Ah, the right wing has a new response the Trayvon Martin case: a tragic home invasion in Oklahoma.
Here's the latest right wingnut meme:
The point being made, I guess, is that the President and everyone else should be having the exact same reactions to the death of the 85 year old Nancy Strait as we do to the death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin. Why isn't Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson in Tulsa, protesting the vicious attacks on Mr. and Mrs. Strait? Why isn't this all over the major networks? Why isn't NPR doing analysis of it? Is it because they Straits are WHITE?
I assume we're all familiar with the Martin case; the basic undisputed facts are that neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teen who was not breaking any laws at the time. Zimmerman has not been charged with a crime as of the time this article was posted. The official story is that there is nothing to contradict Zimmerman's story that he killed the unarmed Martin in self-defense. Of course, the only witness is the dead teen.
So let's see what the facts are in the Strait case.
Because that's the kind of guy I am, I will be referring exclusively to US news sources. Yes, it turns out that we can find the story in something other than a UK newspaper.
No, it's that Nancy Strait's killer has been charged with her murder, and arrested.
There are no massive protests demanding justice because justice is already in process. The killer was tracked down, and promptly placed in jail.
What, precisely, are we supposed to be outraged about?
But perhaps the rightwingnuts have a point; this white couple was brutally attacked in their own neighborhood, and the killer was found and arrested and charged, while the black teen was brutally attacked blocks from his father's home, and the killer walked away scott-free. Perhaps I've been in denial about the racist aspects of this crime; I've been going along under the presumption that Zimmerman is just a cop wannabe that stepped over a line because he has no training.
No, I'm convinced now that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson should be holding up this story before the nation, and pointing out that these right-wingnuts have proven that white victims get justice while black victims get none.
Thanks, Tea Party; I was wrong. You are good for something!
Here's the latest right wingnut meme:
This won't make coverage. Obama and/or any politicians won't bother with it...and the murderer will probably hire a Pro Bono lawyer (I have Jose Baez - Casey Anthony's lawyer) and if he is lucky, will have the trial moved to Florida with the same jury...It's followed by a link to an article in the Daily Mail, a United Kingdom news outlet. It picked up a tragic tale from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bob and Nancy Strait, a couple married for 65 years, were the victims of a brutal home invasion robbery; the husband was shot in the face, while the wife was raped so violently that she died of her injuries.
In fact isn't it sad that you will only find this story in a UK newspaper?
The point being made, I guess, is that the President and everyone else should be having the exact same reactions to the death of the 85 year old Nancy Strait as we do to the death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin. Why isn't Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson in Tulsa, protesting the vicious attacks on Mr. and Mrs. Strait? Why isn't this all over the major networks? Why isn't NPR doing analysis of it? Is it because they Straits are WHITE?
I assume we're all familiar with the Martin case; the basic undisputed facts are that neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed teen who was not breaking any laws at the time. Zimmerman has not been charged with a crime as of the time this article was posted. The official story is that there is nothing to contradict Zimmerman's story that he killed the unarmed Martin in self-defense. Of course, the only witness is the dead teen.
So let's see what the facts are in the Strait case.
Because that's the kind of guy I am, I will be referring exclusively to US news sources. Yes, it turns out that we can find the story in something other than a UK newspaper.
TULSA, Oklahoma - Nancy Strait, the 85-year-old victim of Wednesday's brutal home invasion died Thursday evening at a Tulsa hospital. Nancy Strait suffered the brunt of the attack that also critically injured her husband, 90-year-old Bob Strait. He remains in critical condition at the same hospital.
Tulsa Police named 19-year-old Tyrone Woodfork the principal suspect in this case. He was booked into the Tulsa County Jail and faces several charges, including 1st degree murder.
- NewsOn6.com, March 15, 2012
Tyrone Woodfork, 20, was charged in Tulsa County District Court with felony first-degree murder, two counts of robbery with a firearm and first-degree burglary.Can you spot the main difference between the two cases? It's not that in one, the victim was black and the attacker was white while in the other the victims were white while the attacker was black - although that is an interesting parallel.
Bob and Nancy Strait were assaulted March 14 in their home in the 3300 block of East Virgin Street. Nancy Strait died March 15 from injuries related to the assault. Bob Strait is still recovering from multiple injuries.
- Tulsa World, 3/26/12
No, it's that Nancy Strait's killer has been charged with her murder, and arrested.
