Obama Needs to Launch Massive Federal Action in Wake of Zimmerman

Update: Andrew Cohen in The Atlantic: "What the verdict tells us is, to the astonishment of tens of millions of us, you can go looking for trouble in Florida, with a gun and a great deal of racial bias, and you can find that trouble, and you can act upon that trouble in a way that leaves a young man dead, and none of it guarantees that you will be convicted of a crime."

As black and brown Americans work to recover lost ground just to vote in America, President Obama should urge the federal Dept of Justice to pursue a violation of civil rights case against George Zimmerman, for beginners.

This is precisely what the NAACP is advocating in gathering 100,000 signatures in hours a national petition to urge Atty General Holder to move in a civil rights action against Zimmerman.

Broadly, President Obama needs to make a national address specifically on the Zimmerman case, and speak with Americans on the imperative for government to fight for equality and justice under the law.

And President Obama needs to act fast ... with all deliberate speed.

America is losing ground fast in racial justice, and it's coming on the watch of the first black president.

Losing ground because the Republican Party has effectively declared itself a white party, and they are not backing away.

Racism is here, it's in the heart and actions of George Zimmerman stalking and killing Trayvon Martin.

It's here in Wisconsin with too many tragic examples echoing the racist killing of Bo Morrison by Adam Kind in Washington County last year.

It's in the Republican Party, as the national and local Republican parties are doubling down on its whites-only electoral strategy as Republicans continue to demonize and disenfranchise people of color.

Killing of black folks has become an all-too-common occurrence, as modern-day lynchings (often accomplished by local police, see Fruitvale Station for one gruesome example) are carried out with only whispers of community disapproval.

Fight racism peacefully where you see it, you won't have to look very long.

No cause on the Zimmerman verdict to launch recriminations against the jurors; jurors need to be free from recriminations for the 'justice' system to function at even a minimal level.

But by no means should we respect the verdict in Sanford, Florida, the end result of a racist society, worse in Florida.

The verdict needs to be condemned in the most broad action in the most harsh tones.

We do need to ask ourselves what the media mean when they refer, idiotically, to "unrest" after the Zimmerman verdict reaches all of America.

Unrest, as opposed to lassitude?