I am going to start this blog posting by sending my condolences and respect to the family and friends of Christopher Lane.
As you have probably heard by now, Australian baseball player Christopher Lane had his life tragically cut short when he was gunned down by three young men. These young men who claimed they were bored and had nothing better to do randomly targeted Lane, followed him, and shot him in the back in an act of wanton cowardice. Lane's death was a senseless killing and for the sake of his family I hope that his killers are punished and that Lane's family receives swift justice.
That said, I must say that I am extremely irritated(and mildly offended) that fringe Conservatives are using this young man's murder to race bait and to suggest that Lane's murder is comparable to the Trayvon Martin case. Many of the usual suspects among the far right are actually trying to suggest that there is a double standard that exists when a young white man is killed in terms of empathy, interest, and media coverage. Two of the three young men who killed Lane were black(one was white). So in the minds of fringe pundits the outrage over this case should be the equivalent of the public outrage over the Martin case and the lack of said outrage is an example of bias. Conservatives are essentially standing of the grave of Lane trying to convince people that no one cares if a white man is killed by black men. Such disgusting race baiting would be laughable if it wasn't so offensive, not to mention false.
First there was Fox News, who erroneously(as always) reported that all three of the suspects were black. Then there was Rush Limbaugh who called Lane's murder "Trayvon in reverse, only worse". Similar sentiments came in the form of Glenn Beck, The Daily Caller, and The Drudge. Now it should come as no surprise that Conservatives get their collective rocks off race baiting. But for them to attempt to compare these two cases shows they are either desperate for attention or just plain stupid. Or both. So I am going to break down, in no particular order, the reasons why no one in their right mind should even ATTEMPT to compare these cases(as if I should even have to).
1. Lane's killers are in custody. They did not kill Lane, speak to the police, and then return home. It did not take public protest for law enforcement to arrest and charge Lane's killers and it did not take them several weeks. George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin, spoke with police officers, and was home in time for Letterman. What's more, it was well over a month before Zimmerman was charged with a crime at all.
2. It is a foregone conclusion that Lane's killers will face swift justice. There isn't anyone who believes that Lane's killers will walk and those three young men will easily spend the rest of their young lives behind bars(if they are lucky). By contrast, George Zimmerman killed an unarmed innocent young man and walked free. Zimmerman is not in prison and will not be punished. Trayvon's family must deal with the reality that their son was killed in cold blood and the killer got away with it.
3. Lane will not be tried for his own murder. No one will question Lane's character. There will be no embarrassing social media pictures of Lane. No one will call Lane a thug. No one will suggest that Lane got what was coming to him or was looking for trouble. Trayvon Martin on the other hand, despite having no criminal record, was depicted as a violent thug and was basically put on trial for his own killing. Despite never having been convicted of a crime, Martin was characterized as a brazen criminal looking to burglarize homes with a bottle of tea and skittles.
4. There will be no talk of what Lane was wearing. Do we even know what Lane had on when he was shot? Most of us don't. Because it's irrelevant. Lane's choice of attire is a non factor in his killing. Meanwhile Trayvon Martin achieved thug status by simply wearing a hoodie.
I could go on forever. In fact I could make the case that a double standard does indeed exist, but hardly in the way Conservatives suggest. But instead I will humbly request that Conservatives stop making complete ass clowns of themselves. I will request that the race baiting ceases. I will request that they stop appealing to their ignorant, racist base with this foolishness.
Conservatives stop it. Stop comparing Chris Lane to Trayvon Martin. It's outrageous. It's ridiculous. And it's low...even for you. Stop that shit.
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