It's About Time

The SEVEN
15 April 2012


I. By George, They Got Him!

So they finally have arrested George Zimmerman…and it's about time. Or putting it another way, if Trayvon Martin had been walking through the neighborhood with a gun and shot George Zimmerman walking home from the neighborhood patrol, do you really think it would have taken this long for an arrest to be made?

We will see what transpires going forward, but this much is certain: There are a lot of people - from attorneys to judges to law enforcement personnel - that have spent a great deal of time in schools and in training to get to where they are in their respective professions, and through each of them doing their jobs, our system of jurisprudence is supposed to work. One toy cop - who is neither policeman, nor judge, nor jurist, nor attorney - should not take the entire process into his own hands.

Case in point: an officer that I know recently retired without ever discharging his weapon in the line of duty. If only we could say the same for George.

II. The Heat Is On

Kudos to Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and the entire Miami Heat team who - in the midst of the period since the shooting - donned hoodies in a "We Are Trayvon Martin" moment and statement. Athletes can take a stand and look to make a difference…unlike when Harvey Gantt was attempting to unseat the horrific racist North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms, and North Carolina virtual native Michael Jordan was asked to offer his support.

"Republicans buy sneakers too," Jordan is alleged to have said.

III. Heat Was On

A bit of heat came down on Geraldo Rivera for stating that Martin's hoodie was as much to blame for his death as George Zimmerman, starting with his own son, who told him that he was ashamed of his position. It is, of course, no crime to wear a hoodie or to be Black. To Geraldo's credit, he has somewhat backed down from those remarks.

Funny thing about FOX News…when you're on their air, you're liable to say any off the wall thing.

IV. Get the FOX Out Of There

To that end, Rep. Allen West, who this week said "there's about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party," needs to resign immediately and join the team at FOX…as opposed to using the publicity as a fund-raising tool. Hopefully Congressman West's district will make his decision that much easier this November.

Clearly the Occupy movement has been great in terms of re-shaping the discussion going back to last fall, but now my hope is that folks will evaluate the options and occupy the ballot box as well.

V. Let The Side Show Begin

Must admit that I was kind of sorry to see Rick Santorum bow out of the presidential race this week, virtually placing the Republican nomination in the hands of Mitt Romney. I looked forward to that clown circus running throughout the summer.

VI. No Apology Needed

I'm glad that Hilary Rosen walked back her comments about Ann Romney, if only from a politically correct standpoint and to remove it off of the table. As a parent, I would never state or imply that being a mother is not a worthwhile job or a challenging job. But the point that Ms. Rosen was making is that Mrs. Romney - who has not worked outside of her very affluent home - has not had the type of experiences that many working and middle class women have had in terms of juggling parental and career responsibilities, as well as dealing with financial issues her household has never encountered. So in reality no apology was needed.

VII. Game's On Ice

As the baseball season begins and the NBA playoffs approach, how many people in this New York area know that the New York Rangers enter the playoffs as the top team in the NHL Eastern Conference? From the New York Giants' improbable Super Bowl run to Jeremy Lin and Linsanity, their success almost occurred in relative obscurity. In my mind, a most telling piece is that when I watched the NHL's Winter Classic pre-game show, I knew the players introduced from the seventies through nineties much better than I knew the current guys.