This rush to demonize Trayvon Martin is beyond ridiculous.
Leading the charge in the cavalcade of stupidity surrounding Trayvon Martin are the Breitbrats. In this case, Intrepid Blogger Dan Riehl, “found” a Facebook photo of “Trayvon Martin” which is supposed to lend credence to the wingnuts’ desperate efforts to cast Trayvon Martin as a thug.
In the photo, a young black kid is in a room somewhere throwing up middle fingers. This, of course, is damning evidence to the Breitbrats because the kid is black, he looks kind of black, and I’m pretty sure the kid is black. Also, it’s the first time in history that any kid, black or otherwise has ever mugged for a camera, so he must be up to something. He’s probably mugging the cameraman!
Sigh.
One look at the photo should have been enough to convince Riehl that it’s not the same kid, but we’re obviously not dealing with the most intelligent of life forms, and besides — all black boys look alike, don’t they? And they’re all in a gang, or are ex-gang members, or are thinking about joining a gang. Right? I mean, just look at this picture!
PROOF!
In Riehl’s oxygen-deprived brain, a young shirtless black kid wearing a knit cap, and saggy red pants is obviously a Crip. Or a Blood. Or whatever it is those niggras do down there in Florida:
I came across this Facebook account in the name of Trayvon Martin. I do not know if it is the same Martin who was recently killed in Florida. [It would be irresponsible not to speculate, Dan. -ed.] The banner photo matches, which proves nothing fwiw.
This is one of the few images still posted at that account.
Update: It doesn’t appear to be the same Trayvon Martin. But I’m still not sure. It’s still linked. h/t a reader. [What reader is that, Dan? Perhaps one of your buddies at Stormfront***? -ed.]
Also, people are whacked. We asked questions all the time when I covered crime out here. People need to get over it. I’ve seen several pics alleged to be Trayvon Martin circulating that didn’t look worth asking about. Community sourcing works. It’s what blogs did well back when they started. If I had something earth shattering, I’d look to publish it via a Breitbart site, if it were solid.
Also (and this is a real knee-slapper), Dan Riehl and the rest of the Breitbrat bozos are convinced that the librul media is perpetrating a hoax on the American public by photoshopping a picture of Trayvon Martin to make him look less guilty:
Among a few interesting items uncovered in trying to examine the facts behind the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin without drawing any conclusions, was that a widely viewed photograph of Martin appears to have been altered, somewhat.
Here is what appears to be the original via the Miami Herald.
The one below has been observed in the media and at forums such as Democracy Now. Clearly, it has been lightened, or softened, somehow. Along with other possible alterations, he looks far more, perhaps innocent is the right word, in the altered image. For the record, that has nothing to do with the guilt, or innocence, of anyone involved, but more to do with the reporting of the story, which is why I’m bringing it up.
Got it? The librul media lightened the photo of blackity black Trayvon Martin to make him look more “innocent” because the blacker the berry, the more guilty the juice… or something. It’s a reverse OJ! (And of course, Dana Loesch — Breitbrat-in-Charge — was screeching about this on her radio show today. Way to go CNN!)
And now for the schadenfreude portion of the evening — from Charles Johnson at Little Green Footballs:
But in fact, this BOMBSHELL is yet another foot shot for the intellectually challenged Dan Riehl, because if you actually follow his own link to the article at the Miami Herald, and read the caption underneath the photo he claims is “the original,” you discover that it’s a photograph of a low resolution copy of the picture on a sign at a protest — not “the original” at all.
So the ‘guilty” Trayvon photo isn’t even the original photo. ::cue derisive laughter::
I’m not sure what this does to Riehl’s theory of melanin-based guilt and innocence; probably nothing since he’s pulling all of these wingnut conspiracy theories directly out of his own racist ass.
Without question, these are some of the most aggressively stupid people on earth.
***Don’t worry, it’s not a link to Stormfront, but rather to a Google search, courtesy of Charles Johnson.
[via Little Green Footballs; Hullabaloo]
[cross-posted at ABLC]
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
And the comebacks from Dan Riehl when Charles points out that Riehl is wrong are priceless as well:
Omnes Omnibus
Let’s assume the first photo is the correct Trayvon Martin. Dude looks like he weighs a buck thirty. Not a scary person. Just sayin’.
Mnemosyne
@Belafon (formerly anonevent):
The funniest part is that Riehl can’t even spell syphilis right. I assume he’s been drinking like his mentor.
Omnes Omnibus
OT: Dick Cheney got a heart transplant? Aren’t there protocols in place to ensure that a heart goes to someone with a soul?
Narcissus
@Omnes Omnibus: Not even. You can see his ribs. He looks about thirteen.
