An affair to remember: A dating site that specializes in orchestrating extramarital affairs has chosen the notoriously infidelitous Mark Sanford as its poster boy, spending $6,000 to erect this billboard in South Carolina, where the former governor is trying to convince people to forget his 2009 affair (and subsequent dereliction of duty) and elect him to the state’s open congressional seat. In an interview with Politico, the founder of the website suggested, without a shred of believability, that he actually wants Sanford to win the election. (Photo credit: AshleyMadison.com) source
It’s not just local eyes that are looking. It’s the international eyes that are looking too. Sometimes you can fall weak and can’t stand upon your own feet to fight a battle, but people look at that battle and fight it for you. And that’s what happened in Sanford.Sanford, Fla. resident Shantree Hall • Discussing the international scrutiny her town has received in the year since 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed at the hands of George Zimmerman—a story which, in the past year, has become a key talking point for the issue of race in the United States. Martin died one year ago this week, with many of the circumstances around his death, including the Skittles he had just bought from a local convenience store and the hoodie he was wearing, becoming catalysts for public protests. In the year since the shooting, Sanford has slowly started to heal and recover from the months of public scrutiny that followed the case, but Zimmerman’s case is still pending in court with a trial date set for June.
This video, which appears to have been shot shortly after the shooting (there’s a bandage on the back of Zimmerman’s head), shows Zimmerman explaining that he only fired on Martin when he felt that he was in serious danger. “I didn’t want him to keep slamming my head on the concrete so I kind of shifted,” he says in the clip. “But when I shifted my jacket came up…and it exposed my firearm. That’s when he said you are going to die tonight. He took one hand off my mouth, and slid it down my chest. I took my gun aimed it at him and fired.” The video was initially posted on the site for Zimmerman’s legal defense, but that site is currently extremely down this morning — too much traffic, perhaps? In related news, the Sanford, Fla. police chief was fired on Wednesday.
When your client is out on bond, the pressure is much lighter to rush to trial … because your client is sitting at home. When your client is sitting at the Seminole County Jail, your client is going to want this resolved.Orlando-based former prosecutor Randy McLean • Discussing the George Zimmerman trial. Zimmerman returned to Sanford, Fla. Sunday morning to turn himself in. His bond was revoked Friday on evidence he hid a passport and financial gains received from a Web site he put up in the wake of allegations against him. This constituted evidence that he was a flight risk. As McLean points out, this is a bit of a double-whammy for Zimmerman — as his lawyer waived his right to a speedy trial, meaning that it might be slow-going for the Trayvon Martin shooter as he waits for his trial to begin.
During our investigation it became evident that there was an error made in the production process that we deeply regret. We will be taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future and apologize to our viewers.A message from NBC News • Apologizing for their editing of the 911 tape with George Zimmerman, which removed a 911 interviewer’s question, giving the listener the impression that Zimmerman offered up the race of Trayvon Martin without prompting, when, in fact, he was asked. The Washington Post’s Eric Wemple puts the apology in perspective: “No matter how you feel about Zimmerman, that bit of tape editing was unfair to the truth and to Zimmerman’s reputation, such as it is.”
The Rev. Jesse Jackson, 3rd from left, marches with the Rev. Al Sharpton and NAACP President Ben Jealous, middle, during a march to Sanford Police headquarters Saturday, March 31, 2012, in Sanford, Florida. (Arelis R. Hernandez, Orlando Sentinel)
Story (and photo) of the day.
“I can only imagine what these parents are going through,” Mr. Obama said from the White House Rose Garden, “and when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids, and I think every parent in America should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this and that everybody pulls together, federal, state and local, to figure out how this tragedy happened.”
Mr. Obama said he is glad the Justice Department is investigating the shooting and that Florida Gov. Rick Scott has formed a task force to investigate the incident as well. The president suggested he was sympathetic to the notion that the shooting was racially motivated.
“You know, if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” Mr. Obama said.
“All of us have to do some soul-searching to figure out how does something like this happen,” he continued, “and that means that we examine the laws and the context for what happened as well as the specifics of the incident.”
Obama’s comments come at a time when interest in the case is growing and leading to significant changes in the Sanford, Fla. police department. Florida Gov. Rick Scott has assigned a task force to review the “stand your ground” law which has come into question in recent days.
As the father of two black teenage boys, this case hits close to home. This is the fear that seizes me whenever my boys are out in the world: that a man with a gun and an itchy finger will find them “suspicious.” That passions may run hot and blood run cold. That it might all end with a hole in their chest and hole in my heart. That the law might prove insufficient to salve my loss.
That is the burden of black boys in America and the people that love them: running the risk of being descended upon in the dark and caught in the cross-hairs of someone who crosses the line.
Blow references a video, recorded by a 13-year-old black male witness to the case for the Orlando Sentinel, which features this line: “I just think that sometimes people get stereotyped, and I fit into the stereotype as the person who got shot.” That’s what many fear when hearing about stories like Trayvon Martin’s.
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