Severe Moderate Delusions: GZ Tripping Straw Man Edition (Volume 1)

If I have to move up in a building, I choose the elevator over the escalator. Because one time I was riding the escalator and I tripped. I fell down the stairs for an hour and a half ~ Demetri Martin (dob 5/25/1973) a comedian, actor, artist, musician, writer and humorist best known for his work as a stand-up comedian and contributor on The Daily Show.

The dishonest blogger Willis Hart is at it again (lying about me)! According to one of Willis' cohorts, a blogger who is dumber than a box of rocks (Rusty Shackelford), "they are kicking your ass around over at Will's place". I looked into it and found that what Rusty was referring to is a post on the blog of Willis where he took some comments I made and twisted and misinterpreted them. Then he took his newly constructed straw men and presented them as actual arguments made by me. Arguments he then proceeded to easily knock down.

The Hart deception in question is a 7/24/2013 commentary from his blog titled "This One's For You, Russ". It is a sort of rebuttal to a commentary on this blog; a commentary where I present an alternate narrative to the one presented by Mr. Zimmerman in explanation of what happened the night he shot and killed Trayvon Martin (I assume GZ is a liar trying to avoid going to jail).

I say the hoodwinking Hart's BS post is a "sort of" rebuttal because he never actually read what I wrote on my blog. He only read comments I submitted to his blog (comments he never published). But does not reading my expanded commentary (as opposed to just a few sentences I submitted for publication to his blog) stop Willis from taking those few sentences and making a bunch of (incorrect) assumptions? Hell, no! Why bother replying to what I actually said (my full commentary) when tilting at straw men is so much easier! As well as much more fun. You can't be wrong when you're shaping both sides of the argument, and that is exactly what the duplicitous Hart does with his post.

Now, dedicating a post comprised of half-truths, misrepresentations and outright lies to a known liar such as Rusty makes perfect perverted sense, but I doubt irony was Willis' goal when selecting a title for the pack of lies he published as a post (although this is what he achieved). Unlike him, I shall use his actual words and refute those... I won't pull an Aunt Sally like Willis and refute words I've stuffed in his mouth (again, what the mendacious fellow did to me). What follows are excerpts from the Hart baloney followed by my take down of said baloney...

Willis Hart: wd's explanation for Zimmerman's injuries - HE TRIPPED! HE FUCKING TRIPPED!! Can you even believe this guy?

I never said GZ's injuries were caused by tripping. That certainly would be fucking stoooopid (and people would be right to not believe I said that). I do have GZ tripping in my dramatization, but the tripping causes no injuries at all. The tripping occurs when GZ tells TM "you're going to die tonight" and then goes for his gun. TM, assuming that GZ is going to shoot him, tries to prevent GZ from drawing. GZ backs away and trips. This explains how he got on the ground, nothing more.

Willis Hart: I mean, at the very minimum, Zimmerman would have had to have "tripped" two times; one time flat on his face (he must have decided not to use his hands to break the fall) to produce the broken nose and two black eyes and a second time flat on his back to produce the two lacerations on the back of his head... and the injury to his coccyx.

Again, I never said tripping caused any injuries... although it certainly would explain the the injury to GZ's coccyx (tailbone). But I didn't bring that up in my post. In my dramatization I say the injuries to his head were caused in a scuffle for the gun. GZ scrapped his head on the sidewalk. The repeated pounding of GZ's head against the sidewalk is a fabrication, as that severe a beating would have resulted in injuries of a far greater magnitude than mere scrapes (like brain swelling). Both the cop who interviewed GZ and the ME said his injuries were minor/insignificant.

As for the broken nose and black eyes, those could easily have been caused by him hitting himself in the face due to kickback/recoil when he fired his weapon.