Mark S.
@Mnemosyne:
I don’t think Riehl needs to drink to be stupid. He’s the only guy who might actually be dumber than Confederate Yankee (is that guy still around?). It made my day to find out he’s got a gig at Breitbart, as if that place could possibly get any stupider.
Some Loser
@Omnes Omnibus:
Has anyone did “He’ll reject the heart” joke yet?
Omnes Omnibus
@Mark S.: It is possible that stress related to his grill incident caused him to retire.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@Some Loser: Yes, check John’s open thread.
Omnes Omnibus
@Some Loser: it appears that the last thread indicated that the heart may reject him. Christ, I feel for the (comparatively) decent person who missed out on this heart. I am still working on my retool of Elvis Costello’s Tramp the Dirt Down to fit Cheney.
Mark S.
@Omnes Omnibus:
Apparently he’s taken his game to
South Beacha different URL. Cole might want to update his link if he thinks anybody still gives a shit.To his credit, he thinks Zimmerman is a murderer. He’s also big on that Fast and Furious scandal that I’ve never figured out because I only read bylines at memeorandum. Is it related to Solyandra or whatever that company is called?
ETA: The strike button doesn’t work! Must email Cole . . .
texascowgirl
These people are demonic. They are so damn racist they can’t stand the thought of a teenage black boy being the object of sympathy and sadness. That’s only supposed to be for kidnapped or murdered white girls. If you can’t kill a black boy and not be a hero, then what’s the world coming to? They believe that Zimmerman is a hero and they just can’t believe that no amount of spin has kept decent people from seeing who the real victim was and wanting justice for what happened to him. They are losing all of the acceptable targets for their hate and it’s making them psychotic.
piratedan
@Omnes Omnibus: I’d follow up with his Suit of Lights just to be sure… that guy has done more than his fair share to screw up this country domestically and internationally than I care to think about.
Jewish Steel
@Omnes Omnibus: I’m going to learn to salsa when he does*.
That’s one wicked song.
Vengeance is another lovely piece of anti-Thatcheriana
* does go, that is.
Omnes Omnibus
@piratedan: God, I love that song.
@Jewish Steel: EC does viciousness better than anyone.
Omnes Omnibus
@Omnes Omnibus: I don’t want to divert this thread into an Elvis Costello thing. ABL nailed something here. We (I) shouldn’t derail it.
Ash Can
Of course Riehl is going to say shit like this. He’s a fucking racist. He’s the schmuck who got all nervous when he saw black people on the subway car he was riding in, and fantasized about beating them up. You really don’t expect anything better from someone like that.
BigSouthern
Jesus. They’re so desperate to maintain the plausible deniability they use to mask their racism they’re willing to malign a dead child in front of his still-grieving family.
Disgusting.
Jewish Steel
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ve tried to write songs in praise of fine things in life. And failed. Truly , I am one of Elvis’s children.
ETA: You’re right! Back to the topic.
taylormattd
GAAHHHH.
What happened to my Balloon-Juice??
So high-tech and elitist now.
PeakVT
Wow, a kid doing silly poses in his bedroom. If it’s Martin, well, so what? Every kid has done that; the only difference is that these days it’s done in front of a camera and not a mirror. Riehl is an idiot.
Yutsano
@taylormattd: You’re not usually one for the delicate wallflower antics. Are you verschnickered or something?
Joshua Norton
Rent-a-cop wannabe stalks and murders a black kid walking home from the store. Bigot wingnuttia can’t let it rest until the world believes the kid had it coming, because 2nd Amendment.
Go figure. Good thing for rent-a-cop wannabe I can’t be on a jury in Florida.
Cap'n Swag
New Rule: if you see a douchey-looking white guy down the street, assume it’s Dan Riehl.
AWL
When Sean Bell got murdered, the assholes on the right did all that they could to smear his name. The only thing I’m surprised about here is that it took them longer than usual.
Spaghetti Lee
When I read shit like that from Riehl, the first word that comes to mind is ‘pathetic’. They are so scared, so pants-pissingly scared, that the demented and lunatic gun laws they’ve been pushing for years might have actually resulted in some crazed vigilante killing in an innocent young man, they’re so afraid to face that and own up to it, that the only option they have left is to defame and attack the innocent victim. He was a thug and a gangbanger! He had it coming! He fought back, so he deserved it! Besides, it’s a big media conspiracy! The guys in the first and second picture are really the same person, don’t believe your lying eyes! And on and on and on, anything to make sure their filthy little bubble doesn’t get punctured, that they can still be the victims, that nothing is ever their fault.
