Going home for commit nothing crime. Thats the bottom line. And so after 56 witnesses,ings 12 days of testimony, and 16 hours of deliberation, the jury in the case of the state of florida versus George Zimmerman came back with a verdict. In the Circuit Court of the 18th judicial circuit in and for seminole county, florida, state of florida versus George Zimmerman, verdict, we the jury find George Zimmerman not guilty. Some called it shocking. Others said it was entirely predictable. But for defense attorney don west, it was simply long overdue justice. I think the prosecution of George Zimmerman was disgraceful. I am gratified by the jurys verdict as happy as i am for George Zimmerman, im thrilled that this jury kept this tragedy from becoming a travesty. But it makes me sad, too. That it took this long under these circumstances to finally get justice. As George Zimmerman was acquitted, lawyers for the parents of Trayvon Martin said that though their sons life was cut short, his story would live on in perpetuity. Trayvon martin will forever remain in the annals of history next to medgar evers and emmett till as symbols for. The fight for equal justice for all. And while the verdict unleashed a fevered debate about racial profiling, selfdefense and equal justice, the president issued a statement directing the nation to reflect upon yet another tragedy involving gun violence. We should ask ourselves, he said, if were doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. Anger and disappointment was felt throughout the nation as thousands of citizens from florida to los angeles, oakland to here in new york took to the streets to express their outrage. And while mr. Zimmerman may have been acquitted in the electrical trial, he may yet face civil proceedings and also the prospect of civil rights litigation led by the department of justice. All in all, saturdays verdict is unlikely to be the final chapter in the tragedy of Trayvon Martins death. For more now im delighted to say im joined by representative charles rangel, a democrat from here in new york and Founding Member of the congressional black caucus. Good afternoon, sir. Youve just come to to our studio from a public demonstration here in new york. What was your reaction to the fact that a teenager, an unarmed teenager was shot dead and the man responsible has been entirely exonerated . I dont know about entirely exonerated. Thats what happened on saturday. Acquitted fully. He was found not guilty. Theres no way to imply that he was innocent. Theres a heavy bar in terms of trying to suggest what was in his mind, but i think the common sense analogy is that had not zimmerman had a gun, had he not gotten out of the car, had he not already decided that will anyone who looks like trayvon is a potential person, had he not thought that he had the upper hand because he had this firearm, we wouldnt have had this tragedy. And so i always try to find something good that i can work with instead of the pain and disappointment. And what i have found is that the dignity of his parents was something that i said to myself, havent they given us the opportunity to do something about the loss of their son . Havent they told americans that if they can tolerate and taking this under that system, if you love this country, dont you have a responsibility not just to ignore what happened here . And it just seemed to me that the zimmerman thing was a black kid. It could have been a muslim. It could have been a jew. It could have been anything that somebody has a mental problem with that is armed and like i said earlier, i never really understood these gangster movies when they told the gangster make certain no one is living because heres a case that had he not killed this fellow, there would be no question that we would have been able to be search for the truth of what happened. Lets listen to wham defense attorney mark omara said about what would have happened if George Zimmerman was black. Take a listen to this. I think that the things would have been different if George Zimmerman was black for this reason. He never would have been charged with a crime. What happened was this became a focus for a civil rights event which again, is a wonderful event to have, but they decide that George Zimmerman would be the person who they were to blame and sort of use as the creation of a civil rights violation, none of which was borne out by the facts. If he had been black, zimmerman would not have been charged with a crime . Can you control your own laughter at that statement . No, i think its possible if the police had got a black zimmerman, the question would be whether they would have beat him to death and then threw handcuffs on him and dragged him into the precinct. Zimmerman was treated from the beginning and the testimony that came from the arresting officers was that he was the victim. And so the whole idea of a black perpetrator under that surrounding, i am really amazed, one, that defense counsel didnt say how sad he was that his client had taken away a young mans life, and two, in not understanding that the difference between a black being charged with murder and a zimmerman almost get diagnose accolades for his suspicions. Doesnt this case reveal once again the curse of concealed weapons . I mean, an nfl player in new york carries a concealed weapon, shoots himself in the foot and gets two years in prison. Of a man in florida carries a concealed weapon, shoots a teenager an unarmed teenager in the heart, and hes acquitted. And Congress Woman