I think ToddG had the right of it here.
It's too bad Mr. Whittle couldn't have made a video expressing simply the facts without all the sermonizing about the MSM and Reverends Sharpton and Jackson.
If he'd done that, then I could have linked people on the other side of the opinion fence to it and said "Look, here's an unbiased recitation of some cold facts you may not have heard." As it is, it would look like I was saying "Hey, don't believe that Left Wing propaganda you're being fed! Try this Right Wing propaganda instead!"
Unfortunately, the fish who are nominally on my side of the tank often don't seem to notice the water they're swimming in, either.
*As a side note, the whole Skittles and tea thing is a red herring, anyway. You don't need any of that crap to chug a bottle of Robo; a couple squirts of Chloroseptic will deaden your gag reflex enough for that. Uh, or so I was told during my misspent youth, anyway.
Conservatives always sound like squares when they talk about catching a buzz; about as convincing as that Reefer Madness flick. Except Limbaugh. He has doper cred.
Anyway, like I said, that's all a side show: the jury didn't need any of this to reach a verdict on the case, Zimmerman couldn't have known it anyway, and the facts don't require it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
54 comments:
I couldn't verbalize it as well as you just did. But I agree it was a shame he got so preachy in that.
True, but I dunno; not stating actual facts just in order to be more palatable to the sheep just fattens them further for slaughter...and smacks way too much of the twisted politics that is at the root of this whole created affair. Eff that.
-chaz-
Still, I never heard any of that in the MSM, not even on FOX. Mr. Whittle is NOT unbiased nor should he be. Is it a fact that the NY Times, et al are biased? Yes. Is it true that Sharpton and Jackson are race baiting charlatons interested primarily in self-aggrandisement? Yes.
Give 'em hell Bill!
Followed you for a while, but you are a bit too self important, and, well, wrong.
Tam,
perhaps you could drop him a line and point him to this post? Maybe he would do a "whitebread" version for that purpose.
I'm not convinced that a dry recitation of the facts would attract an audience. I certainly don't read this blog for a dry recitation of the facts. Even in court the prosecution and defense lawyers add their editorial spin to the relatively dry testimony given by the witnesses.
The old ideal of objective reporting is something I've never seen when I've had personal knowledge of the story being reported.
in defense of Bill, I have to say that George's calls to the police non-emergency number were allowed as evidence of what the prosecution claimed was a "wanna-be cop" mentality, while Trayvon's scrubbed Tweets and other social media conversations which might be held to portray him as a "wanna-be" gang-banger was all ruled inadmissible.
-SM
To be completely honest, unless the dry recitation of facts was given by Madcow or Tingles, most of the lefties of my acquaintance would tell me that it was part of the VRWC. They might be willing to believe that at least a few of the facts were actually facts if given to them by Stewart or Colbert, but anyone with less left wing cred that those two and lefties will tune it out completely.
The Left has "La-La-La, I can't hear you!" down to an art.
Anybody here watch the trial, or at least a decent portion of it? It's an unbelievable amount of testimony, and I've been trying to view as much as I can recently, and what's been most striking to me is how much the prosecution witnesses seem to actually be defense witnesses. They largely corroborate everything Zimmerman claimed. It's the most bizarre thing I've ever seen.
jf
"Followed you for a while, but you are a bit too self important, and, well, wrong."
Please tell me what I can change about my life to make you happy.
jf,
"Anybody here watch the trial, or at least a decent portion of it? It's an unbelievable amount of testimony, and I've been trying to view as much as I can recently, and what's been most striking to me is how much the prosecution witnesses seem to actually be defense witnesses."
Exactly.
Library-Gryffon,
I dunno that what I'm groping for here is a "dry recitation of the facts", so much as an entertaining presentation of them that is not a photographic negative of Maddow or Matthews. P.J. O'Rourke managed to make a best-seller out of Parliament of Whores, and you know it wasn't just Republicans buying it...
You and I are close to the same age, Tam, but I was obviously more sheltered and/or square.
What in the heck is Robo?
Tussin.