It’s pathetic, it really is. Their lives are, on the balance, so wretched and devoid of meaning, that feverishly screaming their political truisms into the void is the only thing that does give them meaning. So when news comes along that shows those truisms aren’t really true, they just completely fucking lose it. If they don’t have their little superiority complex for being the Right Sort of People following the right sort of beliefs, they have nothing else. So now they’re all going to follow each other like lemmings to smear the name, life, and memory of a murdered 17-year-old, because they have literally nothing else to do. You think Dan Riehl has ever had a peaceful moment of self-reflection in his life? You think Dana Loesch has anything to think about besides her job of spreading propaganda? They’re hateful people, sure, and I hate them mightily, but it’s stunts like this that make me realize what sad, hollow, pathetic people they are.
JWeidner
Shorter Dan Riehl: “Damn, these black kids all look the same to me, amirite?”
Jamie
I’m still missing the part where shooting some other person makes sense in this situation.
I suppose I’m a liberal.
How many defenders of stand-your-whatever laws have said the outcome would have been different if the black guy had a gun, too?
Spaghetti Lee
Also, I don’t want to draw any conclusions here, but I found this picture when I googled ‘Dan Riehl’: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3SUFiHkIUSA/SwYSXI7L9uI/AAAAAAAAAZI/sYX4lI_Irnc/s1600/ugly+pig.JPG
Like I said, I don’t want to make any definite statements, but it kind of makes you wonder what’s going on here.
Alison
@Spaghetti Lee: The scaredy-cat-ness of them is so obvious too, and another way in which they project like the Dickens. RWers love to portray liberals as being wussy little babies and themselves as big tough ass-kicking macho dick-swingers.
Except…I have never known anyone so God damn terrified of so many things as conservatives. They are scared shitless of anyone non-white, of gays, of immigration, of non-Christians, of most women, of fucking tofu, of anything. You want to talk about wimps? People who are so drowning in terror all the damn time that they murder innocent children and/or excuse those who murder innocent children are what I call, among many other things, wimps.
here4tehbeer
I expect the Breitwing to post photos of Trayvon hugging a black teacher any day now.
Billy Rae Valentine
i think the message i’ve seen on right wing sites in the last 24 hours is not just “oh he was a thug” (though i’ve seen that, too) but also that the liberal media tried to only put up pictures that made trayvon look nicer, sweeter and pics that made zimmerman look more criminal.
there’s only about 3 pics of trayvon out there so far and only 1 of zimmerman. i imagine that’s what his family gave out. today a new zimmerman pic came out and he’s in a shirt and tie with a different haircut. he looks way more clean-shaven and upstanding. the other trayvon pic, that you guys don’t have is one where he has some pretend gold teeth. a “grill” as the kids used to say.
so when i went online that’s what the fox news type zimmerman defenders were ranting about; that there was a bias in the presentation of picttures. so they go around posting this pic you have and the one i described which i will not post. they also are saying trayvon is 6 foot 2 (this is a repeated thing, they really latch onto this) and 180 pounds not the reported 140. oh and it’s very important you know that zimmerman is hispanic not white. very important since the story got national attention.
i think that’s all irrelevant. but they need every detail that they think helps their defense. all to make it NOT racism. that’s what drives them. they’re sick of blacks and liberals playing that race card.
Naive and Sentimental
“The blacker the berry the more guilty the juice” is just a sublime turn of phrase.
Liquid
Wouldn’t it be Dana Loesch, Breitbrat-in-Chief?
HeartlandLiberal
I am white male who grew up in the fifties, attended high school in Birmingham, Alabama in the first four years of the sixties, one of the first three to be integrated.
I grew up in an era when young black and white men were being murdered for being outside agitator communists in Mississippi and Alabama. They had the temerity to try and register Blacks to vote.
In my junior year in high school, I witnessed the two black girls who were the first at my school being spit on in the hallways by my white classmates.
I grew up in an era and time and place of segregated water fountains, labeled clearly ‘White’ or ‘Colored’, and buses on which Blacks rode only in the back. The elevators in the office buildings were not to be used by the ‘Coloreds’ in most cases. They had to take the stairs.
A large framed poster of Rosa Parks, with the simple inscription “Courage”, hangs in the downstairs area where my wife’s office and most of our library is, as a reminder of what real courage and real adversity is.
Lynchings were still a fact of life. The Tuskegee Institute has recorded 3,446 blacks and 1,297 whites were lynched between 1882 and 1968.
Frankly, people (and I use the term very loosely) like Breitbart and his followers, make me ashamed of my species, much less my race, and much more amenable to liking the cockroaches which will inherit this earth one Homo Sapiens (hah!) finishes his current task of wiping himself from the face of the planet.
