Murder In a Florida Town

Trayvon Martin - Million Hoodies March 2012 020 (Photo credit: calvinfleming)It sounds like something out of a bad crime novel or TV show, but here goes:  In a town just outside Orlando, Florida, a teenager named Trayvon Martin was coming home from a convenience store when he was shot down by a man named who apparently thought he was going to commit a crime in the gated community he was trying to protect.

That was a month ago, according to Sanford, Florida police.  Since then the alleged shooter, George Zimmerman, has been in hiding somewhere and has not been arrested or charged.  His supporters claim claim what he did counts as self-defense under Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which apparently allows citizens to kill intruders if they felt so much as threatened by anyone who doesn't look right.

(Versions of this law are on the books in 21 states.  A similar measure was vetoed by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton last year.  If the Republican-dominated Legislature had it to do over again, they would have turned it into another constitutional amendment for people to vote on this November.)

After a slow start, the Martin case has become a national cause celebre.  Cable and network news devote hours to it, now that the GOP primaries are winding down.  The Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (neither of whom met a camera they didn't like) headline rallies calling for Zimmerman's arrest.  And President Barack Obama tells us that Martin was like the son he never had.

Let's talk about hoodies for a moment.  The apparel Martin was allegedly wearing at the time of the murder has become a symbol of sorts to his supporters, who wear them in tribute to him.  People of all races wear hoodies--hip hop artists, football coaches, etc.--but for some reason it's become associated with crime.  Now, blaming Martin's hoodie for criminal behavior (as Geraldo Rivera of Fox News did) is as ridiculous as blaming a sexual assault victim for the way she was dressed.    It's just not germane to the conversation.

Trayvon's parents have been all over TV declaring their son's innocence, and for providing their version of events.  That's fine.  But in a situation like this, they don't know everything that went on in his life.  What parent does if their kids don't let them in on it?

Zimmerman's defenders don't believe he's the cold-blooded monster the media has portrayed him to be.  After all, they say, he was the community-minded watchdog defending his neighborhood against intruders.  In this case, it was an intruder armed only with candy and a cell phone.

We're not going to tell you who we think is guilty or innocent, because not all the facts in this case have been investigated and made public.  That is the job of the proper authorities.  The truth lies somewhere between racial politics, grieving parents, grandstanding advocates and breathless media coverage.  Even if the facts do come out, both sides will claim it's not the whole story.

The one voice in this maelstrom we won't be hearing from is Trayvon Martin himself.  It would have been really interesting to hear his perspective on what happened, but dead men tell no tales.

This American Retraction

Logo from the radio program This American Life (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Back in January, the public radio program "This American Life" took its listeners through one man's journey to a factory in China that makes products for Apple.  He told of all sorts of horrors, including the use of underage workers, security guards with guns and workers poisoned by chemicals.

Usually, "This American Life" prides itself on its journalistic standards on the stories they cover, and the prestigious awards they've won since the program debuted in 1995 bear that out.  This time, however, they really should have reconsidered its source.

Mike Daisey, the person in the first paragraph who described those alleged violations at the Chinese plant, is a Chicago-based writer and actor.  Not a journalist.  He made up parts of his story as part of a one-man show titled "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs".  Hey, why let the facts get in the way of a good story?

As unusual as it is for any media organization (other than print) to admit they got a story wrong, it is even more unusual for one of them to devote an entire program to it.  And that's what TAL did, in a broadcast that aired over the weekend.  (Hear it at http://www.thisamericanlife.org/.)

In one segment following host Ira Glass' on-air apology, there was a report done by Rob Schmitz, a correspondent for public radio's "Marketplace" who blew the whistle on Daisey to begin with.  Schmitz interviewed a Chinese interpreter named Cathy, who refuted the claims Daisey made in that visit to the plant.

Another segment featured Glass grilling Daisey about the deception.  Through stammers and long pauses (which sounded like dead air to listeners), Daisey got around to regretting that he ever worked with TAL on this story in the first place.

