Liberal Dan Radio 1/15/2015: The more things change…

… the more things stay the same. On the January 15th episode of Liberal Dan Radio:

George Zimmerman is back in the news. I will go over his current charges and bring us back to the case where he was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin and explain again why that was a travesty of justice.

Gay marriage is on the move again, this time in Louisiana where a panel of judges heard oral arguments over why the ban on gay marriage in the Louisiana Constitution violates the United States Constitution. They also heard counter arguments on why opponents to gay marriage feel that a state should be able to vote on rights. Those arguments will be explored in the show as well.

And finally, if there is time, I will go over yet another propaganda comic book that I received for the holidays. This time it is about the Tea Party.

Those issues, headlines, tweet of the week and more on Liberal Dan Radio, Talk From The Left, That’s Right.

Remember, I am currently running a fundraiser. Please support the show so I can start to expand it.

Finally, if you are listening after the live broadcast you may always respond over on the show page at LiberalDan.com.

Liberal Dan Radio 1/22/2014: Hookers For Vitter

On the January 22nd, 2014 episode of Liberal Dan Radio:

The worst kept secret in Louisiana politics was revealed this week. Louisiana’s junior senator David Vitter has announced his candidacy for governor. Current governor Bobby Jindal is term limited and has to sit out a term before running again. Vitter is already pushing a “family values” campaign via his surrogates and that means the gloves come off when it comes to his involvement in the DC Madam scandal. Regardless of his “serious sins” I will go into why Vitter is bad for Louisiana. I will also explain why his own words make him inelligible to serve office according to his own standards.

Florida is at it again. Yet another shooting has taken place for no reason. Curtis Reeves, a former police captain, shot somebody over him sending text messages during the previews. And, of course, Reeves is claiming “self defense”. Now, nobody can say if that claim will be successful in court until the trial happens. However, if it does, this will be evidence that Florida law is absolutely ridiculous.

A Milwaukee couple was running a private, Christian, voucher school and that school abruptly closed down last month. What students did they serve? What happens to them now? And where are the owners? The answers to at least some might surprise you.

All that plus and update on the New Orleans noise ordinance, headlines, tweet of the week, words of redneck wisdom, and more this week on Liberal Dan Radio: Talk From The Left, That’s Right.

Liberal Dan Radio September 11th, 2013: More On Florida Gun Owners

On the September 11th, 2013 episode of Liberal Dan Radio:

George Zimmerman was detained by Florida Police involving an altercation with his wife, father in law, and yes a gun. I wonder how he will avoid jail time this time.

Florida does have its share of lunatics. Another person is using both “Stand Your Ground” and the “Bush Doctrine” in defense of his shooting his neighbors. William T Woodward has shot three men, killing two, because he felt tormented by them. Seems legit…

And not to be outdone by the lunacy in Florida, Iowa is issuing gun perments to blind people. Seriously.

Finally, this is the 12th anniversary of 9/11. Will we learn the lessons of that day or will we continue to make the same mistakes that we made afterwards? And have the Conservatives gone off the reservation with their response to Obama’s use of force and how it successfully caused Putin to act with their ally Syria.

All that, headlines, tweet of the week, words of redneck wisdome and more on Liberal Dan Radio: Talk From The Left, That’s Right.

Liberal Dan Radio 7-18-2013: Standing our ground against stand your ground laws

On tonight’s episode of Liberal Dan Radio I will be discussing the verdict in the George Zimmerman case.

Was the ruling right or wrong? How bad did the jury mess things up?

Are the Florida self-defense statutes Constitutional? Do they satisfy the requirement of equal protection as guaranteed by the 14th amendment? Wasn’t it Trayvon Martin who stood his ground?

What would I have done had I been on the prosecution? What arguments would I have made in my closing statement?

Why are Conservatives going so crazy trying to make excuses for the ruling? Are they tripping all over their privilege?

How can I tie Bobby Jindal into all of this?

Is this a case where the justice system both worked as it should while also failing miserably? I will go into that seemingly contradictory statement as well.

Those topics and more, plus Words of Redneck Wisdom, headlines, and tweet of the week tonight on Liberal Dan Radio: Talk From The Left, That’s Right!

LIsten live at 8pm Central on BlogTalkRadio or listen to the podcast and discuss the show at liberaldan.com.

