To understand the Zimmerman case, you have to live in a neighborhood that has just enough property values to keep you paying the mortgage and just enough proximity to dangerous territories to make you feel like you’re living on the frontier.

The chain of events doesn’t make much sense to the elites, which is one reason why they assume that the explanation must be racism There weren’t a lot of New Yorker readers cheering as Charles Bronson’s Paul Kersey stalked the subways and parks of the city blowing away hoods. The perfect target audience for the Death Wish movies or for Goetz saying “You don’t look too bad, here’s another” was that bottom half of the middle class that didn’t have enough money to leave the city and didn’t have enough liberalism to accept the violence as their just due.

But the case isn’t about race either. It’s about a struggling middle class in a precarious economy trying to hang on to what it has. And it’s about a culture of dropouts from the economy who celebrate thuggery and then pretend to be the victims…

George Zimmerman wanted to to be a cop. Trayvon Martin wanted to be a hood. It’s quite possible that Martin got no closer to his ambition than Zimmerman got to his. Both men were just going through the motions on the edge of a game of cops-and-robbers that suddenly turned deadly real. And even in a country where the thug tops the entertainment heap, the vulnerable parts of the middle class have more sympathy for aspiring cops than for aspiring thugs.

Think about it: We’re told over and over that if Zimmerman was afraid of Martin, according to Florida law, he had the right to put a bullet in the chamber of his concealed handgun, get out of his car after being told not to by the 911 dispatcher and follow and confront Martin and shoot him to death.

At the same time, we are told that Martin, who had far greater reason to fear Zimmerman, practically and for reasons of American history, did not have the right to confront his stalker, stand his ground and defend himself, including by using his fists. We are told that this was entirely unjustified and by doing so, Martin justified his own execution.

The phrases “stand your ground” and “self-defense” have been repeated endlessly by anchors, pundits, analysts and experts, but rarely applied to Martin…

One thing I feel sure of is that if Martin, in fear for his life, had used Zimmerman’s own gun to shoot and possibly kill his attacker, when the police arrived on the scene, they would not have failed to charge him with murder.

“While this case has brought a great deal of emotion, there is no tension in Seminole County,” Eslinger asserted. “Let me repeat that. I cannot speak for any other jurisdiction but I have to tell you, we recognize that this case has stirred up a great deal of emotion, but we’re not seeing tension here in Seminole County. There’s no party involved in this case who wants to see any violence. And we have every expectation upon the announcement of this verdict, that our community and its visitors will continue to act peacefully.”…

Chief Smith took a similar tone, noting that an arrest and a trial have been occurred, fulfilling the desires of the protestors who descended upon Sanford, Fl., 16 months ago following news of Martin’s death.

“As we await this verdict, we would like to remind everyone that the city of Sanford has been a peaceful location since that time 17 months ago,” he said, “and it remains a peaceful location.”

He concluded by suggesting the city can use this trial as an opportunity to come together: “We’re not sure what the verdict is going bring out, but, at the same time, it’s a great opportunity for evolution within the Sanford community, and showing how we as a community can involve or evolve to do better and be better. to ensure that we have an opportunity to speak our peace, peacefully. To come together, peacefully.”

The worst thing about America is the politicization of everything.

Why the hell must I pick a side in the George Zimmerman trial? A 17 year old boy is dead and a man who may or may not be guilty of murder is on trial but, even if not guilty, will never again be safe because so much outrage and so much politicization has been poured into the trial. A 17 year old is dead. Why am I forced, as a conservative, to cheer for the guy who took his life? And you people who support Trayvon, how are you given a pass on seeing things from George Zimmerman’s perspective? Why must I decide on the guilt or innocence of George Zimmerman based on the outrage of people whose politics differ from mine? Why must a death and trial comport to a political world view?!