MugabeGod

Long ago I was warm, charming and generous. Passionate about justice. I led my country to freedom from the worst kind of tyrany. Everybody believed I was the good guy. Time and time again you voted me in. We had the world at our feet and everything going for us.

Over time I surrounded myself with friends who wouldn’t challenge me. I do it even more now. I pay their bills, I buy them nice things, I give them land and important positions. I institute new laws which give me total control. I do what I want. I have the power. I can make up laws and I can break them as I want. If you challenge me I can kill you, throw you in jail, destroy your life. I can hurt you as much as I want, until you learn your lesson. Don't challenge Me. I am MugabeGod.

I can lie, cheat and steal, blame the consequences of my own stupidity on others; I can meddle with lives, destroy property, destroy an economy, create starvation, empty shelves in stores. Then deny that I did it. What are you going to do? Nothing. You have no power. I have it all.

I can do whatever I want with your money and your property. I can do what I want with this whole country. What’s anybody going to do about it? Nobody can touch me. Of course I could step down and let somebody else fix the mess I’ve made but why should I? I like pushing people around. I like the power, it makes me feel big. What are you going to do? Tell me I can't? Start a new party? Write indignant articles in the press? I will just shut you down.

I know how to intimidate you. I know how to kick up so much dust that reality is obscured. I know how to make your life a nightmare. I can do whatever I want. To those who are blind to my evil ways I'm charming, and disarming. They believe me. Because I have power over them. I capitalize on their innate decency. Because I can. I don't give a damn about the truth. I lie when I feel like it. I break the law if I feel like it. If you break my law I’ll break your neck. What are you going to do about it? I'm MugabeGod. I can do what I want. I always have. You can't stop me. I'm the one with the power. You want some of this power? How’re you going to get it? I can rig elections.

But in the dark hours before dawn, I live in terror. Terror that I'm hated, that my enemies are growing in number, that my control is slipping away from me, that my power and money can't keep my soul-consuming paranoia at bay. 

I loathe the sycophants who live like parasites off me and compromise themselves despicably so that I'll keep them in power. Disgusting slugs. Even though they're doing what I demand of them I hate them. I'm fully aware that if they had  any courage they'd admit that they despise me. They might even kill me. They think I don’t know that but I do. 

I see everything. Every glance between conspirators, every whispered conversation. I know they encourage me in my evil ways to increase my dependency on them. I know they are waiting for their chance.

I withdraw further and further into myself, trusting nobody, afraid of everybody, my body being eaten up by cancer, my mind slipping away from me into darkness, as my paranoia grows like a rank tumor in my brain. In the dark hours before dawn I can't keep my terrors at bay. Because no matter what I say to the contrary I know I am a murderer and a thief. I know that I’m evil. I know that I have betrayed and cruelly destroyed innocent people. I know I have single handedly ravaged my beautiful country, the country I so passionately fought to free from injustice. I know that my enemies are getting stronger. And I am getting weaker.

In the dark hours before dawn I know I am condemned and that my punishment is coming and all the power in the world cannot save me. No place to run. No place to hide.

I am a hunted man.

George Zimmerman Trial - the Jury's Out

In the final day of the George Zimmerman Trial closing arguments were (from defense) that Zimmerman was attacked by Trayvon Martin who he killed him in self defence; and (from prosecution) that Zimmerman was a racist, vigilante, wanna-be cop who profiled Trayvon, attributed criminal intent that didn’t exist, followed him and created a situation where he could kill him.

Reading about the evidence Zimmerman himself has given it’s hard to believe that a verdict wasn’t reached in a few minutes, but the jury deliberated for four hours before going into recess. 

Zimmerman’s intent, his heavily racist filters, and his self illusion were pretty clear even from the first police interview right after he killed Trayvon. The most damning piece of evidence he gave was that he knew everybody in the community, that Trayvon had never visited it once, and that nobody in the entire community had ever seen him. This was the first time, he alleged, that Trayvon had ever walked through, and he clearly had no business being there because he was walking slowly and it was raining.

Since this was the first time Zimmerman had ever seen Trayvon, how could he have had time to ask every single resident if they had ever seen him? 

