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a socialist
On Apr 19, 1:49 pm, Keith In Tampa <keithinta...@gmail.com> wrote:
> What's so ironic and telling about this article from James Loewen, is that
> like Loewen, Zimmerman is a "Progressive" liberal. Zimmerman supported
> Obama in the 2008 election. Zimmerman, up until this whole shooting
> debacle, along with his wife, tutored minority children in their school
> work.
>
> But because of the lies, hateful spew and race baiting from the likes of
> Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, TommyTomTomForNews and others, "White
> Hispanic" Zimmerman is now portrayed by idiots like James Loewen as a
> "Racist". As stated, "Ironic" and "Telling".
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 2:23 PM, Tommy News <tommysn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin, and Me
>
> > hnns blog JAMES LOEWEN
>
> > I write late in the evening on Tuesday, April 10. This morning I woke
> > up famous, at least in certain circles. George Zimmerman, famous for
> > killing Trayvon Martin in Florida, had cited me on his new website.
> > Correspondents rushed to tell me. His site was receiving so much
> > traffic that it took seven minutes to log on to his home page. I could
> > not reach any subsidiary page, specifically the page titled "The
> > Facts," where I had been told Zimmerman prominently displayed my
> > words, until late in the morning.
>
> > Many other websites had picked up my quote, however. According to
> > "George Zimmerman Launches Website to Fund Legal Costs," an unsigned
> > article at JD Journal, a site whose motto reads "Nothing but the
> > Truth,"
>
> > The site carries a quote from sociologist James W. Loewen: "People
> > have a right to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.
> > Evidence must be located, not created, and opinions not backed by
> > evidence cannot be given much weight."
>
> > At their websites, MSNBC, CBS, and many other news services also
> > included the quote. CBS termed it "a philosophy attributed to
> > sociologist James W. Loewen." By mid-afternoon at least 427 sites,
> > from the New York Times to the "Brother Of Yeshua Blogspot," included
> > the quotation.
>
> > I'm not the only person Zimmerman quoted, but I'm the only living
> > person. He also included a famous sentence by Edmund Burke: "The only
> > thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good men do nothing."
> > A jury might take this quote to be a rationale for his vigilante
> > activism toward "evil." Hence Zimmerman's attorneys might well have
> > been unhappy with this posted quote, even before they resigned as his
> > counsel later in the day. However, the Burke sentence pales compared
> > to the macabre connotation of his second quotation, by Henrik Ibsen:
> > "A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed."
> > Again, his lawyers could not have been happy that Zimmerman posted
> > this sentence, since a jury might infer that he wanted to make a "deep
> > impression" by committing a dastardly deed. Lastly, Zimmerman quoted
> > Thomas Paine: "The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren,
> > and to do good is my religion."
>
> > I'm happy to be in the company of Burke, Ibsen, and Paine. Who knows?
> > Maybe Zimmerman will get me into Familiar Quotations. (I had hoped
> > that my one-liner, "Those who don't remember the past are condemned to
> > repeat the eleventh grade," which I used at the beginning of Lies My
> > Teacher Told Me, might make the grade, but so far, only three websites
> > use it.) However, the first of my two sentences was said in essence
> > by Bernard Baruch in 1950, by various folks since then, and probably
> > by others long before. So I think I must search elsewhere for my
> > fifteen minutes of fame.
>
> > Still, it was jarring to see my name and quotation behind the talking
> > heads Tuesday as they told the story of Zimmerman's lawyers'
> > resignations on the evening news. I'm not happy with being used as a
> > resource by George Zimmerman, and I disclaim any relationship with him
> > and his cause. Of course, once they have unleashed words upon the
> > world—in particular, upon the World Wide Web—authors have no control
> > over their use, for good or ill. Moreover, one reason why I have not
> > written a thing about the death of Trayvon Martin is my lack of facts.
> > I know only what I have learned from the newspapers (yes, I subscribe)
> > and other media. Anyone likely to read anything I might write about
> > the matter has already read the same sources.
>
> > I would like to know how George Zimmerman learned of my words that he
> > used. They appear on page 358 of Lies My Teacher Told Me. While I
> > would like to believe he read the entire book, if he did, he seems to
> > have missed its anti-racist central message.
>
> > When it comes to "Brother Of Yeshua," who actually emailed me Tuesday
> > morning to tell me he had used the quotation, I think it's safe to
> > infer that he first encountered my words at Zimmerman's website or
> > news sites that quoted it. Again, he has a (Constitutional) right to
> > use my words to support any position he wants, and here is what he
> > used them for:
>
> > When rightly understood, what we are presented with is the
> > manifestation of the statement by James W. Loewen that while "People
> > have a right to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.
