God save me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.

That thought must be coursing through the mind of President Obama right now as his White House rigs for silent running in the murder trial of George Zimmerman.

Obama foolishly inserted himself into this volatile case weeks ago, and injected the issue of race. Expressing empathy with the family of Trayvon Martin, Obama flashed a signal of racial solidarity:

"If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon."

Obama also implied that he shares the liberal perspective that America is a country where black kids must walk in daily fear of white racist vigilantes.

"All of us have to do some soul-searching to figure out how does something like this happen. And that means that we examine the laws and the context for what happened, as well as the specifics of the incident."

Translation: The death of Trayvon tells us something is wrong with America.

To most Americans, this is a slander against their country, refuted by the statistics on interracial crime. Obama, however, buys into it.

Angela Corey, the special prosecutor, says that the charge against Zimmerman of second-degree murder was based on evidence and not influenced by the weeks of demonstrations, demands and threats from black leaders.

Perhaps. But from what the pubic knows, a charge of second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 25 years to life, does not seem to stand up.

To convict, prosecutors must convince all 12 members of a jury that not only was Zimmerman in no danger of bodily harm, he did not believe he was in danger of bodily harm. He simply killed Martin in a "depraved" state of mind.

Nothing revealed so far seems to support that theory.

Zimmerman saw a tall stranger, hooded and acting suspiciously. He called the cops. He did not tell them the man was black. They had to ask him whether the suspect was black, white or Hispanic.

"He looks black," said Zimmerman.

The CNN report that Zimmerman, on the call to the cops, used a racial slur, "(bleeping) coon," has been withdrawn. What Zimmerman said was that it was "(bleeping) cold" outside.

Came then the fight. Two eyewitnesses say they saw Zimmerman on his back being beaten and screaming for help.

A cop at the scene said Zimmerman had a bloody nose and a gash on the back of his head. Zimmerman's family says Trayvon banged George's head on the sidewalk. Film of Zimmerman entering the police station that night shows bruising on the back of his head.

Trayvon was found lying face down. If Zimmerman had been on top and shot him, would not Trayvon have been found on his back?

Zimmerman's family says Trayvon started the fight with a fist to the nose, and George went down. Trayvon is not here to tell his story. But a natural question arises:

Why would Zimmerman, with a holstered gun to protect himself, close with and start a fistfight with a teenager half a head taller? A grown man with a gun his adversary does not know he has -- would he not more likely stand some distance away, to pull it out if needed?

The prosecutors must have discovered new evidence to indict for murder. For all of the testimony from Zimmerman's side and the eyewitnesses seems to create more than a reasonable doubt that he committed a murder.

Where is Obama's political problem?

With the election on, the case has begun to divide the nation along racial lines. And Obama's allies are doing it. It is Jesse Jackson and the Black Caucus crying that Trayvon was "hunted down like a rabid dog in the street," that he was "murdered and martyred," that it was a "hate crime."

"It's a disgrace that man (Zimmerman) hasn't been shot yet," says Mike Tyson. The New Black Panther Party has put out a poster offering a $10,000 reward that reads, "Wanted: Dead or Alive."

The face on the poster is George Zimmerman.

Trayvon is the victim here, but George Zimmerman is beginning to look like a victim -- of lynch law and mob rule.

With the Panthers and Tyson calling for vengeance and vigilante justice, where is Attorney General Eric Holder? Out congratulating Al Sharpton for bringing political pressure on Florida to indict.

Is this how justice is advanced in Obama's America?

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has denounced Florida's Stand Your Ground law -- which may be Zimmerman's defense -- as "a license to murder" and an excuse for "vigilante justice."

Bloomberg seems about to lead a crusade against the National Rifle Association and for repeal of stand-your-ground laws in the two dozen states that have enacted them.

Given their huge emotional investment in this case, how will black leaders and black America react if Zimmerman walks?

And how will the rest of America react to that reaction?

And if Zimmerman, Trayvon, race, guns and stand-your-ground laws become voting issues this fall, how good is that for Barack Obama?



Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of "Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?"To find out more about Patrick Buchanan and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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