Namely, at what point does just plain stupidity become criminal stupidity?
But for the unholy trinity of stupidity, Trayvon Martin would still be living and George Zimmerman would still be living in the same obscurity we’ve all grown weary of him no longer having.
Just how stupid was he? Let me count the ways:
- A crimewatch captain just doesn’t do that–follow a suspicious person–it sets a terrible example for other crimewatch volunteers, and the last thing the police need is for you to inject yourself into the incident.
- There was zero probability Trayvon Martin or anyone else was about to commit a break-in. It was 7pm on a big-game Sunday. It’s THE single time of the week when the most people are home, awake, and paying attention to what’s going on around them. The break-ins Zimmerman fretted over occurred on weekday afternoons when the fewest people were home. Kick-in-the-door burglars may be unsophisticated, but they’re not stupid (unlike G.Z.).
- He goes, “I know a suspicious person when I see one. By golly, I’m gonna follow him.” Suppose, for the sake of discussion, that his suspect was, in fact, a bad guy. What characteristics do you think of when you think of a dedicated bad guy? Armed? Aggressive? Ill-tempered? Accustomed to settling disputes with violence? Someone I’d like to piss off in a dark alley?
Yes, we have a constitutional right to be stupid, but that stupid? Compound stupid? If he’d been any stupider, he could’ve claimed he was incompetent to stand trial.
If even Zimmerman’s stupidity didn’t cross the threshold into the realm of felonious stupidity, I’d rather not find out what does.
And let’s not overlook the collateral stupidity surrounding this case:
- The millions of eyewitnesses the prosecution failed to call to testify. They all know exactly what happened. If you don’t believe it, just make sure you have a camera and microphone when you ask them, like the cable news networks did.
- No matter how many times the 9-1-1 tape is played, an endless chorus of fact-retardant Americans persist in testifying that the dispatcher “told Zimmerman to stay in his car.”
- “Profiling.” Law enforcement agencies profile, and it’s generally illegal. Zimmerman was guilty of stereotyping –tragic, but completely legal for a private citizen.
- And finally, the maniacally inappropriate knock-knock joke Zimmerman’s defense attorney opened with will forever be included in any Internet list of epic fails.
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