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It seems that the Orlando, Fla., suburbs now have their own theme parks and "cast members." This one may be called ManslaughterLand, for all I know, but I could not confirm that as of press time. This attraction would appear to be an immersive first-person shooter in which the customer (after spending 40 minutes pacing back and forth in queue) may pick a fight with a kid, shoot him to death, and avoid arrest by telling the Nice Policeman you pulled the trigger in self defense. Since the menace 2 society is deceased and cannot contradict your claim, you get to go home and exult.From what I read, ManslaughterLand could improve the realism of this attraction by arming the bad guy with a knife or a gun instead of Skittles and iced tea.
Editor's note: I will step out of character for a moment just to make it clear how sickening this news was to me when I heard it this morning on the radio. This morning CNN said:
Incredibly, the man who admitted to killing Trayvon, 28-year-old George Zimmerman, has remained free since the shooting because he told Sanford police that it was in self-defense. After questioning him, police bought his explanation and allowed him to return home. (Police said he has not been charged because there are no grounds to disprove his story of what happened.)"There are no grounds to disprove his story of what happened"? I suppose an investigation might begin with the shooter's reported confession to the shooting, the corpse of an unarmed child, a bag of Skittles, and an unspecified quantity of iced tea. This evidence is suggestive of certain interpretations that may cast doubt on the decision to release the shooter.
some of the evidence, like the 911 tapes, makes this sound less like manslaughter land and more like getting away with premeditated murder land.
ReplyDeleteIt's news reports like this that make me wonder how America ever thought it could "civilise" Iraq or Afghanistan.
ReplyDeleteAnon: yes, it looks like you're right. Hunting people for sport: a bold new attraction for The Magical Kingdom.
ReplyDeleteMarginalia: I think you've managed to ask a self-answering rhetorical question. We intend to civilize the savage lands by shooting them to tatters. A geopolitics cliche holds that Afghanistan is where empire goes to die. It is my view that this particular empire is doing a fine job of dying right here at home.