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奥巴马反对芝麻仁 (link 2)
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Link 1
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/jimmy-carter-george-zi
Jimmy Carter: George Zimmerman Jury 'Made The Right Decision' (VIDEO)
The Huffington Post | By Nick Wing
Posted: 07/17/2013 9:11 am EDT | Updated: 07/17/2013 5:30 pm EDT
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Jimmy Carter, Video, George Zimmerman Jury, George Zimmerman Acquitted,
George Zimmerman Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman Not Guilty, George
Zimmerman Trial, Jimmy Carter George Zimmerman, Jimmy Carter Zimmerman,
Zimmerman Jury, Zimmerman Trial, Politics News
Former President Jimmy Carter weighed in Tuesday on the recent verdict
handed down in the trial of George Zimmerman, the Florida man who faced
murder charges for the 2012 killing of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin. Speaking
with Atlanta's WXIA, Carter said he believed the jury's decision to acquit
Zimmerman was correct, in part because the prosecution had been overly
ambitious.
"I think the jury made the right decision based in the evidence presented
because the prosecution inadvertently set the standard so high that the jury
had to be convinced that it was a deliberate act by Zimmerman and that he
was not defending himself and so forth," he said. "It's not a moral question
, it's a legal question and the American law requires that the jury listens
to the evidence presented."
Asked if he thought Martin's killing and Zimmerman's case presented any
broader issues of race, Carter said not necessarily, considering the
prosecution didn't bring up any alleged racial motivation during the trial.
He also said he believed the vocal and at times physical backlash to the not
guilty verdict would subside as people "start seeing what we can do about
the present and the future and put aside the feelings about the past."
Carter said he agreed with President Barack Obama regarding the trial. On
Sunday, the president released a statement saying that despite personal
disagreements over the verdict, "we are a nation of laws, and a jury has
spoken."
While Zimmerman has been released and given his gun back, the legal saga is
not over yet. The Department of Justice began to examine evidence this week
in its investigation to determine if Zimmerman was motivated by racial
animosity in his shooting of Martin. While Obama has not pressed for a civil
rights case, a number of petitions have arisen demanding follow-up charges
from the Justice Department.
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Link 2
Obama: 'Trayvon Martin could have been me'
By Tom Cohen, CNN
updated 6:07 PM EDT, Fri July 19, 2013
Watch this video
Obama: Trayvon Martin could have been me
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Obama decided Thursday to speak out on the Martin case
NEW: Zimmerman's defense team says the verdict was just
President Obama explains African American frustration over the Trayvon
Martin killing
He says demonstrations over the verdict must remain non-violent
Washington (CNN) -- In unscheduled and unusually personal remarks, President
Barack Obama tried Friday to explain why African-Americans were upset about
last week's acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon
Martin while lowering expectations for federal charges in the case.
"Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago," Obama told White House
reporters in a surprise appearance at the daily briefing.
His remarks, which lasted about 20 minutes, escalated a nationwide debate on
the verdict that has prompted protests, including some that turned violent.
A Florida jury acquitted Zimmerman last Saturday in Martin's February 26,
2012, shooting death, inciting anger among many who considered the incident
racially motivated murder.
Obama issued a written statement on Sunday, noting that the jury had spoken
and urging calm and reflection. Despite some calls for him to speak about
the case, the nation's first African-American president had made no further
public comment until Friday.
Watch this video
Obama's full remarks on Zimmerman case
Watch this video
Anchor opens up about Obama's comments
Watch this video
Mother reacts to Juror B37: It's 'a joke'
Watch this video
Trayvon Martin's parents on kids and race
Speaking without a teleprompter, Obama noted a history of racial disparity
in law as well as more nuanced social prejudice that contribute to "a lot of
pain" in the African-American community over the verdict.
"There are very few African-American men in this country who have not had
the experience of being followed when they are shopping at a department
store. That includes me," the president said.
"There are probably very few African-American men who have not had the
experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the
doors of cars. That happens to me - at least before I was a senator," he
continued.
Read the full transcript of President Obama's remarks
"There are very few African-Americans who have not had the experience of
getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding
her breath until she had the chance to get off. That happens often," he
said.
Saying he didn't intend to exaggerate those experiences, Obama added that
they "inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one
night in Florida."
"The African-American community is also knowledgeable that there is a
history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws,
everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws," he said.
"And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the
case."
African-Americans feel the context of the Martin killing is little known or
denied, "and that all contributes, I think, to a sense that if a white male
teen was involved in the same kind of scenario that, from top to bottom,
both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different," Obama said.
