that-drilling-for-more-oil-is-the-answer-to-high-gas-prices-except-when-its-not-reader-post/

[Threadkiller]

"David Cameron has revealed that Barack Obama ‘tucked him up in bed’ aboard Air Force One during his recent trip to America.

The Prime Minister said the U.S. President let him sleep in his day bed on the lavishly appointed aircraft as the pair flew back to Washington after watching a basketball match together last week.

The revelations came as Mr Cameron admitted he was overawed by the red carpet treatment laid on by the White House during his visit to Washington with wife Samantha"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2117730/David-Cameron-tucked-Presidents-bed-Obama-Air-Force-One.html

[rse]

I think Bo gets along with cameron because they have similar aspirations on the green economy. I wonder if david knows the green economy is not really about green technology.

I think the current pres likes the game where words have a meaning one user knows about and the other does not.

[pagar]

rse, looks like the Obama regime and Soros have education covered according to this report.

http://tinyurl.com/73trm3f

"Obama’s Department of Education Partners With George Soros’ Open Society Institute…"

[Jane]

Blair was Bush's poodle

Cameron is Obama's barbie.

[Threadkiller]

Fifteen minute you tube to get your day going.

http://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/03/19/georgia-gets-f-on-anti-corruption-measures-ga-courts-prove-corrupt-in-obama-ballot-challenges-state-integrity-investigation-ethics-open-records-and-disclosure-laws/#comment-231196

Bill Clinton said what?!?

[centralcal]

hah, Jane.

I awoke to the news that maybe the French have found and are in a standoff with the Islamist murderer. I hope that is true and that they get him, but, alas I imagine there are others like him.

[Clarice]

jimmyk, You may be right about Opus Dei and that I spoke too quickly.

[Threadkiller]

" A medical examiner’s report categorized the death of a man who ignited his car in flames after a high-speed chase as a homicide.

The San Diego Medical Examiner identified the suspect as 24-year-old Southlake, Texas resident Alexander Arthur Martin.

On Wednesday, Martin was traveling the wrong way on Old Highway 80 near Campo when Highway Patrol agents attempted to pull him over. As officer approached his car, the car exploded in flames,killing Martin and injuring a Border Patrol agent.

The Medical Examiner listed Martin’s cause of death as “pending,” and said that either additional testing is still underway or that the investigation is still ongoing.

The report stated that Martin died at 12:12 a.m. Thursday.

A US Border Patrol authority said on Thursday that often drug smugglers drive the opposite way on the highway to avoid the border checkpoint.

In early reports, the Sheriff’s Department said Martin reached into his glove box for a device before the car exploded. After Border Patrol took over the investigation, that detail was omitted.

The U.S. Border Patrol is handling the investigation and could not comment further since the investigation is ongoing."

[rse]

Thanks pagar.

Have I ever told the story about how osi funded the post berlin wall conversion of the eastern european universities so they replaced the old required Marxist-Leninist thought courses with sociology?

He also funded the development of reading instruction in quite a few of those eastern euro languages. Sight/whole language/Look Say, of course.

[Jane]

The Fluking of America

[Clarice]

wouldn't that be suicide, TK?

[narciso]

No, Cameron is a fool, the best Oxford and McKinsey could provide, he stood for nothing
during the election, 'unhelpful' during th election, and hence he couldn't even get a majority, one of those sheepish vegetables
as the Iron Lady pointed out, more like Geoffrey Hurd than Heseltine.

[jimmyk]

How is it we were told it takes 10 years to ramp up production of oil, but the prez claims he increased it in only 3 years?

Too bad there isn't a group of professionals in a position to ask the President or his press secretary that sort of challenging question.

[narciso]

As Janet says, jimmy, that would be helpful, then again this is the institution that gave us David Axelrod and 'Eric Stoltz'

[jimmyk]

Regarding Jane's 8:01 link: Is there a constitutional time limitation on states' ratification of an amendment? Apparently not, according to this pro-ERA site, though Congress would have to act to extend a previous deadline (which is reassuring, since it seems unlikely any Congress in the near future will do that).

Also, according to the article: Ratification is a one-way street. A state cannot rescind a previous ratification, but a state that previously had rejected an amendment can subsequently ratify it.

[narciso]

Start warming those F-16's Bibi;

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/20/administration-grants-exemptions-on-iran-sanctions/

[NK]

MelR@9:55lastnight-- I think $35/Barrell is overdone on supply increases, unless you couple it with a 20% Dollar increase on basket of currencies. To crater oil prices BOTH supply increases and Dollar appreciation are needed.