> > Evidence must be located, not created, and opinions not backed by
> > evidence cannot be given much weight"—and while the facts demonstrate
> > that Mormonism is actually closer to the original Gospel teachings and
> > objectives, mainstream Christianity has been in denial of the very
> > facts that they have long censored and remain in denial of, to the
> > degree that those who believe they are Christian, have been
> > spiritually disenfranchised by the very Church they look to for truth.
>
> > So now my words are invoked to support belief in Mormonism as well as
> > George Zimmerman's innocence!
>
> > "Brother Of Yeshua" writes further, "2000 years ago I lived as Jacob
> > who people call James, and was known as the Brother of Yeshua/Jesus."
> > Such a statement does not carry the weight of fact. Elsewhere on his
> > site, he states that he holds to "Religion As The True System Of
> > Education"—again at odds with education based on fact.
>
> > At some point, I should relate all this to the study of history as
> > taught in our K-12 schools—on which I've spent much of the past twenty
> > years—so let's do so now. One reason why many Americans are not
> > critical readers and do not insist upon facts stems from their history
> > textbooks. Bear in mind that five-sixths of all Americans never take a
> > history course after leaving high school. High school history
> > textbooks include no footnotes or other system of references.
> > Moreover, even when issues remain contested, such as when and how did
> > people first get to the Americas, textbooks cite no evidence—in this
> > case, from archaeology, human biology, or anthropology. They just go
> > on blandly relating certainties, even on topics still ruled by
> > uncertainty.
>
> > Moreover, if Allan Cronshaw in Graham, North Carolina, writes as
> > "Brother Of Yeshua," that's not so different from what happens in the
> > K-12 textbook world. There, unnamed gnomes deep in the bowels of the
> > publishers write in the names of Daniel Boorstin, Alan Winkler, and
> > many other famous historians whose names grace the covers of books
> > they didn't write.
>
> > Nor does the style of history textbooks—written in a monotone,
> > presenting "information" to be memorized—promote critical thinking
> > skills or prompt students to question sources. Such skills might have
> > induced Mr. Zimmerman and others not to profile young African American
> > males, which—this much seems factual—he seems to have done.
>
> > Then there is Zimmerman's use of the American flag on his website. He
> > wraps himself in the flag to stop thought, not to start it. All six of
> > the twenty-first-century textbooks that I analyzed for the new edition
> > of Lies My Teacher Told Me similarly wave the American flag on their
> > covers, and for the same reason: to quell critical thinking.
> > Publishers wave it so prospective purchasers will not question them or
> > doubt that they are "good Americans." If instead these books would
> > distinguish between patriotism and nationalism, their flag-waving
> > might be different. I take my definition of a patriot from Frederick
> > Douglass, who said, "For he is a lover of his country who rebukes and
> > does not excuse its sins." Surely textbooks need to help students to
> > develop informed reasons to criticize as well as to take pride in
> > their country. Nationalists, on the other hand, take pride in their
> > nation no matter what—and do not care to think about its sins. If
> > textbooks made that useful distinction, then Americans might not
> > "follow the flag" even when our leaders take it into dangerous places
> > on behalf of foolish and even immoral purposes. If the flag connoted
> > "do your best critical thinking about the U.S.," then when
> > politicians, vigilantes, and textbook authors waved it to garner
> > unthinking approval, the rest of us would simply laugh at them.
>
> > I believe—at least I hope—that the millions of people who came upon my
> > statement comparing facts and opinions Tuesday do not infer that I am
> > George Zimmerman's ally. I am not. Rather, I hope that Americans will
> > ground their opinions about this case on the facts. We all surely hope
> > that a process has finally been set in place that will allow the facts
> > to emerge. Meanwhile, those of us far from Sanford, even far from
> > Florida, must set processes in place that will transform how we teach
> > about the American past in grades K-12. When we allow facts to
> > emerge—even awkward and untoward facts—when we encourage students to
> > question national and local policies—and yes, when we insist that
> > "opinions not backed by evidence cannot be given much weight"—then we
> > are educating. Then we are producing Americans who are unlikely to
> > profile. Then we are patriots.
>
> > More:
> >http://hnn.us/blogs/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-and-me
>
> > --
> > Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> > Have a great day,
> > Tommy
>
> > --
> > Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
> > Have a great day,
> > Tommy
>
> > --
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>
>
> White.Hispanic.George.Zimmerman.jpg
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