Woodrowfan
apparently Riehl is jealous of Jim “Dim” Hoft’s rep as the stupidest man on the internet..
Rick Taylor
@taylormattd:
Excuse me, but do you have any grey poupon?
D. Mason
Even if it were the original, anyone expert enough to make these kinds of claims should also know that printing a photograph in the newspaper often makes it darker and always lowers the resolution.
gocart mozart
ABL, don’t go read the comments at Tucker’s Daily Call Girl
if you care at all about your blood pressure.
Obama and the White House had previously refrained from commenting on the case. Following demands by the New Black Panthers and others on scene in Sanford, Fla. that the White House get involved, Obama jumped into the fight. When first asked about the case, White House spokesman Jay Carney essentially declined comment, offering a boilerplate statement of condolence to Martin’s family.
On Thursday the New Black Panthers, Rev. Al Sharpton and others rallied in Sanford, Fla., demanding justice for Martin — and that police arrest the man who shot him, George Zimmerman. Rally participants stressed the racial component of the controversy, with some alleging the shooting was a “hate crime” and others claiming it was “racism perpetrated by violence.” They riled up the thousands in attendance, but urged them to avoid resorting to violence of their own.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/23/obama-comments-on-trayvon-martin-case-after-black-panthers-sharpton-ralliers-bemoan-wh-silence-video/#ixzz1q8cF1xPC
Frank
Zimmerman was arrested for resisting arrest with violence in 2005. The charges were dropped. Does that mean he was “standing his ground” against the police? I suppose those cops were lucky he didn’t have his gun with him.
Rick Taylor
Are you sure she got it wrong? She’s an expert after all. She does photo-shop you know.
g
Yep, he must have been in a gang, because how likely is it that a young teenager would pose and role-play in front of a camera in his own bedroom?
Citizen_X
Ah, because clearly, lighter skin = more innocent.
Got the message, Riehl. Loud and clear.
Jnc
I seem to recall quite a bit of outrage when Time magazine darkened OJs picture.
Spaniel
I did not know who Dana Loesch was so I spent no more than 35 seconds to find this particular photo of her. What I fear is that Dana is throwing up gang signs to her homies. How can we trust a person who does gawd-awful things like this, takes photos of them, and places it on the internet?
http://images.the-classic-liberal.com/2009/09/dana-loesch.jpeg
LittlePig
@Alison: Exactly. And yet these are the folks that are supposed to “protect” us.
They are scared to death. I don’t know why, there’s no particular to reason to be (as long as you are sufficiently melanin challenged, as these folks appear to be).
And @Spaghetti Lee, leave my kinfolks out of this. Uncle Fred ain’t a pretty porcine, but he’s a lot better looking than Dan.
Citizen_X
@Jnc: Well, yeah, because that relied on the same racist assumption.
Which is why ABL referenced it in the post. Do try to keep up.
Grung_e_Gene
First problem.
It does not matter what you discover after the fact. Deadly Force is only ever justified by what you knew prior to the incident.
Here’s what we know: Martin had committed no crime, Zimmerman had no authority to confront, pursue, get involved in a fight and then shoot Martin.
He had no justification and no authority. He murdered Trayvon Martin.
But, to right-wingers everything always and forever has to do with race.
Anonymous P. Hancock
Jesus Christ, those Google result are a thing to behold. White supremacists don’t drive the right-wing discussion in any way though.
ellennelle
um, not to put too fine a point on this (and someone else may have already made this same point), but …
isn’t his assumption that ‘whitening’ the photo makes him look more ‘innocent’ the racist tell?
and not just him, but the world of readers/viewers out there? all racists because this trick works.
of course, it works in reverse, too, correct? the same photo can be purposely darkened to imply guilt, right?
these people are just pathetic.
ellennelle
also, on chris hayes’s show yesterday, he mentioned sort of in passing that a 911 tape of a call from trayvon himself had surfaced, or had been acknowledged as existing.
does anyone out there know anything about this? i can’t find a thing.
thx.
ellennelle
@Some Loser:
i’d say the heart will reject him, actually.
ellennelle
@Omnes Omnibus:
yeah, what you said, the heart will reject the dick.
C Franco
Well said…Teaxscowgirl
Eli Rabett
Please excuse Eli, but with this jump on the kid campaign, the Rabett wonders what Zimmerman does for a living.
SFAW
“Breitbrat-in-Chief”?
Shouldn’t it be “Breitbunt”? (I’m breaking my own rule not to use the word, but some “persons” [quotation marks because I ain’t sure Loesch is human] may actually deserve it.)
Daddy Love
And also, blackity black black black.
irishdave3
@Omnes Omnibus: too.also…Death Panels!