To all too many on the left, America has barely budged since the '50s when it comes to civil rights. As far as liberal radio host Thom Hartmann is concerned, America has barely budged since the antebellum era.
Hard to believe anyone, even a hard-core leftist, can spread such drivel, what with a man of color holding the highest office in the land -- one to which he was just comfortably re-elected -- and the Justice Department being run, go figure, by another man of color. What's truly amazing is that both men are actually slaves, at least in the Amerika that Hartmann finds so primitive and backward. (Audio clip after the jump)
Here's what Hartmann said on his radio show about the verdict in the Zimmerman trial (h/t for audio, Brian Maloney, mrctv.org) --
It's like in the deep South, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The slave patrol is alive and well. You know, it was called the slave patrol until the 1860s. Then it was called the KKK. Now apparently it's called the neighborhood watch. And George Zimmerman was out there on slave patrol and he got away with it. ...
The slave patrollers had the power to whip and beat the slaves. Stand Your Ground (laws), the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Koch brothers, ALEC (acronymn for the council) expanded that to, Ah, and you can kill 'em too. ...
Who killed Trayvon Martin? Was it George Zimmerman, or was it the Koch brothers and all the other people who fund the American Legislative Exchange Council, ALEC, which promotes the Stand Your Ground laws? Seriously.
Apparently Zimmerman was also on "slave patrol" when he asked a black girl to his high school prom.
And when he tutored black children.
And when he opened an insurance office with a black friend.
And when he helped a black homeless man beaten up by a white guy.
And when he voted for Obama.
Zimmerman's critics argue that he engaged in profiling and they are correct, though not in the way they intend. Zimmerman profiled Martin as a potential thug and Martin confirmed Zimmerman's suspicions by assaulting him.
Before that altercation even occurred, Zimmerman was already guilty as far as most liberals are concerned -- because he was armed. Ergo, he's a criminal for whom the presumption of innocence has been nullified. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe the right to self-defense applies to all people, including those of color -- like Zimmerman.
