Rubio, Treyvon, Brits, et. al.

Summary: people are insane.

I crammed for a test last night, and decided to skip sonnet-writing in favor of an additional 15 minutes of reading. Too much has happened.

In a nutshell, it's almost impossible for people to avoid playing either vigilante - whether chasing someone down who looks suspicious, or by organizing anonymous mobs to bring in a suspect - and equally impossible to avoid making specious judgments.

The poem-and-a-half below reflects (albeit in an incredibly exhausted state) my slow emotional evolution from One Angry at British Parents to One Angry at the President, each state ultimately reflective of the fact - and no more than just this fact - that emotional situations require a very, very delicate touch.

There's no reason the POTUS would comment on a case of law-enforcement, particularly one where the killer has been caught. The Martin/Zimmerman case was an oddity, only because Zimmerman had not been arrested, nor was there an ongoing case except that pushed by the parents and reluctantly accepted later by remaining law enforcement. And while Conservative Media usually deplored Obama's remarking on the case, it was quick to imply condemnation that he had not done it a second time. Granted, they'd say they were merely highlighting his hypocrisy, and yet if the goal is to have no extraneous comments whatsoever, demanding consistency in doing a wrong thing doesn't speak well for the demanders.

In short, we far too easily use controversial topics to highlight our opponents' failures, even if it highlights or causes our own.

I changed my mind after the poem was written. Granted, there's no reason the POTUS would comment on a case of law-enforcement, particularly one where the killer has been caught. But by the same token, there's no reason he wouldn't do so, either. Especially if he were asked.

And now, the poem 1/2:

So Rubio is backing Mitt, and that
Is all there is to yesterday. The rest
Is something hideous, a final test.
The nation’s sanity is up to bat,
And, Casey-like, is holding very still.
I know that Mr. Zimmerman was wrong
To play at cops and robbers, but the throng
Demanding any able to his kill
Is also playing vigilante. This,
However, is the last insipid straw –
Demanding that Obama show his face
And comment on a tragedy, and race,
As if his word is better than the law
That put away the killer. Such a thing
Is more and better suited for a king.

I thought about it more; I wasn’t right.
Forget the press, the media, and Matt –
The parents wrote the president, and that
Is reason quite enough to set alight
The doubt of any sympathy. Alas,
A silence will as surely come to pass
Upon your reputation as it does
Upon a kind reply that never was.