Willis Hart: wd's explanation for where Trayvon was for those 4 long minutes - he was hiding, hiding out of fear (we actually know - via Rachel Jeantel's testimony - that Trayvon had made it all the way to the bottom of the T and that Zimmerman didn't have a dang clue as to where he was due to the extreme darkness of the environment and that for some strange reason Trayvon decided to double back and confront [Zimmerman]...

TM was worried that GZ would follow him home... and then know where he lived. Think about it... if someone is following you are you going to lead him to your home? Would you want a "creepy ass Cracker" knowing where you live? And how the hell would TM know that GZ lost him? He didn't know. This is why TM looked around to see if GZ was still there... he wanted to know if it was safe to go home (without GZ knowing where he lived).

Willis Hart: ...a fear that was so absolute that the youngster decided to LUNGE at a man whose gun was already being brandished (he knows this how exactly is never quite revealed of course) and who knew that the police were to arrive on the scene IN SECONDS!

GZ said earlier (on the taped phone call with the police dispatcher) that TM put his hand inside his waistband, which means that GZ was worried that TM had a gun. Yet, when the confrontation takes place GZ says he reaches for his phone to dial 911. When someone GZ suspects may have a gun is approaching him? That isn't believable. That is why I say he was going for, or already had his firearm out.

So why would TM lunge for the gun? Because he thought GZ intended to kill him. GZ says TM told him "you're going to die tonight". I think GZ said that to TM. Then TM went for the gun because he believed if he ran GZ would shoot him in the back. Or, it is also possible that GZ decided he'd take TM into custody/make a citizen's arrest and hand TM over to the cops when they arrived. Whatever happened, GZ never identified himself as being part of the Neighborhood Watch, so TM feels he's dealing with someone who means him harm and he defends himself (TM stands HIS ground).

Also remember that GZ was on Adderall and Temazepam... two drugs that can result in "new or worsening mental or mood problems; including aggression, agitation, anxiety, delusions, depression, hallucinations and hostility". We know that GZ was fixated on becoming a cop... given all that my alternate theory is that GZ was hallucinating when he heard TM say "you got me" after he shot him (a time at which TM would be unable to speak due to the bullet collapsing his lungs). GZ was so fixated on "arresting" TM that he hallucinated TM "surrendering" to his authority. When a neighbor approached with a flashlight GZ asked the neighbor to help him subdue (the dead) TM.

After the cops got there, performed CPR on TM and then declared him dead... it wasn't until then that GZ realized he hadn't just made a "citizen's arrest".

As for the cops arriving "in seconds", that's idiotic. The altercation took around 45 seconds and the police did not arrive until a full minute after GZ shot and killed TM. Not that his point matters, as GZ wanted the cops to show up so he could either: [1] claim SYG (if he had intended to kill TM beforehand); [2] turn him over to the cops after "arresting" him (if a "citizen's arrest" was his intention). In either case GZ wants the cops to arrive sooner than later.

Willis Hart: Yeah, I'm sure that it happened exactly like this - NOT!

It didn't happen like that, because the scenario you laid out (the injuries caused by multiple trips) is an utterly ridiculous straw man. My, isn't it easy to "kick someone's ass" (figuratively) when you totally misrepresent what they've said? Also, being a typical Conservative Caucasian male who exhibits signs of White Rage (using terms like "race hustler"), it is no surprise at all that WH takes GZ's version of events as the gospel truth and completely discounts the possibility that the dead guy could have explained things differently.

Willis Hart: And I ask you yet again, what kind of a murderer calls the police and summons them prior to the crime, and then voluntarily takes (and passes!!!!!) a series of polygraphs after the crime? The jury came to the appropriate decision here, people.

The kind of murderer who would do that is one who plans on claiming Stand Your Ground as his defense. He knew all about SYG; his lying about it to Hannity shows that he KNEW people might suspect he planned the killing and planned to invoke SYG (otherwise why lie to Hannity?).

