Remember when gun enthusiasts had George Zimmerman's back, so to speak? Welp, apparently that didn't pan out so well for ol' George, who is unemployed, deep in debt, and even claims to suffer from PTSD. As opposed to Trayvon Martin, who continues to claim to suffer from being, you know, dead, since it's difficult to stand your ground when you're armed with only Skittles and iced tea.
The only reason anyone's talking to Zimmerman is because of the Michael Dunn case, which, because Florida, the jury reliably managed to fuck up the verdict. Unlike Zimmerman, Dunn does appear to be headed to the big house for quite some time; like Zimmerman, Dunn seems to think he had no active role or volition in the sudden change of course his life has taken.
Given the apparent level of volatility in Zimmerman's personal life, to say the least, he seems to be on a trajectory that won't change until the world forgets about him and moves on to the next bright shiny thing, or he goes into hiding, decides to end it all, etc. Any number of things can happen, but the fact of the matter is, assuming he's telling the truth about the shambles his life has become, Zimmerman is at least paying some price for what he did. The people who found him to be a useful idiot for their ideological arguments have forgotten about him, his usefulness expended by this point.
One sees the same dynamic with the Duck Dynasty "controversy" (remember when that was a thing, seven or eight long weeks ago?). After all the stupid "stand with Phil" marginalia and hand-wringing, all the threats to make A&E hurt for the non-existent "suspension" they leveled at Phil Robertson, ratings are down substantially. There could be a number of reasons for that, ranging from more competitive programming in January than in July, to the possibility that there's only so much to be wrung from what was already a stale idea.
To the extent that "conservatism," as opposed to "liberalism," functions primarily as a narrative of mostly imaginary grievances punctuated with alarmist rhetoric and torch-and-pitchfork vigor, the shelf life for their token "causes" is mercifully short. Zimmerman is finding this out the hard way; if he thinks that his grousing about unfair treatment for opportunistic interviewers is going to translate into some sort of popular groundswell of support that will pull his dumb ass out of debt, he's in for an unpleasant surprise. He'd be better off coming up with a few snappy slogans and logos, putting them on t-shirts, keychains, bumper stickers and such like, and getting hisself a table at the next CPAC or NRA circle jerk. His vague "gubmint is out ta git me" assertions will play right into their core talking points.
The only reason anyone's talking to Zimmerman is because of the Michael Dunn case, which, because Florida, the jury reliably managed to fuck up the verdict. Unlike Zimmerman, Dunn does appear to be headed to the big house for quite some time; like Zimmerman, Dunn seems to think he had no active role or volition in the sudden change of course his life has taken.
Given the apparent level of volatility in Zimmerman's personal life, to say the least, he seems to be on a trajectory that won't change until the world forgets about him and moves on to the next bright shiny thing, or he goes into hiding, decides to end it all, etc. Any number of things can happen, but the fact of the matter is, assuming he's telling the truth about the shambles his life has become, Zimmerman is at least paying some price for what he did. The people who found him to be a useful idiot for their ideological arguments have forgotten about him, his usefulness expended by this point.
One sees the same dynamic with the Duck Dynasty "controversy" (remember when that was a thing, seven or eight long weeks ago?). After all the stupid "stand with Phil" marginalia and hand-wringing, all the threats to make A&E hurt for the non-existent "suspension" they leveled at Phil Robertson, ratings are down substantially. There could be a number of reasons for that, ranging from more competitive programming in January than in July, to the possibility that there's only so much to be wrung from what was already a stale idea.
To the extent that "conservatism," as opposed to "liberalism," functions primarily as a narrative of mostly imaginary grievances punctuated with alarmist rhetoric and torch-and-pitchfork vigor, the shelf life for their token "causes" is mercifully short. Zimmerman is finding this out the hard way; if he thinks that his grousing about unfair treatment for opportunistic interviewers is going to translate into some sort of popular groundswell of support that will pull his dumb ass out of debt, he's in for an unpleasant surprise. He'd be better off coming up with a few snappy slogans and logos, putting them on t-shirts, keychains, bumper stickers and such like, and getting hisself a table at the next CPAC or NRA circle jerk. His vague "gubmint is out ta git me" assertions will play right into their core talking points.
No comments:
Post a Comment