As I See it... Projection

I see this more and more these days. It is daily on display by the politicians—the most fearful group being the worst offenders, although politics in general tends to this stuff. (I will let you discern which group is the group with the most fear on display.)

I see it in the news and I see it in Facebook.

Now, it is showing up on LinkedIn.

People hurl accusations –ad hominem—at someone who they accuse of having certain characteristics they dislike. These are –to any truly astute observer—PROJECTIONS.  Criticism is labeled “attack” and disagreement is labeled “derision” and the person stating an opinion or a fact which contradicts a strongly held FEELING (held by the accuser)  is accused.

Yes, of course the Trayvon Martin case has brought up much of this—although the LinkedIn exchange was due to one attorney criticizing a type of lawyering which us destructive of families. Full disclosure—I think the lawyer making the criticism is correct and the fact that this is now being said is a good thing... in my view. (Many lawyers agree.) Oddly, one lawyer in a far distant continent 1) took this criticism as  an attack on “all family lawyers” and 2) personally attacked the initial poster for his PERSONAL life—his passion to spare other what he experienced as a child. She told him to “move on” from this trauma—which is very much not a critique of his critique of adversariality in family law.

So, I have become so frustrated by the ugliness (and the fact that these ad hominem attacks are soooooo full of the “not me parts of the speakers)  that I have lost some of my ability to keep to the high road. I admit it. I have made comments which--while true enough—I don’t admire. So I am putting my enormous frustration into this blog.

The following will illustrate my point:

Unknown poster: “Travon Martin [sic] was a petty criminal and thug that was tresspassing [sic] on private proppertry. ]sic] He was shot and killed while doing his job: To whit:[sic]  Break into housaes [sic]and steal stuff.” (N.B.There is no report that this is in any way true, despite the many swirling reports out there.)

Initial poster: “Where's the evidence for that, John?”

Me: “There is no evidence. NONE. But it is IMPOSSIBLE to prove a negative.”

Me: “Oh-- and 2 separate experts assessed the 911 tapes and say it was not Zimmerman yelling "help help" but they cannot assess Trayvon's voice as they don’t have it on tape."

Me: “BTW-- this is called projection: "Travon Martin (read ZIMMERMAN) was a petty criminal and thug that was trespassing on private property. He shot and killed (an innocent non criminal) while doing his (self appointed) job: To wit: accuse people of wanting to Break into houses and steal stuff."

Known poster aka #2 “It's amazing how many people know without doubt what happened.” (N.B.—In no posts have I ever claimed to know “what happened.” I have pointed out that some actual evidence exists.)

#2: “The only witness without an agenda, a 13 yr old black, said he saw a man fitting Zimmerman's description laying on the ground, moaning and calling for help before the shot was fired. The people who know what happened ignore that fact completely because it doesn't fit their presumption of guilt.” [See http://www.eurweb.com/2012/03/video-mom-of-13-year-old-witness-in-trayvon-shooting-speaks-out/]

Me: “Jim is is BS. The cries for help ended abruptly with the gun shot. Video shows Zimmerman with no dirt, no blood, no wounds, NOTHING his body or clothing, and no body language of fear or trauma whatsoever. And you do not know who has what agenda--this case is FULL of agendas. And spin by people with agendas. Like you!”

#2 “Your bigotry is apparent, Carroll.”

Me “Yeah facts are a well known sign of bigotry.” (This is pure projection. I seek truth and obsessively check facts. I am an attorney—I have a 62 year track record. I have been accused of condescension.  I have been accused of being fond of being right—which I am. Which is why I say “I could be wrong” when I have no proof of an opinion. But no one–in person, knowing me—has ever thought to accuse me of bigotry.)

#2: “Your "facts" are nothing but opinion that supports your preconception and any evidence to the contrary is ignored. And when you are called on it you have no rational defense so you resort to character assassination. You are fundamentally dishonest.” [Again, 100% projection.]

Me: “Yeah that describes me all right.” …” Or... it describes you..............” [Me, behaving badly.]

Now, I realize that ONE of the many supposed witnesses—most of whom I have listened to on the 911 tapes (as far as I know this supposed witnesses managed NOT to be one of them) said Zimmerman was crying for help. Yes, he said that. He did NOT call 911. He materialized AFTER it was all over. You can speculate as to why. The one 13 year old who has been interviewed was unable to see much and is traumatized: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/17/trayvon-martin-killing-yo_n_1355795.html

But there is tape of Zimmerman’s voice and 2 separate experts have stated the voice on the 911 tapes asking for help is NOT Zimmerman. (There is no tape of Martin.) More to the point, there is video of Zimmerman arriving at the police station. There is no blood, no dirt, and no visible wound. None.

I stated here that I had a nasty hunch Zimmerman was making things up. I am not usually paranoid, but the few known facts of this case have made me close to it. I have look at that tape over and over—and I am thinking it looks like Zimmerman knows he is in no peril. He is completely relaxed. (Would you be of you had been beaten and then shot a human being…??????) Even cops tend to be shook up after firing their weapons...  let alone fatally. A quote: “Officers and administrations should be made aware of the emotional, psychological, and behavioral residuals often associated with officer-involved shootings. http://theiacp.org/psych_services_section/pdfs/Psych-OfficerInvolvedShooting.pdf

It is reported the DA met with the cops—who asked to for a negligent homicide charge—and intervened. It is a fact that our happy-go-lucky shooter has not been arrested, even for questioning.

This is consistent with there being a relationship between Zimmerman and the police. This is almost always an informant situation. (I had some personal experience with this—I bought a mobile home form a man who was listed as a sex offender and whose criminal record I was able to locate. Shortly afterward, it disappeared-off the sex offender registry (!!) and his public Penal Code record…vanished. My personal friends in law enforcement explained this to me. I was frustrated,  I assure you.) If this is the case, it fully explains why Zimmerman seems utterly at ease in the police video. It explains why no arrest warrant was issued and a personal meeting took place in what should have been a fairly routine booking and charging scenario . And it explains why Zimmerman is nowhere to be found. It explains pretty much everything.

None of this is proof. But it does add up. It RINGS true.

No, I cannot explain why an APPARENTLY disinterested witness describes something that no in else saw—and which does not fit what anyone can see and hear. (Which was not yet public when this accuser  came forward.) But the accusation that a dead person was a “thug” who had plans to commit a crime (when there are NO facts in support of this AT ALL) is the scary part. And the tremendous energy many people have on attacking me and anyone who questions the "evil"ness of Trayvon...that scares me.

Even if Trayvon Martin did what he has been accused of--essentially smoking pot and being a teenager (and the sources are suspect)-- it does not change the few facts which exist...the 911 tapes, the timing, the location and the lack of any wounds on the shooter. It does, however, make a certain group of people FEEL righteous. But the thing that makes me crazy is the way the loudest voices here and in so many “discussions” accuse specific individual people of what they clearly are doing themselves.

This hits close to home for me due to my childhood… it is deeply insidious as when person A is projecting their own “shadow” onto another --person B. It is IMPOSSIBLE to prove that the accused DID NOT DO what s/he is accused of. It is used as a form of abuse and is called “gaslighting.”

So I am freaked out to see it so widespread and so loud. So… I will try to derive a coping mechanism. This will not end soon…

But oh for some truth. “I don’t know what happened but this is what I FEEL about ___”

I wish.