[NK]

Romney-- I agree with this Taranto observation about Romney dealing with 'Bam: "He’s a nice guy, but . . .” is exquisitely condescending. It’s probably not true: Obama strikes us as a petulant narcissist. But calling someone a “nice guy” is rarely a genuine compliment, and it never is when conjoined by “but.” As any man who has ever been rejected by a woman knows, describing someone as “a nice guy, but . . .” is another way of saying he’s ineffectual. That is exactly the point Romney is making about Obama."

[rse]

narciso-

When was he at mckinsey? Seriously. I just love those business models where all the clients are either governments or fellow vampire squids. Then the business wants to have its recommended policies implemented as "what business needs".

[NK]

Cameron-- I love our Brit friends and want the best for them, so I had high hopes of Conservs beating that fool Brown. Alas Cameron is the type of Conservative Thatcher detested. He is as our Brit friends would say-- a ponce (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ponce)

[narciso]

More a blanc mange, rest assured, that is our bright shining future.

[Chubby]

NK, while the Romney's superficial compliment about Obama might be loaded with barbs, I only hope Romney realizes that Obama in reality is not a nice guy, that Romney's understanding of him goes deep enough to see him asa deliberately pernicious as opposed to just a stumblebum. What do you think? do you think Romney sees that?

[narciso]

No, he doesn't, he's still expecting the dog to bark;

http://campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/beltway-confidential/just-making-bulbs-illegal-not-banning-them/437231

[rse]

Looks like I am not the only one with vampire squids and the vampire economy on the brain. LUN is an excellent overview of the corporatism we talked about over the weekend. Never uses the term if you are reading rain but corporatism is all about the political entrepreneur. These days that 1% is more political entrep than economic.

Jane-I went back for that cap. Tea partiers especially need to understand this thoroughly. This is BO's vision for us. One of those old books I read was written by the CSM reporter who was stationed in moscow from 1922 to 1934. He makes the point that the socialist vision will always come through fascism and not communism anywhere that has ever had widespread economic success. The memory of capitalism makes C unacceptable but the essence of fascism is not appreciated until it is too late.

This understanding needs to be a part of this fall's campaign along with ryan's plan if we are to start fixing what has happened.

Plus all eyes on rio in june.

[Porchlight]

Hey Cap'n,

Sorry to miss the thread last night. SXSW has changed a lot over the years. It still really does showcase a ton of edgy stuff, new acts, international stuff, etc., especially all the unofficial shows (the festival surrounding the festival which is mostly free - it's a great deal). But for some reason the keynote speakers and special guests are almost always classic rock retreads. (Not that I don't love classic rock.) Brooooooce case in point.

I've known the program/music director for many years and he is a good guy. He probably has checked out a little bit having done it for so long. But he got Mr. Porch and myself into the Tom Waits show during SXSW 1999, for which I will be forever grateful.

[narciso]

Really this is the first time I'd heard of it, Porch, and mostly because of the 'homeless
hotspot' controversy, If you listen to the lyrics, which I do I'll get ticked, so I'll
just hear the chords.

[Chubby]

rse, will you be citing the CSM author in your book? I am interested in any and all things related to the CSM.

[Extraneus]

Teen scores porn star as prom date on Twitter

OAKDALE, Minn. – A Minnesota high school student looks set for a prom to remember after lining up an adult film actress to be his date.

After most of the girls at his school already had partners for the big night, Michael Stone took to Twitter to ask just about every adult film star he could think of to help him out.

After around 600 tweets, it looks like Stone, who says he is 18, has got a prom date -- and possibly even two.

Adult film actress Emy Reyes took up Stone's proposal on Twitter, saying "i would love tooo."

But at this stage, it looks like the lucky lady is Megan Piper, who accepted on condition Stone covers her travel costs from Los Angeles, The Huffington Post reported.

Now Stone is on a mission to raise around $400 to get his date a plane ticket to Minnesota for the May 12 dance.

[narciso]

We saw this in that movie with Elise Cuthbert,
this is who you are referring to, rse;

http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1983/128314.shtml

[Clarice]

Noemie Emery hits it out of the park once again:

"There is a chasm between the GOP of 2012, revved up by the wins of the 2009-2010 cycles, and its candidates of the 1994-2006 vintage, who don't understand and can't harness its energies.

You call can it the Retreads' Revenge."
http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2012/03/curse-republican-retreads/389876

[pagar]

Jane,@0935 PM
"but I came away thinking we are far too late to stop the gvt from stealing our property rights.

When they build it into 25 trillion dollar settlements, it's hard to see how anyone/corp/govt can be kept from stealing anything you have.

