Mr. Obama simply extended his sympathy to the family, and remarked that if he had a son, his son would look like Trayvon Martin. That is called empathy — not politicizing, Mr. Hinderaker. Goodness, you are a pedantic little man.
In any event, here is Mr. Hinderaker’s PowerLineBlog.com statement — in context:
. . .So any time something happens that allows liberals to pretend that the 1962 template is operative once again, they rush in. . . politicizing the shooting of Mr. Martin; and Barack Obama, too . . .
This incident, whatever you think of it, has nothing to do with the Civil Rights template. The neighborhood where the incident happened is multiracial, only about 50% white. The man who shot Martin, George Zimmerman, is a Hispanic who has African-American relatives and may himself be partly black. . . . Whatever he did, he did on his own, and not as part of some sort of movement or political faction. . . .
This case has nothing to do with race. Racialists cite Zimmerman’s muttering of the phrase “f****** coons” while on the phone with 911 as evidence of racism. Others have interpreted that phrase differently, but to me, the one
time I listened to it, it sounded like “f****** coons.” But so what? It is not illegal to say “f****** coons.” Zimmerman or anyone else can go around muttering “f****** coons” to his heart’s content. . . .
I gather that, in Mr. Hinderaker’s view — for it to be “about race” — it must be demonstrated that Zimmerman was a member of an organized hate group. I guess Mr. Hinderaker thinks that racists can’t act alone — or exhibit elements of self-loathing. Not so.
I’d note that since Mr. Hinderaker wrote the above, Mr. Zimmerman has been charged with Second Degree Murder, and a judge has found that lied about his indigency (and thus quite properly revoked and vastly increased his bond), and been newly accused of allegedly sexually molesting a young girl over the course of a decade — a family acquaintance, no less,
In addition, on the goofy Fox network — Hannity’s show — Mr. Zimmerman told the nation that young Trayvon Martin’s killing was all part of “God’s plan” (presumably — at least in Mr. Zimmeramn’s mind — for Mr. Zimmerman, not Trayvon Martin), thus (per CNN):
. . .During the Fox interview, Zimmerman expressed his regrets to Martin’s parents, but said, “I’m not a racist, and I’m not a murderer.” He said he can’t now second-guess what happened, adding, “I feel it was all God’s plan.”
That drew an angry response from Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton.
“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. God did not have a plan for Trayvon to die and for George Zimmerman to shoot Trayvon for no reason,” she told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien on Thursday.
Trayvon Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, said, “I would just like to know, why did he even get out of the car? Why was my son so suspicious? What made him rush to judge my son and think that he was a criminal?”. . . .
I wonder whether Mr. Hinderaker still feels the same way: has this case nothing to do with race? And in what way, precisely, does Mr. Obama’s expressing empathy “politicize” the case, Mr. Hinderaker? He did not instruct Attorney General Holder to bring federal hate crime charges, did he? No, he is letting local law enforcement sort it out (though the very comments Mr. Hinderaker repeats above, make a prima facie case of hate crime under the applicable federal statutes). Mr. Obama has shown admirable restraint here.
Seriously, Mr. Hinderaker, did Mr. Obama “politicize” the case by offering his empathy to the victim’s family? Or is Mr. Hinderaker clutching at straws — to try to demonize our 44th President? You decide. For me, it is yet another in a seemingly-endless parade of Whopper-line hysteria-induced rants.
Powerline Lies... 