"This American Life", produced by WBEZ in Chicago and distributed by Public Radio International, may have tripped up by not vetting all its sources for this story.  But the program also airs first-person essays from various authors and actors such as Daisey, in addition to the investigative pieces.  Are they vetted the same way?  And is what they say the truth, or is it just infotainment?

If nothing else, now you know where your iPhones and iPads are made.  Given how much work American companies export overseas at the expense of American workers for the convenience of the American consumer, that is a story in itself.  And it should be told by someone who isn't a monologist.

Overstaying Our Welcome In Afghanistan

Image via WikipediaMore than a decade after President George W. Bush sent American forces into Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks, the country's longest war is getting on everybody's nerves.

With no real reason to be there since the death of Osama bin Laden (in Pakistan), President Barack Obama has been pulling out soldiers at a rate which they could all be gone by 2014.  Just as soon as the Afghans learn to fend for themselves against the Taliban, which is no sure bet.

Poll numbers tell us that a majority of Americans are sick of this war, and the troops should have been sent home yesterday.  Even the Republican presidential candidates agree with that sentiment, if only because the war is costing the country a fortune in tax dollars.

What's complicating matters is the evolving image of the American military, both here and abroad.  Once seen as heroic defenders of freedom and democracy, they're now considered an occupying force that offends the sensibilities of the people they're trying to protect.  It also doesn't help that the same soldiers are being recycled through redeployments, creating resentment in the ranks.

Whether it's a U.S. soldier gunning down 16 Afghan citizens, or copies of the Koran being "accidentally" destroyed in a bonfire, can you really blame the Afghans for being P.O.'ed at the Americans, and for the Taliban to exploit the situation?  They don't want apologies.  They want revenge.

So think twice before blindly welcoming back soldiers who, for all we know, might be racist jerks who get a big thrill out of defacing religious symbols and pretending Afghanistan is the Wild West.  The Obama administration also needs to take a step back before committing soldiers to yet another war in, let's say, Syria or Iran.  The only nation-building that needs to be done is right here.

Super Split Tuesday

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeSuper Tuesday was less than that for Mitt Romney, but he did win six of the ten states that had Republican primaries and caucuses--and not in a convincing manner.  For one thing, he just barely won delegate-rich Ohio.

Romney needs 1144 delegates to clinch the Republican presidential nomination.  With 419 to date, he's not even halfway there.  Rick Santorum has 178 delegates, Newt Gingrich 107 and Ron Paul with 47 (totals are from Associated Press).

Despite the backing of the GOP establishment, Romney still has to convince Southern voters--the party's bread and butter--that he's conservative enough for them.  Santorum won Tennessee and Oklahoma on Tuesday, and Gingrich won in his native Georgia. 

Making it more difficult for Romney is that his remaining opponents still think they have a shot at the nomination.  Thanks to the Supreme Court's "Citizen's United" ruling, Santorum, Gingrich and Paul can stay in the race indefinitely as long as they have a sugar daddy or two willing to spend a fortune on their campaigns.

To hear the TV pundits tell it, the Republicans might as well wave the white flag and concede the White House to President Barack Obama, concentrating instead on retaking Congress so they can harass him for four more years.

This is March, folks.  Too many things can happen between now and November for the GOP to simply go through the motions.  Gas prices are on the rise, forcing a rising economy to go down.  Unrest in Syria and disputes over Iran's nuclear program could result in American military intervention.  If and when the president stumbles, you can be sure the GOP nominee will see this as an asset to his campaign.

So there's still time for Mitt Romney to get his act together and challenge Obama.  If he doesn't, another GOP candidate might emerge, and we don't know this person's name yet.

EIB: Excessiveness In Broadcasting

Image via WikipediaRush Limbaugh has been outraging people on the radio for over two decades, singlehandedly redefining conservatism as a take-no-prisoners ideology that progressives still don't know how to deal with.