Skittles, fruit drink and Robitussin make a cocktail. Or you can just drink it straight, but that's a rough row to hoe, so chloro and Robo FTW.
I used to just drink my dad's liquor, and not much of that as it was. I was more likely to get caught replenishing his supply by dumping oregano in it.
Scott J,
Robitussin DM. The apocryphal apothecary of American teenagers is vast and bizarre.
Come for the snark.
Stay for the self-important wrongness!
I'm in!
Thanks for the info. Amazes me what people will do to catch a buzz.
I just did the alcohol thing when I was in college. Had a head full of strange mixed up emotions the whole time since my grandpa was a raging alcoholic and I got to witness his sorry state plenty as a child.
I was raised to hate the "liquid demon" but discovered it anyway.
Now that I'm not a college kid looking to get hammered I cannot afford what my palette likes :)
Hmm. I don't see anywhere where just straight facts have had any impact on anything in this case. The MSM certainly has avoided telling any of the facts let alone putting them together in one place.
Whittle does provide many facts that are only collected at conservative sites. As for it being sermonizing, I'd say that's what he does. Afterburner has always been that way. When he was writing at Eject Eject Eject all his pieces were sermons. That's the purpose of his commentary. Similarly with Steyn. And that sermonizing about the MSM et al was one of the points of that video.
Even a simple piece with just the plain straight facts wouldn't be accepted by those screaming about this case. It would still be labeled as right wing propaganda. It happens all the time in both directions. That's just the sad reality of how humans are wired.
Preaching to the choir has it's place. It's fun to cheer and whoop and go "Yeah! I know that's right!"
Now, given that, as you say "The MSM certainly has avoided telling any of the facts let alone putting them together in one place," where can I get that to give someone who still thinks "the police ordered Zimmerman to stay in his car"?
Nowhere so far, at least nowhere it's not buried under the Conservative equivalent of calling your opponents "bitter clingers".
"Why won't you deluded, MSM-blinded sheeple listen to these facts I'm telling you?" is most of what I'm finding.
See, what I'm talking about is that the average person didn't follow the trial. All they've heard is the news. The news told them that this is what happened:
Zimmerman sees Martin, calls cops, calls Martin the n-word, is ordered to stay in car, disobeys direct orders from Mr. Policeman, gets out of car, chases down Martin, lays hands on him, starts altercation, and shoots Martin after frightened Martin punches him.
The average person thinks that the jury WAS PRESENTED WITH THOSE FACTS AND STILL VOTED NOT TO CONVICT. If I thought that was what happened, I'd be pissed, too.
Hell, given the case as it was initially presented in the media, I was pretty harsh on George, too; it wasn't until I saw the actual physical evidence: Photos of Zimmerman's injuries and, most importantly, the timeline and transcripts of the NEN call, that I fully came around to my present position.
I found all that stuff on the excellent Legal Insurrection site, but that's because I don't care that the right sidebar of LI is full of links to the right side of the blogosphere. Joe Average turns up there, sees links to The Power Line and Conservatives4Palin in the sidebar, and just discredits the site immediately as the flip side of MSNBC.
Todd G. and his too cool for school friends might appreciate this unbiased recitation of some cold facts all wrapped up in a sleek British accent
sepulvedasrevenge,
Not everybody lives in a bastion of conservatism and carefully vetted their family for GOP affiliation before birth.
What bugs me most about the case is it being used to attack SYG laws when SYG wasn't even a part of the case.
Scott J,
"What bugs me most about the case is it being used to attack SYG laws when SYG wasn't even a part of the case."
That absolutely pisses me off. There are people with an agenda who goddam know SYG had nothing to do with this who are whipping the honestly ignorant into a frenzy, and that just grinds me to a halt, because they've got the biggest microphones.
Here in AL we already have a state legislator introducing bills to greatly weaken those laws in our state.
Then on the talk radio show I listen to on my morning commute someone called and said "we're going to rally, march and protest every weekend until stand your ground laws are done away with nationwide".
In the past I would have done the yell at my radio thing. Now I just silently think to myself "I need more ammo and more time to practice on the range".
