E is for Elucidate
This has been on my mind for quite a while...it’s been all over the news, and any time there’s a feeding frenzy on the news, of course, like everyone else, I’m intrigued. I’m talking about the shooting of Trayvon Martin.
Before I start let me go off on a tangent but it ties in with this - at least in my mind it does - promise. One of my pet peeves are chain emails. Particularly the kind that blasts someone-the president, his policies, being American, or UN-American - most of them cite ridiculous facts about utter nonsense. I know. Because I research every single one of them, most of them are half truths taken out of context. Yet people mindlessly believe what they read and hit “send” in an effort to seem patriotic and let everyone else know how stupid the (fill in the blank) is and how much they love God.
Everyone jumped on the Trayvon Martin bandwagon with such fervor - it’s disturbing to me how this escalated. It’s a tragedy - I’m not saying it isn’t. I’m saying we don’t have all of the facts. We read what the media spins for us and they get their information from the police - who, to be honest, because it’s an investigation, can’t release much. Are you kidding me? - the police knew this was FUBAR’d the minute they arrived on scene. I’ve mentioned this before, I’m married to a law enforcement officer who used to do the press releases for his department. Information that will impede an investigation is not released. Period. I’ve also heard him express many times how the media - not all of them - but some of them, will take what he says in an interview, cut it, edit it, take it out of context, put their own spin on it - so it resembles nothing of what he originally said.
My point is this - there’s another side to this story. And we just don’t have it. It’s not clear (see my blog title) what happened. Were you there? Do you know what actually happened? Probably not. Nobody does except for Trayvon Martin and Robert Zimmerman. Unfortunately, Trayvon can’t speak for himself to give his side. But no one is listening to Robert Zimmerman’s side either. I’m not saying this young man deserved to be shot. I’m saying all the information hasn’t been presented, therefore, don’t be so quick to jump on the bandwagon to lynch Robert Zimmerman either. His family reports he is a very protective person, who has mentored high school students - including African Americans - if that’s the case, why would he shoot for no reason other than he’s a racist? This whole thing just doesn’t make sense to me. When something doesn’t make sense, I look into it more, I read, I research. While I like to believe I don’t jump to conclusions, I know how difficult it is not to - but I try to be conscious of it before I do. I guess I’m the type to give the benefit of the doubt. And in this case - there is so much doubt in my mind between what really happened and what’s been splayed all over the media. There’s a reason that information isn’t out there. The police are still investigating. But now this story has exploded all over the media, this man will never get a fair trial - the American people have already hit that “send” button in their minds - his guilt was determined the minute this hit the news.
Before I start let me go off on a tangent but it ties in with this - at least in my mind it does - promise. One of my pet peeves are chain emails. Particularly the kind that blasts someone-the president, his policies, being American, or UN-American - most of them cite ridiculous facts about utter nonsense. I know. Because I research every single one of them, most of them are half truths taken out of context. Yet people mindlessly believe what they read and hit “send” in an effort to seem patriotic and let everyone else know how stupid the (fill in the blank) is and how much they love God.
Everyone jumped on the Trayvon Martin bandwagon with such fervor - it’s disturbing to me how this escalated. It’s a tragedy - I’m not saying it isn’t. I’m saying we don’t have all of the facts. We read what the media spins for us and they get their information from the police - who, to be honest, because it’s an investigation, can’t release much. Are you kidding me? - the police knew this was FUBAR’d the minute they arrived on scene. I’ve mentioned this before, I’m married to a law enforcement officer who used to do the press releases for his department. Information that will impede an investigation is not released. Period. I’ve also heard him express many times how the media - not all of them - but some of them, will take what he says in an interview, cut it, edit it, take it out of context, put their own spin on it - so it resembles nothing of what he originally said.
My point is this - there’s another side to this story. And we just don’t have it. It’s not clear (see my blog title) what happened. Were you there? Do you know what actually happened? Probably not. Nobody does except for Trayvon Martin and Robert Zimmerman. Unfortunately, Trayvon can’t speak for himself to give his side. But no one is listening to Robert Zimmerman’s side either. I’m not saying this young man deserved to be shot. I’m saying all the information hasn’t been presented, therefore, don’t be so quick to jump on the bandwagon to lynch Robert Zimmerman either. His family reports he is a very protective person, who has mentored high school students - including African Americans - if that’s the case, why would he shoot for no reason other than he’s a racist? This whole thing just doesn’t make sense to me. When something doesn’t make sense, I look into it more, I read, I research. While I like to believe I don’t jump to conclusions, I know how difficult it is not to - but I try to be conscious of it before I do. I guess I’m the type to give the benefit of the doubt. And in this case - there is so much doubt in my mind between what really happened and what’s been splayed all over the media. There’s a reason that information isn’t out there. The police are still investigating. But now this story has exploded all over the media, this man will never get a fair trial - the American people have already hit that “send” button in their minds - his guilt was determined the minute this hit the news.
I completely agree - always research something or hear all sides of the situation before making any decisions!
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