Thirty-five of us, give or take a few. Standing in front of the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco, on an overcast evening in June. Holding signs, protesting the woman who was scheduled to speak inside the theater that night: Hillary Clinton.

Not a large crowd of protesters, but it didn’t matter. The area in front of the Orpheum is not spacious, and we had a perfect position: every single person waiting in line had to pass by within ten feet of every one of us. They couldn’t help but see that we were there.
The ticket holders made a long line, a large group. Most of them looked like progressives. If that’s a “classist” statement, so be it. Not many under the age of twenty. Gays, “intellectuals”, people dressed casual-chic for a night with their current political lodestar. “I’m Ready for Hillary”signs, stickers, and buttons. Stray comments of “Grow up!”, “Where did you go to school?”, etc., but on the whole they were quiet. Likely they didn’t expect us to be there, so they didn’t come prepared with snippy remarks.
This one was different than most of the protests I’d attended in the past; different largely because of the intimacy of confrontation. Other times we’d been on roadsides waiting for Obama’s motorcade, or counter-protesting with Obama supporters, facing-off across Market Street as he fundraised with the Bay Area elite. This was like gathering around a crowd waiting in line to see a movie. (more…)

History is replete with the failures of man, it highlights his cruelty, his desires, and often reveals his true nature no matter what social or moral standards have been established.
In 1895 the English author H. G. Wells laid out the exact template for how The United States would be overtaken by a brutal enemy that is completely malicious and incapable of mercy. Decades later in 1938 the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network, directed and narrated by actor and filmmaker Orson Welles, put that sordid template into action.
While I don’t know if H. G. or Orson were communists, nor do I care, the template and plan of attack is the focus not their personal philosophies. With only the spoken and written word both convinced a nation that is was being overtaken by a foreign invader that sought their complete subjugation. The same holds true today, but it’s done in soundbites, and digital form with far greater speed and reach.
(more…)

   By Elvis Chupacabra

The old timers said that a dry, chill wind was blowing out of the northwest, right from the heart of the Commancheria, that dawn of March 6, 1836. It ripped the palls of black smoke billowing from the old Alamo mission into ragged tendrils and hurled them away, as if trying to clear the air of the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh and the acrid stench of gunpowder. By the time the sun broke above the horizon and cast a golden light over the old mission-turned-fortress, gunshots still sporadically rent the air, but the main sound was that of an enraged mob. (more…)

“I demand justice for Trayvon Martin! Sanford PD should be ashamed of themselves.”

[Via AckbarSays]  On March 19, 2012, those were the first words I ever vocalized in regard to the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.  I had been driving home that day from a long day on the road, and while listening to my satellite radio, I heard for the first time the story of this young, 17 year old, unarmed kid who was walking home from the store, minding his own business, carrying nothing but a can of iced tea and some Skittles that he’d bought for his younger brother during a trip to 7-Eleven at halftime of the NBA All-Star game on February 26th.

I was shocked to hear that the white vigilante named George Zimmerman who had shot him had still not been arrested for his crime.  It made my blood boil, and I was determined that I was going to let my thousand-member social media friends list know how upset I was in hopes that it would spur some of them to demand action as well. (more…)

Here is exactly what I was hoping someone would share when I asked the question yesterday about how Mark O’Mara’s involvement into the HOA settlement with the Martin Family could be considered.   This author has digested the information, considered the surrounding issues, and formulated an up-side opinion to O’Mara being involved in the civil matters around the case.

In short – this person sees a positive or bright side approach. This well though out guest post came via e-mail and the author has approved my sharing it with you.

[…] Like many, I was outraged the first day or two when the story broke nationally, then I started wondering what the heck was going on after Obama made his comment. I then started paying attention and thought something smelled bad. I found your site shortly after Angela Corey become involved and reading your posts about what Crump and company needed to achieve in order to make money was eye opening, especially as I watched it unfold in the manner consistent with your assertions.

