4

When justice
does not
BY JAKE BARTMAN
Staff Writer

The Pioneer Log opinion

april 6, 2012

COME
W
What piqued my interest about the article was the black and white paint so carelessly dashed across it in such a shamelessly biased way. The article made a point of describing Martin as a six-foot tall teen who had recently been suspended from school on account of marijuana residue in his backpack, a portrayal doubtlessly intended to paint Martin as less innocent than he might have first appeared. Instead, it gave the impression that the writer felt that because Martin was older and taller and smoked pot, Zimmerman might have been justified in shooting him. Cant we just tell it like it is, for once? Trayvon Martin may not have been a saint, but Zimmerman may not have been a trigger-happy Marine in Afghanistan eitherouch, totally going to hell for that analogy. Its amazing how many people have decided to deny that the case keeps up the annoying trend that reality seems to have of defying easy interpretation. This avoidance is exemplified by the extent to which the media has studiously declined to mention Zimmermans Hispanic heritage, along with his (possibly) Jewish roots. To do so would be to concede oversimplification, and the media never makes such concessions. Just ask Fox News. That being said, this kind of crap happens all the time. Its great to see some light shed on what appears a striking example of the way racism persists, but that doesnt mean everyone with a skin tone is entitled to jump to conclusions. To assume that Martin was totally innocent and Zimmerman totally guilty just because of the apparent racial factors is akin to concluding that Obama must not have been born in the US because hes black. And nobody is that crazy, right?

hen the media brings up race issues, hell always breaks loose. Indeed, its a mark of how deep Americas issues with race still run that everybody seems totally incapable of discussing it without voice-raising, name-calling and internet-enabled backlash so strong that 4chan and Anonymous no longer need to terrorize adults and awkward teens as they once did. The last few weeks have certainly seen my news feed a battlefield littered with angry postings that have whipped the Trayvon Martin shooting into a froth of Santorum so thick that, well, the colors all just sort of blend together into the generally yucky color of caustic partiality that makes America such an exciting place to live in these days. Take, for example, an article that was on MSN several days ago that was headlined These Pictures Are Misleading. Beside the headline were the pictures of Martin and his killer George Zimmerman that everybody with access to a computer has come to associate with the case. The article noted that both pictures are outdated by several years, and that Martin is no longer a chubby-cheeked squirrel-boy with a bright smile, nor is Zimmerman a fat jailbird with eyes set so myopically close together that his sunglasses must be specially made and that he must really be a descendant of an ancient race of Croatian cyclopses (my conclusion).

Ron Paul: the sharpest tack in the dullest of boxes

BY MARLY WILLIAMS
Staff Writer

Most people see Ron Paul as a ridiculous candidate with wild ideas. Hes constantly ignored in the media and pushed to the side in debates as a result of the consensus that hes radical and his ideas are too absurd to even consider. Now lets see about that. Newt Gingrich has spoken of colonizing the moon. Rick Santorum who seems to see his campaign as some type of divine missionviews the pill as evil and JFK as nauseating. Romney spurts out so many gaffs in his awkward attempt to be an everyman that he should just go back to the country club where he belongs. If we go back a little further in this bizarre primary, things get even weirder. We have Rick Perry, who was running for president but couldnt seem to retain three bits of information at once. Michelle Bachman thinks carbon dioxide is good for the environment and that the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation. And have we forgotten Herman Cain, pizza tycoon and molester extraordinaire? Look at it this way and Ron Paul doesnt seem so crazy to me. Ron Paul is actually a Libertarian, not a Republican. That means hes pro-liberty and anti-lots of other stuff, including war, taxes, bailouts, imperialism and paper money. He wants to return the nation to the gold standard, legalize marijuana and repeal the Patriot Act, and he sees numerous government institutionsfrom the Departments of Education and Energy to the Federal Reserveas unnecessary and dangerous obstructions to individual liberty. For Paul, the Constitution and the cold-hard facts of free-market eco-

nomics are the gateways to liberty, and liberty is what Paul is all about. While votes for Romney, the current front-runner, are usually linked with an unenthusiastic Well, I guess, Ron Paul has a steady following of passionately devoted supporters. People dont just casually endorse Ron Paul, but when they do support him, they do so with all their hearts. Its the kind of following any candidate would kill for. One of Ron Pauls slogans is Integrity, Honesty, Consistency. I dont agree with many of Pauls beliefs, but at least he states them clearly, reliably and candidly. I actually know whether I agree with them or not, because I know what he believes. This man definitely isnt an Etch-A-Sketch. You know he doesnt waver to win votes or political clout, and I cant say that about any of the other Republican candidates. And in our current political climate, that is pretty impressive and admirable, whether you agree with his somewhat radical ideologies or not. I can pretty safely say that Ron Paul isnt going to get the Republican nomination. If nothing else, the fact that Ron Paul suddenly looks good to me is a pretty solid indicator of just how ridiculous and loony all the other Republican nominees are. However, I also think he represents something that they can learn from: a consistent candidate with a clear platform and transparent, passionate beliefs. He also sheds light on the drastic polarization of our politics that drive Republicans and Democrats alike to the extreme, somehow simultaneously unwilling to compromise and willing to change, hide or euphemize their beliefs in order to get a vote. This isnt Ron Paul, and for that, we should applaud him.

ILLUSTRATION BY SAMANTHA SARVET