Memes are springing from the Trayvon Martin shooting controversy so quickly I can no longer give full posts to all of them. For the record, I think we're long past the state at which we're discussing the case, or even the issues behind the case. We're in third-generation memeland, where it's all people who understand only the tangential symbols of the events, and the recriminations of those they piss off.
Here we go:
Illinois Democrat Bobby Rush wore a hoodie on the floor of the House of Representatives, in breach that august chamber's rules of decorum, which prohibit hats but allow this guy no matter what he's wearing. From the New York Times:
Seeing Mr. Rush pull up the hood on his sweatshirt, Representative Gregg Harper, Republican of Mississippi, who was presiding, called on Mr. Rush to stop his speech for violating the House dress code. Banging the gavel, Mr. Harper cited the rule prohibiting hats and called on the sergeant-at-arms to enforce it, as Mr. Rush continued speaking over him, quoting the Bible.
Meanwhile, once-relevant filmmaker and cultural controversy enthusiast Spike Lee retweeted George Zimmerman's addess, for puproses that remain unclear. Unfortunately, he got the address wrong. An elderly couple, who apparently have a son named George Zimmerman who used to be registered at that address 16 YEARS AGO, were forced to flee their home thanks to barrage of hate mail and death threats resulting from the mistake.
(Note to readers: I can't find any evidence that Spike Lee actually retweeted the thing--it's simply claimed by the family as the reason their address went viral. Not saying it didn't happen, as if Lee did retweet it he's wisely deleted it by now, but we don't know for sure. Given how much is already known about this case, a disclaimer felt necessary.)
Again, neither of these cases have much to do with getting to the bottom of the shooting, and both seem to be visceral reactons to symbols representing reductionist opinions of the underlying political issues. Expect George Zimmerman's hoodie to have its own Twitter handle by the end of the week.
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