However, it is also possible that (emboldened by the fact that he had a gun and was under the influence of some serious drugs), GZ decided to "arrest" TM and TM didn't want to be arrested by a stranger who never even identified himself as having any kind of authority. Even *if* GZ told TM he was with the Neighborhood Watch (something GZ never says he did) why should TM believe him? GZ could have rolled down his car window and spoke with TM when (according to GZ), TM circled his truck. GZ was the one acting suspiciously, and TM had every reason to suspect GZ had ill intentions.

Which would explain why (if it actually happened) TM punched GZ in the nose. He was standing his ground against someone who was following him and intended to do him harm. Remember GZ said TM asked him if he had a problem, then GZ replied that he did not (GZ never identified himself as being on the neighborhood watch), and then (GZ says) he reached for his cell phone. TM could very well have assumed GZ was going for a gun and punched GZ so he couldn't unholster it.

As for the "series of polygraphs" WH says GZ "voluntarily takes and passes"... wrong. GZ passed two voice stress tests. A "voice stress test" is NOT the same as a polygraph. Wikipedia notes that "there are no independent research studies that support the use of VSA [voice stress analysis] as a reliable lie detection technology, whilst there are numerous studies that dispute its reliability". And, from his point of view he probably thought he did nothing wrong (if he was making a "citizens arrest" and TM resisted). Of course you're going to pass a voice stress test (or polygraph) if, IN YOUR MIND, you did nothing wrong (even if you did).

Finally, in regard to the jury's decision... clearly they listened to the judge's instructions. The Governor-Jeb-Bush-appointed judge sent the jury to their deliberation with instructions that said "self-defense meant Zimmerman was entitled to stand his ground with no duty to retreat". So GZ's legal team said their defense had nothing to do with SYG, but the judge told the jury to decide the case based on it!

They could have simply disregarded this instruction (as a jury does not have to explain itself when rendering a verdict). I certainly would have. Why did the judge compel (or attempt to compel) the jury to decide the case based on SYG when the defense did not argue SYG? From the beginning Conservatives have been saying that GZ was being "railroaded". What this shows, IMO, is that TM was railroaded. The jury decided TM was responsible for his own death based on nothing but GZ's version of events!

On the other hand, the jury's hands may very well have been tied due to Florida laws that protect shooters. Given the fact that TM was dead and therefore unable to give his account of what happened; and given the fact that the witnesses did not see how the altercation began (or much of it thereafter). I thought they should have at least been able to convict GZ of manslaughter due to his many false statements, including the whopper about his head being slammed against the concrete sidewalk.

A cop and an ME testified to the extent of his injuries... both saying they thought they were MINOR. And GZ never spread TM arms to look for a weapon in his hands (as GZ claimed). TM's arms and hands were found pinned under his body. Were these lies enough to convict GZ of murder 2 or manslaughter? I'm no attorney so I really do not know. What I do know is that there is something really wrong with a killer getting off because his version of events are bought lock, stock and barrel (despite obvious lies from said killer).

Conservatives like Mr. Hart, on the other hand... they have no problem at all with the inconsistencies in GZ's story. Because they just ignore them. If someone brings them up they create straw men to "defeat", thus "proving" how idiotic those who disagree with them are.

Finally, in response to the Hartster asking how I know the gun was already being brandished. I'll tell you... GZ did NOT reach for his cell phone when a suspicious BM he already suspected had a gun approached him (the hand in his waistband quote from the police call)... He reached for and pulled out HIS gun (or was in the process of pulling out his gun). You're telling me that if you had a gun and a BM you suspected had a gun said, "yo, you got a problem?" and approached you... you would pull out your cell phone to dial 911? Give me an fucking break.

Video Description: According to Zimmerman Juror B29, "George Zimmerman got away with murder". Excerpt from a 7/25/2013 Robin Roberts ABC News interview (3:43).

See also: Severe Moderate Delusions: GZ Tripping Straw Man Edition Volume 2 (SWTD #187).

SWTD #184, wDel #32.