There are no massive protests demanding justice because justice is already in process. The killer was tracked down, and promptly placed in jail.
What, precisely, are we supposed to be outraged about?
But perhaps the rightwingnuts have a point; this white couple was brutally attacked in their own neighborhood, and the killer was found and arrested and charged, while the black teen was brutally attacked blocks from his father's home, and the killer walked away scott-free. Perhaps I've been in denial about the racist aspects of this crime; I've been going along under the presumption that Zimmerman is just a cop wannabe that stepped over a line because he has no training.
No, I'm convinced now that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson should be holding up this story before the nation, and pointing out that these right-wingnuts have proven that white victims get justice while black victims get none.
Thanks, Tea Party; I was wrong. You are good for something!
You haven't been in denial of the racial aspects of the case. Zimmerman is only half-white and looks Hispanic.
ReplyDeleteI believe you are 100% correct on your Zimmerman assessment being a cop wannabe and why this murder (Yes, I said murder) took place. It's VERY much against Neighborhood Watch rules to carry firearms.
But the reason right now why he's not in jail is because the special prosecutor assigned to his case is waiting for a grand jury to decide whether charges should be made against Zimmerman. They will decide on Tuesday.
If the grand jury does believe he should be charged, Zimmerman has already said he will turn himself in. And then we'll have the trial because THIS IS HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS!!!! And all the protests and online petitions aren't going to change that because it's how it's SUPPOSED to work.
Well, if the system was REALLY working, we wouldn't have needed a special prosecutor to advance the case this far.
ReplyDeleteGiven that the Sanford PD has a history of not charging offenders when there's indisputable evidence of a crime, the public was right to raise a fuss when it appeared it was going to happen again. The protests and petitions succeeded at the point Governor Voldemort appointed the special prosecutor.
As for the rest, I agree that the system is now at the correct point for justice to proceed, and we should let it run its course unhindered.
I wouldnt want Al or Jesse to ever hold up my case even if I was 100 percent right. Bunch of media whores.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteState attorney's offices are so bogged down that high profile cases like this one often require outside help. The assistant state attorneys often have hundreds of cases they need to keep track of, so when a case like this comes along, they simply don't have the time to deal with it.
ReplyDeleteNews just broke. The special prosecutor is not sending it to a grand jury after all.
Hey, Anonymous 9:16 - I don't take crap from anonymous commenters. IF you want to make disparaging remarks, adopt an identity. I don't really care whose identity you use, but I won't get into a heated discussion with someone who can't even be bothered to BE someone.
ReplyDeleteRE: the Grand Jury; the special prosecutor seems to be saying that she'll have enough to charge Zimmerman without asking a grand jury about it, and I'm personally fine with that.
I'm going to address the reasons for the Sanford outrage in a complete post, bringing together the most recent revelations. And no, I won't be trying Zimmerman in an electronic kangaroo court.
My guess is that without intervention by Al Sharpton (at the invitation of the Martin family's attorney), this case would have gone nowhere, languishing under the radar as the city of Sanford dragged its feet and waited for it to disappear. Thanks to Sharpton's great big mouth and national reputation, which some would prefer to call "notoriety," the matter has become a headliner, and the process of justice kept on track.
ReplyDeleteMany white people are uncomfortable with Sharpton. Good. That's what he does, that's what we need, and that's why the Martin case remains newsworthy.
"What, precisely, are we supposed to be outraged about?"
ReplyDeleteThe fact that a 20 year old thug raped and killed an 85 year old woman and was not charged with a hate crime. What is so hard to understand about that?
Reggie1971; but the fact is that the 20 year old thug was promptly arrested. Since this case is being paraded to counter the public uproar at the Trayvon Martin killing, it should have at least the same level of system failure. But the system didn't fail.
ReplyDeleteHe was arrested, and that's more important than whether or not additional crimes have been added to his rap sheet.
The death of Daniel Adkins hasn't reached a lot of the media either. Another sad case.
ReplyDeleteAnother sad case, but very different circumstances. The Phoenix PD doesn't have a history of saying "there's no evidence to support charges" only to have it turn out that there was plenty of evidence, and just a lack of police work.
ReplyDeleteThere are also numerous witnesses to Adkins' shooting and the events leading up to it; the shooter was at a drive through window, and the victim initiated the event by aggressively confronting the shooter.
No, the only similarity is that there was an armed person, and they did shoot an unarmed person. And there the similarities end.