The reality is that Trayvon’s father lived in that gated community with his girlfriend. Trayvon had gone to the store to buy some candy and a soda. He was ambling back. He had destination and clear intent and nothing about it was criminal.

It’s not a very rational man who can tell a story like Zimmerman’s that’s so ludicrous and so believe it to be credible that he would offer it to the police as a legitimate self defense story. 

The history of the actual community itself is important too. According to Robert Steuteville, quoted in Chicagomag.com, It started out being white; that was the point of the gate. It’s only six years old, but property values have declined seriously with the downturn. One resident was quoted as saying that owners were forced to rent out to “low-lifes and gangsters”. Ironically he was referring to Hispanics, African Americans and Asians. 

Was Zimmerman trying to prove that he was one of the good guys? At some level it seems likely. Was he succeeding in people’s eyes? Not everybody’s. One resident was quoted as saying that he was a busy-body playing wanna-be cop. That he was playing that role is obvious. That he made an ordinary kid into a criminal in his head with no rational grounds to do so is obvious. He chased that kid and got out of his car to follow him on foot, despite being told by police dispatch that he must stay in his car.

By his own assertion he’d dealt with police on many occasions so it’s impossible that he didn’t know he mustn’t get out of his car and play cop.

This is clearly a guy with a huge agenda, living in a fantasy world in his head. What about his parents? His father Robert Zimmerman recently epublished a book entitled Florida vs Zimmerman: Uncovering the malicious prosecution of my son George. In the introduction he says: 

“[In reading my book] You should come to understand that there are wholly unethical opportunists, including those in government, the legal profession and the media, simply for their own self serving interests [sic]. These individuals routinely utilize race to incite and agitate hatred and divisiveness for their own rewards.

…America is a wonderful land of opportunity. However as you read these pages it should also become clear that America has changed. Unfortunately many citizens now associate being American not with hard work, integrity and personal responsibility but with individual entitlement and continued demands for political correctness.” 

In his opinion the only racists in America are the African Americans.Which makes them complete monsters because they have no grounds for their prejudice. Now that's illusion for you.

Robert Zimmerman makes his wife out to be a saint and himself to be a hero, but he does it in such a self effacing way it’s nauseating. He says he never experienced racism his whole life except for one incident – therefore it didn’t exist. Which is kind of similar to the argument his son used. I’ve never seen this guy here before therefore he’s never been here. Zimmerman senior makes a very big deal out of the ‘truth’ that neither he nor his saintly wife nor his saintly, kindly son ever even noticed the color of a person’s skin. Just what was in their souls.

With a father so embedded in self-illusion it’s not hard to understand how George Zimmerman was out of touch with reality. That a child’s life got sacrificed to this kind of mentality is horrifying. If the jury doesn’t convict, it won’t be for lack of a solid case against Zimmerman. 

Sadly, a conviction won’t help Trayvon’s parents with their pain. But it will at least illustrate that some tiny, tiny bit of progress has been made on this horrifically long, incredibly arduous road towards a more rational society in America.  If Zimmerman isn't convicted it won't stop the journey of those on the road, but it will make it just that much harder.

I'm reminded of the words of a song Great Day which Dinah Washington sings divinely:

When skies were dark came Noah's Ark, Amen

When lions roared came Daniel's Lord, Amen

The Lord helps those who pray

And on judgment day

If you believe he shall receive you, Amen

When you're down and out, lift up your head and shout

There's gonna be a great day

Angels in the sky promise that by and bye

There's gonne be a great day

Gabriel will warn you some early morn you

Will hear his a rootin' tootin' 

It's not far away, hold out your hand and say

There's gonna be a great day

There's gonna be a great day

George Zimmerman on Trial in Florida for Shooting Trayvon Martin in 2012

The Trayvon Martin case is currently being tried. I listened to the recording of accused George Zimmerman being interviewed by the police after he shot Trayvon. The officer read him his Miranda rights, asked him if he understood everything. He did, and said he wanted to speak without a lawyer. It sounded as if he truly didn’t think he’d done anything wrong, that his shooting of Trayvon was totally justified. He wasn’t arrogant about it, though. In fact he sounded quite naïve.