Pretty much agree with you but my own frustration with the MSM is pretty intense. To move away from this issue try googling "union letter on Obamacare". And then look for any MSM mention of this harshly critical letter. Some stuff in the WSJ and one mention from Fox. Otherwise, crickets.
Thing is the unions aren't griping because Obamacare is freedom crushing.
They're just mad they don't get as much of other people's money as they think they should.
Tam - I know what you mean, it's just that I know that most of the lefties of my acquaintance, including those in my family tree, will assume that any recitation of the facts of the case, no matterhow entertaining, is some form of VRWC propaganda unless it comes from someone they already think of as "one of theirs".
I can tell them that George wasn't ordered to stay in his car, and that I got it from the trial transcripts, and they'll ignore it, because as someone who is not "one of theirs" I am obviously misunderstanding the transcript or cherry picking or something. My own family will believe anything a LSM talking head says over me showing them footage of the actual trial. They'll hem and haw while they watch it, and within a day or two it will be as if they never saw it.
I have given up on them.
Tam said...
Please tell me what I can change about my life to make you happy.
Small gifts are always appreciated, particularly break top revolvers in 38 S&W, ;)
Really, don't change a thing,, some of us (most) like you just fine.
That is the problem with youngsters nowadays. To lazy to steal booze, to broke to buy dope, to lazy to make their own Meth. No wonder they just wander aimlessly in the dark.
where can I get that to give someone who still thinks "the police ordered Zimmerman to stay in his car"?
I highly recommend sending them to Talkleft.com -- a blog by Jeralyn Merritt, self-styled progressive criminal defense attorney. She thoroughly covered the whole thing in dozens of posts - and she's been scrupulously fair, knowledgable, and factual throughout.
-AliceH
+1 with Library Gryffon.
I have precisely ONE friend on the left that I can actually have a fact- and logic-based discussion with.
The rest; whether relatives or acquaintances, are a waste of time.
It always difficult when two folks whose words I enjoy and respect (you Tam and Mr Whittle) seem to have differences
Tam 9:42: Well, if you're pissed now, just hold on to your Hat. Just came across the wires that Dick Durbin plans on holding Senate Hearings on SYG.
Any guesses which of the Anti-Gun and Professional Racists are going to testify as "Expert Witnesses?" Sharpton? Jackson? Holder?
And of course, look for a "Trayvon Martin Child Safety Bill" to be generated that will Ban SYG because SYG violates a Goblin's Civil Rights.
I just love watch "Your Federal Tax Dollars at Work!"
Boat Guy,
I don't see where stating that Mr. Whittle's piece would be seen as politicized by those not already in the choir is the same as "having differences with him"?
Bill Whittle makes opinion videos. He's not a journalist.
Arguing it's "too bad" he's not a journalist because he produced a video that did not suit the purposes you define is not something I'd expect from you.
Particularly not when anyone with a cell phone and an internet connection can make their own videos.
When I thought it was "too bad" no one made an Android app that did exactly what I wanted, I learned the Android API, and made my own. Then I recorded my first ever youtube video showing how to use it, and uploaded it with my cell phone and internet connection.
If your intent is simply to lament that opinion (right or left) is injected so casually into so many things that it usually goes unnoticed, then where in the video does Whittle claim the video to be free of opinion?
I really don't understand what you're looking for here.
ErnestThing,
I'm not beating on Bill. I'm not saying it's too bad he's not a journalist.
I AM, however, responding to the people clogging email inboxes and Facebook threads with "zomg Bill lays down the truth in this vid! Share with everybody you know so they will see the FACTS!!!eleven!"
This sermon is only for the choir.
(As a demonstration of how polarized things are, I merely express an opinion other than AWESOME! and the crowd turns on me. And I actually LIKE Bill's vid. I'd better not let anybody know my opinion of St. Anne or I get goddam lynched. Jesus, it's like politics are a package deal these days... )
I haven't seen the vid yet. I tried to watch it over morning coffee because two of my Facebook friends shared it but YouTube wouldn't cooperate.
