We still don’t have all the facts, in fact, we don’t know much more now than when this case broke. But why wait for some dull facts, lets speculate while we still can. After all, the opinions are already starting to queue up “along strict party lines” as they like to say…

You can either believe Trayvon Martin decided to amuse himself by mugging a complete stranger while on his way back to his Dad’s after picking up some snacks at the 7-11, or, this crazed vigilante gunman decided to protect his neighborhood from barbarian attack and picked off the kid as a target of opportunity, whatever instructions he may have received from his E911 dispatcher notwithstanding. Maybe it was neither. Or both. Maybe it doesn’t matter.

I don’t have access to any more facts than you do, but I’m willing to speculate. After all, waiting till all the data is in is cheating, and certainly no fun at all. Any jerk can come to a conclusion when all the facts are at hand. Smart people can figure it all out from the git-go. This is what I think happened.

M. was walking back to his Dad’s when he was challenged by the stranger Zimmerman. At first he tried to ignore him, not knowing who he was, but the stranger insisted, and followed him. At one point, M., still having no clue as to who Z. really was, and perhaps seeing him armed, decided his best defense was to confront him, perhaps agressively. He may have thought Z. was a mugger, or a crazed racist skinhead, or maybe he just felt he was being dissed by some honky white trash. Either way, the Florida State Law guaranteed that he had a right to “not back down” or to otherwise “stand his ground”.

Z., suddenly faced with an assailant who was obviously not afraid of him, panicked and used his weapon. It really doesn’t matter if M. was 10 feet away or if they were both rolling on the ground in a death struggle. The law obviously gave them both the right to initiate hostilities.

So the police show up. The officer would like to arrest Z as a manslaughter suspect, or even a murderer, but now there is a problem. The stand your ground law was hastily drafted, and poorly thought out. It is set up so unless the Law has a pressing reason to suspect a crime, the shooter must be released immediately. A State Attorney from a nearby county made a special trip to Sanford in the middle of the night to rule on this case. And Z. was a free man.

This law is controversial, it is a sop to the NRA, the Florida Gun Lobby, and was pushed through the State Legislature only recently, with the (American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC),” lobbyist right by the governor’s side as he signed it. ALEC, supposedly an industry lobbying group which specializes in regulation abatement, has been instrumental in getting laws like this (which have nothing to do with industrial de-regulation) passed through many state legislatures.

If you will allow me just a wee bit more speculation, this case isn’t about the circumstances of Z’s shooting of M. It’s about saving Governor Scott’s face, and directing public scrutiny away from ALEC.

Far be it from me to comment on these people. Google them for yourself. This isn’t about street crime, or even race. This is culture wars coercion and legislative meddling from the private sector. We haven’t heard the last of these thugs.