"Most plainly, the bankers can tell 2.5 million people:

“Hey, you didn’t make your payment this month, your check’s short and we’re putting it in the no man’s land of a “suspense account” triggering delinquency and fees, even though you really did pay in full and have the canceled check to prove it. And guess what? No one but you cares; law enforcement won’t even consider dinging us for it."

"She also points out that wrongful foreclosures at a 1% rate are acceptable. Procedures around real estate are deliberate because any error of this magnitude has devastating consequences. But this new provision means that 1%, or over 33,000 erroneous foreclosures since 2008 would be perfectly OK as far as the authorities are concerned."

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/03/yet-another-reason-to-hate-the-mortgage-settlement-the-release-is-botched.html

[narciso]

It's a scam, pagar, look who negotiated it, they wouldn't have it any other way.

[Jack is Back!]

Let's see. I was in DC from 86 to 92 and the same Dem mantra of drilling won't get new oil for 10 years was de rigeur. That was over 20 years of the same prophecy and a wrong one at that. Back then even with a pro-oil Dem chair of Senate Energy Committee in Bennett Johnston you got that naysayer Waxman to neutralize all the right moves. It was then I realized that the Dems were sold out to the Greens who were actually the new Reds. Nothing has changed since.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Off?

[Threadkiller]

JiB, Tom McClintock is on the same page. If the GOP leaders don't screw this up, he has created a situation where the green policy makers have to show their true colors in floor debate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_iEtH_WqHU

Oh how I hope and pray for this to happen.

[Threadkiller]

I feel so emboldened.

[narciso]

LOL, TK, maybe under Barton as Committee Chair, but with Camp, 'game over man'

[Clarice]

Boldiacto

[Jane]

feel so emboldened.

Very good TK.

[Captain Hate]

But he got Mr. Porch and myself into the Tom Waits show during SXSW 1999, for which I will be forever grateful.

Waits is one of those performers whom I admire from a distance. He writes great songs and employs outstanding musicians who could use a high profile/income gig (Marc Ribot FTW) and I appreciate some of his screaming and outre uses of his voice; but his musical persona just doesn't click with me like it does you and Mr P and lots of my musical buds with very good taste. Oh well, it's not like I don't have other stuff to listen to.

Btw I lost my internet connection last night when a fat POS Roger Egbert film guide book fell off my bookshelf and broke my modem's power cord. Another thing to hold against that creep.

[Porchlight]

I only like Waits up through Franks Wild Years, Cap'n, and then I don't much care. And there are large swaths of his material even before that which I find boring. The persona isn't really a huge part of it for me; I just dig some of the music and it has great sentimental associations with a certain time in my life.

A very smart friend back in college once said that he thought Waits was a better arranger than a composer/songwriter. I got angry at him then but I eventually concluded that overall, that was probably true.

[Porchlight]

P.S. Sorry about Ebert. I have one of his film guides from 20 years ago and I keep wondering why it's still on my shelf. I guess even though he's a POS I do find some of his film writing to be half decent.

[Captain Hate]

*Some* of his writing is the key point. He turned into a shrieking Nellie at all the violence in "Blue Velvet" against Isabella Rosselini as I was thinking that isn't a reaction consistent with somebody who wrote a Russ Meyer screen play for "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls". Siskel was the brains behind that outfit and their on screen interactions were pretty good.

[Porchlight]

Yeah, I liked Siskel much, much better. I didn't know he said that about Blue Velvet.

[Porchlight]

Ebert, that is.

[Captain Hate]

I'm quoting from the 1997 film guide which killed my internet access: "Rossellini is asked to do things in this film that require real nerve. In one scene, she's publicly embarrassed by being dumped naked on the lawn of the police detective. In others, whe is asked to portray emotions that I would imagine most actresses would rather not touch. She is degraded, slapped around, humiliated, and undressed in front of the camera. And when you ask an actress to endure those experiences, you should keep your side of the bargain by putting her in an important film.....Lynch distances himself from her ordeal with his clever asides and witty little in-jokes. In a way, his behavior is more sadistic than the Hopper character."

Reading that today after being aware of that fat POS's attacks on Palin, I think even less of him than I did when I first read and heard them.

[Neo]

“I have a different take, Brian, on that,”Geraldo Rivera said. “I believe that George Zimmerman, the overzealous neighborhood watch captain should be investigated to the fullest extent of the law and if he is criminally liable, he should be prosecuted. But I am urging the parents of black and Latino youngsters particularly to not let their children go out wearing hoodies. I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.”

Well, this line of analysis has the advantage of being novel.
Before long we will have complaints of “hoodie profiling” to add to the usual dreck.