I ran out of time and haven't had time to go try again.
Therefore I have no idea if your comments about it are fair or not. Hence I've offered no opinion :)
I don't think that was made clear in the post, but I've been out of the zeitgeist for some time. Regardless, if that's the case, then no argument from me.
Characterizing anything Whittle does as anything but opinion is a disservice to him and to the characterizer. (don't think I've ever used that word before)
Your post had a taste of "do my work for me" and I, perhaps, need to cleanse my palette more thoroughly before changing meals.
Tam,
please don't count me as "jumping"; if you don't have "differences" (perhaps poor word choice on my part) then that's great.
I fear there are few not already "in the choir" who are gonna get it. That there might be a few more "saved" is one of the few things I would "hope" for...
Scott J,
If you've been following the case, it's nothing you don't know. The tl/dr version is that Trayvon was no choirboy, but the media and the professional race card players are jerking the public around with a false version of the facts.
It's well written and enjoyable, as Whittle almost always is, but it's not a sermon you'd use for proselytizing.
I stopped partaking of Mr. Whittle's output when he gave up text for video.
Video is great for propaganda, but fragile, brittle, and un-indexable.
Boo, I say.
Oh I've given up proselytizing. The polarization you mention has me convinced there will be little mind changing as we slide toward whatever awaits at the end of this decline.
Boy, he's aged the last year or so though. Talk about getting tired fighting the good fight.
I would have guessed him at late 30's two years ago, now he looks late 40's, and tired.
As a demonstration of how polarized things are, I merely express an opinion other than AWESOME! and the crowd turns on me
It's almost like someone has your number. Have been warned?
Tam- People forget that Echo Chambers and Groupthink aren't limited to the left wing...
And note- shouting down critics of one's pet political views doesn't make the problems go away, nor does shooting the messenger cause the enemy army to stop attacking.
Yup, I'm thinking proselytizing is largely futile. I'm happy to answer legitimate questions asked as something other than a lead-in to why I'm bad, wrong, awful and racist/homophobic and all the rest of the prattle; but I'm not gonna try to "convince" the products of "public education" and consumers of MSM, I got other things to do...
(As a demonstration of how polarized things are, I merely express an opinion other than AWESOME! and the crowd turns on me. And I actually LIKE Bill's vid. I'd better not let anybody know my opinion of St. Anne or I get goddam lynched. Jesus, it's like politics are a package deal these days... )
I'm not disagreeing with you for your statements. I think you're correct at about 99.999% on this. I just found it odd that you thought Whittle should have done something but a sermon. He's already written off by too many as a right wing nut. He's not so right-wing and more libertarian conservative (IMHO).
And sadly your observation about politics being a package deal to most people. I get that all the time from my libtard friends on facistBook. I link about gun rights and I suddenly am a right-wing nut job. Of course, I'm quite rude with those "friends." Which troubles my soul constantly.
Sigh.
That should have been "And sadly your observation about politics being a package deal to most people, is correct."
I have to get people at work to stop talking about work while I read your blog.
"I merely express an opinion other than AWESOME! and the crowd turns on me."
So you're all butthurt that most above disagree to disagree?
Oh irony, thy name is...well you know.
Naj
Tam, the comments are most entertaining. You started a real shit storm. The facts must always be listed but you must also fight fire with fire as Mr. Whittle does. Call them what they are.
Scott J: That was what pissed me off most about the President's speech the other day, too.
Naj,
"So you're all butthurt that most above disagree to disagree?"
Oh, I'm all butthurt.
I'm going to sulk and cry and unfriend people on Facebook and stop blogging and... no, wait, I'm not going to do any of that stuff.
Not butthurt, just amused. :)
(Thank you for taking the time to comment, though, Naj! :) )
'welcome. I've commented before anon but figured if I was going to tweak you I should give it a sig.
And I really just wanted a chance to say "disagree to disagree" :)
Seriously though, do you think the progs are so dumb as to stare that video evidence in the face and still see a li'l angel? Oh, wait...
Naj
Post a Comment