Anyway, in response to your blog, I would like to state this about Omara being involved in the settlement process with the HOA. I am no fan of Omara, but its brilliant. (more…)

The following article is a highlight submitted to the mailroom and presented by reader/contributor “Ackbarsays” Such a great job was done in presentation that we’ll just present it as it was submitted, including commentary by Ackbarsays, and you can determine for yourself the agenda at play.   This example cuts to many of the central issues surrounding stories you are seeing under current headlines.

Ackbarsays (ABS) Writes: This article concerns Bethune Cookman University. You’ll remember them because a group of BCU students famously marched from downtown Daytona Beach to Sanford during the height of the whole Zimmerman lynch-fest last year.   This private university of less than 3600 students is asking (demanding?) they be allowed to establish their own police force, answerable to the school president rather than the local police chief. Note that they try to cover their real intentions by saying that this is about student safety (an “added layer of protection” from “violent shooters”).  I highlighted a few things and added a few notes:

DAYTONA BEACH — Bethune-Cookman University could have its own independent police force in about five months, an autonomous law enforcement agency that would report to the school’s president — not the city’s police chief.

That’s the hope of top B-CU officials who have been talking to city officials and working on a proposed agreement they would like city commissioners to vote on within the next month.

“As we looked across the country at the number of violent shooters, the Board of Trustees felt we needed an added layer of protection,” said Cheryl Lawson-Young, B-CU’s crime prevention and compliance manager. (more…)

(The following guest post is from Jello333 – presented in it’s entirety)

I know we all enjoyed watching Bernie go off the deep end in his response to the sanctions motions. But to make things even better, it appears that the meltdown may have been helped along by some things Sundance has done. And not only did Bernie make a fool of himself, but much more importantly this could have a real impact on the case as we move forward.

You all know there’s been a pretty major rift here at the Treehouse over Mark O’Mara. Some of it has to do with the feelings by some here that he isn’t always forceful enough in his defense of George, and that he sometimes goes off on tangents that don’t seem helpful (like saying “We should have a discussion about race”). But another major issue has been how MOM handled the whole PayPal Fiasco way back when.

Some people here thought it was a big deal; others not so much. But regardless, most of us agreed that it probably WAS something that the prosecution was hoping to use as some kind of leverage over him. (more…)

Guest Post – Collaboratively Assembled

The Zimmerman family comes from a Southern U.S. experience and traditional South American Catholic heritage.

Within each there’s a heavy heritage about rules, and how you “get along with folks”, both constructs are essentially emotionally conservative, perhaps to a fault.

Visible responses when framed as ‘public displays’ which can be construed as ‘violations’ of the laws governing “how to be a nice person” are so strong, they actually can over-rule the basic instinct for self-preservation.

Standing back and looking objectively toward the Zimmerman clan, the instinct for self-preservation (in the context of community) is what seems to be crippled; And “community” for them is — the other nice people.    So if all the nice people stick together and continue being nice, everything will be ok.

As long as everyone in the community is nice, that works. (more…)

(By:  Jack Cashill)  The headline of the Orlando Sentinel on March 5 introduced a harsh note of  reality into the darkly comic opera the major media have been spinning around  the death of Trayvon Martin, “Lawyer: State’s main witness in George Zimmerman  murder case lied.”

That witness, Witness No. 8, Trayvon’s alleged 16-year-old sweetheart “Dee  Dee,” captivated the media when the story surfaced on March 20, 2012.

CNN covered it live. Anchor Kyra Phillips enthused about the “chilling new  perspective” added to the case by the testimony of this heartsick girl who was  on the phone with Trayvon when he was shot by George Zimmerman.

Phillips then introduced CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin.  Hostin had spoken  with a Martin family attorney and shared with the CNN audience what he had  learned. (more…)

   By Elvis Chupacabra

The old timers said that a dry, chill wind was blowing out of the northwest, right from the heart of the Commancheria, that dawn of March 6, 1836. It ripped the palls of black smoke billowing from the old Alamo mission into ragged tendrils and hurled them away, as if trying to clear the air of the sickly sweet smell of burning flesh and the acrid stench of gunpowder. By the time the sun broke above the horizon and cast a golden light over the old mission-turned-fortress, gunshots still sporadically rent the air, but the main sound was that of an enraged mob. (more…)