But there are those occasions when Limbaugh says or does something that crosses the line.  This is one of those occasions.

Sandra Fluke is a law student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.  Recently, she testified in Congress as an advocate for President Barack Obama's policy on contraception, listing her support for birth control coverage in student medical insurance.

For Ms. Fluke's trouble, she was labeled a "slut" and a "prostitute" by Limbaugh.  He has apologized twice, on his website and on the air.  But that was only after more than 20 companies to date dropped their advertising from Limbaugh's show, and two radio stations in Massachusetts and Hawaii have canceled it.  Clear Channel, whose Premiere Radio Networks distributes the show, has said it is standing by Limbaugh.

Fluke has not accepted Limbaugh's apology, but is considering suing him.  Which would be a waste of time because this would never see the light of day in a courtroom.  Instead, Limbaugh and his attorneys might be paying an unspecified amount of money to Fluke to buy each other's silence.

Unfortunately, calling a woman vile names is not a fireable offense in the broadcast media.  Commentators on the right and left (mostly male) have done it, and never get so much as a slap on the wrist--unless they're making jokes about rape.  About the only thing that can get you a pink slip is for making a racial slur, intentionally or not.  Just ask Don Imus.

Limbaugh is often dismissed as a conservative entertainer, with his millions of listeners around the world nodding in agreement with everything he says as if they were bobblehead dolls.  So how come he holds so much sway over the Republican party?  Even on an issue like this, GOP officials, lawmakers and presidential candidates walk on eggshells so as not to offend the Great and Powerful Rush.  Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

But Limbaugh is not infallible.  He's had well-publicized drug problems, for which he almost went to prison.  He's also on his fourth marriage, for which he needs those little blue pills.  And ratings for his radio show have been eroding long before this latest controversy.

As much as anyone wants to see Rush Limbaugh dethroned as the King of Talk Radio, that's not going to happen any time soon.  Whatever he says behind that golden EIB microphone will still cause paroxysms of fury on the left, and almost universal agreement on the right.  But now, he has to choose his words a little more carefully.

Politics 2012: Romney, Santorum Less Than Super

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeMitt Romney continues to stumble towards the Republican presidential nomination, with a no-brainer primary win in Arizona and a less-than-convincing victory over Rick Santorum in his native Michigan.

(Keith Olbermann and others might claim that Romney and Santorum actually tied in delegates, but a win is a win no matter how you spin it.)

Romney won in the state where his father was once Governor, in spite of alienating the people who live in it.  He opposed the government auto bailout, which resulted in General Motors and Chrysler getting back on its feet.  He visited the Daytona 500 on the day it was rained out, and said that some of his best friends owned NASCAR racing teams.  Inside an empty Detroit football stadium named Ford Field, Romney mentioned in a speech that his wife drove a Cadillac.  Whether he knows it or not, Romney never misses an opportunity to remind us how rich he is.

Santorum isn't doing himself any favors by aligning himself with the know-nothing crowd.  He called President Barack Obama a "snob" for emphasizing a college education which might "indoctrinate" students into his way of thinking.  (And how was your college experience, Senator?)  He also thinks that separation of church and state is not such a good idea, then goes on to say that reading President John F. Kennedy's speech about the subject made him want to lose his lunch.

Santorum wants to be the conservative alternative to both Romney and Obama, which is fine.  But the more he talks, the more he sounds like a candidate who wants to take the country back to the Stone Age.

With Super Tuesday coming up and several delegate-rich states in play, the results will be as inconclusive as ever.  Besides Romney and Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are still in the race.  Gingrich is here only because his Las Vegas-based benefactor is propping him up well past his freshness date, and is determined to spend whatever is necessary to get him into the White House.

If nobody has the required number of delegates to win the GOP nomination, there's talk of a brokered convention-- something that hasn't happened in at least 100 years.  But does any sane Republican really want to jump into the race at this point?

We do know this:  The more the Republicans hold their noses over the candidates they're stuck with, the better it looks for Obama's re-election.