These cases usually matter for states
At the same time, Obama responded to calls by civil rights groups for
federal hate crimes charges to be filed against Zimmerman by saying the
Florida legal process had reached a verdict.
"Once the jury's spoken, that's how our system works," the president said,
later adding that while Attorney General Eric Holder was looking further at
the case, those calling for federal charges must "have some clear
expectations here."
In America, law enforcement and the criminal code are "traditionally done at
the state and local levels, not at the federal level," he said.
On Saturday, "Justice for Trayvon" vigils are scheduled outside federal
buildings across the country by Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network.
Sharpton called Obama's remarks Friday "significant and much needed," saying
in a statement that the president "set a tone for both direct action and
needed dialogue."
Martin's parents said they were "deeply honored and moved" that Obama spoke
publicly about their son, saying the president's comments "give us great
strength at this time."
"Trayvon's life was cut short, but we hope that his legacy will make our
communities a better place for generations to come," said the statement by
Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. "We applaud the president's call to action
to bring communities together to encourage an open and difficult dialogue."
However, some conservative commentators criticized Obama for what they
called divisiveness by speaking as an African American instead of
representing the entire country. Todd Starnes, a Fox News Radio anchor,
tweeted "race-baiter in chief."
Stark contrast: How comments sparked very different reactions
Zimmerman's defense team cited Obama's courage in addressing the case and
its racial context, but said the facts showed their client acted in self-
defense and the jury reached the proper verdict.
"While we acknowledge the racial context of the case, we hope that the
president was not suggesting that this case fits a pattern of racial
disparity, because we strongly contend that it does not," the lawyers said
in a statement.
A White House official told CNN Chief White House correspondent Jessica
Yellin that Obama decided Thursday night to make his public remarks after
watching the reaction to the Zimmerman verdict over the past week.
The official, who spoke on condition of not being identified, said Obama
talked to friends and family members about the verdict, and told his senior
staff he wanted to speak publicly about it. His staff recommended that he
make the remarks in the White House briefing room, as opposed to an
interview.
In his remarks, Obama said demonstrations and other responses to the
Zimmerman verdict must be non-violent or they will dishonor what happened to
Martin and his family.
He outlined possible future steps, calling for the Justice Department, state
governors and city mayors to work with law enforcement agencies "about
training at the state and local levels in order to reduce the kind of
mistrust in the system that sometimes currently exists."
For example, he noted that racial profiling legislation he pushed as a state
senator in Illinois helped police departments think about the issue and act
more professionally, which helped build trust with communities they serve.
Stand your ground laws
Obama also called for reconsideration of "stand your ground" self-defense
laws in Florida and other states, that he said "may encourage the kinds of
altercations and confrontations and tragedies that we saw in the Florida
case, rather than diffuse potential altercations."
Sharpton and other civil rights leaders call for abolishing the "stand your
ground" laws.
"If we're sending a message as a society in our communities that someone who
is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms, even if there's a
way for them to exit from a situation, is that really going to be
contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we'd like to
see?" Obama asked.
Protesters stand up to 'stand your ground,' but laws likely here to stay
To supporters of such laws, Obama said they should consider if the right to
fight back with a gun would have applied to Martin.
"Do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr.
Zimmerman, who had followed him in a car, because he felt threatened?" the
president said. "And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous,
then it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws."
While rejecting any "grand new federal program," Obama also called for
providing more support for African-American boys and young mans who
disproportionately end up in prison or homicide victims.
No national conversation
However, he rejected calls for him to launch a national conversation on race
, saying "I haven't seen that be particularly productive when, you know,
politicians try to organize conversations."
His comment could have been a slap at his own response to the 2009 arrest of
African-American university professor Henry Louis Gates by a white police
officer responding to a report of a possible burglary at his Boston-area
home.
After coming under criticism for saying police acted stupidly, Obama later
invited the Harvard professor and the arresting officer for a beer at the
White House.
On Friday, Obama instead endorsed "soul-searching" discussions in homes,
churches and workplaces where people might be more honest about whether they
were "wringing as much bias" out of themselves as possible.
"As difficult and challenging as this whole episode has been for a lot of
people, I don't want us to lose sight that things are getting better," the
president concluded, making a reference to his daughters' generation.
"It doesn't mean we're in a post-racial society. It doesn't mean that racism
is eliminated," he said. "But, you know, when I talk to Malia and Sasha and
I listen to their friends and I see them interact, they're better than we
are. They're better than we were on these issues. And that's true in every
community that I've visited all across the country." |
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