How I would have closed as the prosecution against George Zimmerman.

Members of the Jury, in this case you have heard a lot of stories from the defense team of George Zimmerman. They basically have two jobs. Their first job is to make sure the state, via its prosecution team, follows the rules of the courtroom and the laws of the state when we present our case to you. Their second job is to make sure that they put enough doubt in your mind and hope you will consider your doubt reasonable and as such acquit Mr. Zimmerman of the charges against him. Your job, as jurors, is to see through those feeble attempts and at the end of the day determine the truth via facts, logic and reason.

And the facts of this case clearly show that there not only should you have no reasonable doubt about the guilt of George Zimmerman, but you should have no doubt at all. But not only will I prove to you that George Zimmerman was guilty of a crime, but I will show that Trayvon Martin was a child who was standing his ground after making a reasonable attempt to get away.

First let us look at what the defense has tried to do in this case. They have acted as the prosecution against Trayvon Martin, a child who had every right to be in the neighborhood. He was visiting his father and had gone to 7-11 to get some iced tea and skittles. He was returning home and was speaking on his phone. He had a hoodie on, in part, because of the weather. Nothing is illegal in these actions. George Zimmerman thought he might have been a criminal. Let me ask you, would a criminal go waste his time buying snacks at a convenience store? I don’t think so.

The defense has tried to claim that this is case not about the race of Trayvon Martin. They have claimed that the color of his skin has nothing to do with the actions of George Zimmerman that night. However, they incorporate break ins in the community by criminals who happen to be black as part of their defense. So, if the reason that George Zimmerman thought something was wrong with Trayvon Martin was the break-ins that took place in the neighborhood, then obviously race played a part.

And this goes to the reason why George Zimmerman is guilty of the crimes he is charged of. Listen to the 911 call made by Mr. Zimmerman. He clearly has malice towards Trayvon Martin. He sees a black teenager walking through the neighborhood. He assumes, for whatever reason, that he must be a criminal. How can I know this? Am I psychic? Can I read his mind? No. I know this fact based on his own words. He referred to Trayvon Martin as an asshole, an f’n punk. He lamented how these assholes always get away. And Mr. Zimmerman set forth to make sure that this presumed criminal (a presumed criminal only because of his skin color) would not be able to get away. This malice is key to your conviction. He was mad. He was frustrated. And he decided that he was going to take the law into his own hands (against the advice of the 911 operator who suggested that he didn’t need to pursue Trayvon Martin).

Now, this gets to why Trayvon Martin cannot be guilty. He ran. Zimmerman’s own words verify this. They confirm that Trayvon Martin initially ran away without seeking to harm George Zimmerman.  He didn’t run from a police officer. He ran from a creepy guy. He ran from a person who was following him for no good reason. He ran to protect himself. He didn’t want to get into a fight with Zimmerman. He wanted to avoid a fight. Had George Zimmerman not pursued he would have never gotten in that altercation with Trayvon Martin. But eventually there was an altercation. And because it was Trayvon Martin who fled, George Zimmerman establishes himself as a pursuer. And as a pursuer he was not simply tracking Trayvon Martin for the police. He was making sure that the asshole Trayvon Martin didn’t get away. It was his job, in his mind, to accomplish this.

The defense argues that because Trayvon Martin, at some point in the fight, got the upper hand that this justifies George Zimmerman to commit an act of self defense. But he wasn’t defending himself in the first place. It was Martin who was defending himself. And yes, he did get the upper hand at some point. Did George Zimmerman ever claim that he gave up the fight? Did George Zimmerman, once the fight ensued, ever claim he said “I surrender” or try and flee from Martin? No. He was the aggressor. He was the one who stalked and put fear into the mind of Trayvon Martin.

Florida law is clear, one can ONLY declare self defense if one is not committing an unlawful act. George Zimmerman was not behaving in a legal way. He was seeking to illegally stop Trayvon Martin from getting away and was emboldened by his gun in his pants. He figured he had the ultimate tool to make sure this didn’t happen. And because Zimmerman was not acting in a legal way, the fact that he feared for his life is irrelevant! The fact that he lost the upper hand in the fight is irrelevant. George Zimmerman’s actions disqualify him from those considerations. And since he cannot claim self defense, you must find that the death of Trayvon Martin was against the law. You must convict George Zimmerman of the crimes charged against him.