The officer said she had not seen the crime scene yet and asked him to tell her what happened from his perspective, including everything that led up to the shooting. He said the neighbourhood had had a lot of crimes. His wife saw the neighbours getting broken into and was afraid so he started a neighbourhood watch.  

“There’s been a few times when I’ve seen a suspicious person. We call the police and our emergency line and these guys always get away—“

“What made them suspicious?” 

“This gentleman in particular, I had never seen him in the neighbourhood, nor all the residents. [Presumably he meant none of the other residents had seen him. Which he couldn't possibly have known if this was the first time he'd ever seen Trayvon.] 

"It was raining out and he was leisurely walking [sic], taking a stroll, staring into the houses, taking his time. When I drove by he stopped and looked at me.”

“Had you seen him before?”

“Never.” [His voice suddenly became assertive and self-justifying.] “I know all the kids in the neighbourhood,” he continued, “I know all the adults. Like I said he was just walking casually, it’s not like he was trying to get out of the rain.”

At that point a crime scene officer interrupted by radio to ask if there were video cameras in the neighbourhood. Zimmerman replied that there were but to his knowledge they weren’t working. When asked if he knew who was responsible for the cameras he did. He knew the contact’s name and had their cell number in his own cell, which had been taken from him at the crime scene. I wondered why, if he was so concerned about crime and obsessed with criminals getting away, he hadn’t made sure the cameras were in good order.

The officer left the room. She returned with his cell, retrieved the number and continued with the questioning. She backtracked a little and asked Zimmerman again if he had ever seen Trayvon before. This time he said “probably about half a dozen times”. 

By now he was clearly confident that not only had he done nothing wrong, but he was actually some kind of neighbourhood hero. And there was an element of self-pity that grated.

Trayvon was walking past a house whose owner doesn’t lock his doors when Zimmerman by his own account drove by and called the non-emergency line. He lost visual of Trayvon while he was on the phone with the police. Then suddenly Trayvon was circling his car. He disappeared again. 

Zimmerman got out of his car and walked around a bit trying to find him. The police dispatch said they didn’t need him to do that because the police were on their way. He said he was walking back to his car when Trayvon jumped out at him from the bushes and said “what’s your problem homey?” It was later revealed that there are no bushes. And minutes before the incident Trayvon had been in conversation with a friend and allegedly told her that this creepy guy had been following him. 

The rest of Zimmerman’s story is that Trayvon punched him in the nose and he fell onto the grass. Then Trayvon slammed his head into the sidewalk violently, got on top of him and repeatedly hit him in the head. Terrified, fearing for his life and unable to defend himself he screamed for help. 

None came. He pulled out his gun and shot. Trayvon fell to the side and Zimmerman pinned him down. The police arrived and he willingly gave up his gun, saying he shot in self defense.

First of all, that was a pretty seamless segue from ‘these guys’ to ‘this gentleman in particular’. Secondly, Zimmerman either had never seen Trayvon before or he’d seen him half a dozen times. And there are so many reasons why a person could be walking in the rain in an area he doesn’t live in. I sometimes walk around neighbourhoods I don’t live in and I look at the houses. I don’t usually do it when it’s raining, because it rains in winter here and it’s cold, but some people like walking in the rain. If I’m taking a stroll and somebody drives slowly past, I’m going to look at them also, and wonder what they’re up to.

By the end of the interview Zimmerman's self pity, the contradictions, the total lack of remorse that he had killed a kid in his late teens had eroded away any empathy I initially felt for him. 

Three witnesses for the prosecution have since stated that, judging by what the two were wearing, they saw Zimmerman on top of Trayvon. Zimmerman’s neighbour testified the opposite. Dr. Rao,  Jacksonville medical examiner, testified that Zimmerman’s injuries were insignificant and the head injuries resulted from one blow. The photographs show a few tiny scrapes on his face, his nose unbroken, and a couple of marks on the back of his head with trickles of blood running down. Under cross examination Dr. Rao had to admit that the injuries on the back of the head could have resulted from multiple blows.

This is going to be difficult for the prosecution to win because they have to convince the 6 jurors that Zimmerman acted with ill will or hatred and an indifference to human life. Otherwise, he gets off, the laws in Florida stating that a person can use deadly force when they feel threatened, even if they could escape.