va less questions talked about a battered woman shooting a pistol into the wall and being convicted and she didnt hurt anybody. Its not only the amount of weapons that we have which is more than any civilized industrialized country in the world, but its also our inability, lack of maturity to deal with the race and color question in this country. God has made it so easy for us to appreciate the different contributions people make to this world. Sometimes with people that you dont know the because you have not been trained to know, it takes a little difficulty to understand what they bring, what contribution theyre making. But its not all about plymouth rock. That is not what made this country great. And the ability of certain people to forget how they got here and start looking for others who they believe are less worthy as a country in order for us to maintain our competition, were going to have to change. Congressman charles rangel, thank you for joining us. Coming up, well ahead to sanford for the latest from the ground and then an attorney for the parents of Trayvon Martin will join us. Thats straight ahead. Hey linda what are you guys doing . Having some fiber with new phillips fiber good gummies. Theyre fruity delicious just two gummies have 4 grams of fiber to help support regularity i want some. [ woman ] hop on over [ marge ] fiber the fun way, from phillips. Bob will retire when hes 153, which would be fine if bob were a vampire. But hes not. Hes an architect with two kids and a mortgage. Luckily, he found someone who gave him a fresh perspective on his portfolio. And with some planning and effort, hopefully bob can retire at a more appropriate age. Its not rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. Important that we remain vocal and vigilant as we ask for the federal government to get involved in this investigation. Because if were not vocal and vigilant, then i can tell you trayvons death will be swept under the rug. That was benjamin crump, an attorney for the martin family, speaking earlier today at the naacp convention. Since the verdict acquitting George Zimmerman was read late saturday, the response has certainly been vocal with protests from coast to coast. But it remains to be seen if the jurys decision is the last word in the case. Im joined now by msnbc host craig melvin, with us live from sanford, florida. Craig, youve been there throughout the trial and done a brilliant job for all of this network and our broadcast in particular. Can you tell us what the mood is, the reaction in sanford, today . Martin, thats a good question. I talked to some folks in a shop, a little bakery about 40 feet away from me a little while ago. That was the topic of conversation. And the concern here in sanford continues to be that this is forever going to be a place that is associated with that city where George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin. Thats the growing concern here. The reaction to the verdict, as you might imagine, mixed. The civil unrest that lots of folks were concerned about did not happen here in sanford. The demonstrations were peaceful. They were orderly. There were no arrests. There were no incidents related to the reading of that verdict. But folks here in sanford, everyone ive talked to has pretty much said just about the same thing that they are ready to move forward. Earlier today there was a Church Service where a packed house, lots of folks came to pray and grieve and share and just talk just to be together. They are planning to do that once a week as long as folks show up here in sanford. Craig, what do we know about George Zimmerman himself, his whereabouts . His immediate plans having been acquitted . Do we know where he is . Thats a Million Dollar question. We do not. We have absolutely no idea where he is. We dont know whether hes still in sanford. We havent heard from him since that verdict. We do know that his attorneys have indicated that there was concern for his safety. But thats all we have on the wherebies. Craig melvin, one again thank you so much. Wan protests against the verdict calling for action by the federal government, this afternoon, attorney general eric holder said the Justice Department will renew its investigation into the shooting of Trayvon Martin. He vowed that whatever the legal outcome, the opportunity for greater discussion of the cases impact should not pass by. We are determined to meet division and confusion with understanding and compassion and also with truth. We are resolved as you are to combat violence involving or directed at young people to prevent future tragedies and to deal with the underlying attitudes, mistaken beliefs, and stereotypes that serve as the basis for these two common incidents. Joining us now from orlando, florida, is darrell parks, an attorney for the martin family. Good afternoon, sir. Good afternoon. We heard eric hold they are afternoon renew not only the federal investigation into this case but also the call for dialogue and he urged everyone to follow the example of greats and dignity of trayvons parents. What is their reaction today to the attorney generals comments . Well, obviously, they are encouraged by what he said and certainly after this weekend and not being able to get full justice from jury trial there in sanford, and then for the public to respond to the jurys decision. Our federal government was really left with no choice but to respond to the public outcry. Thats what make our country so great is that people can make a decision for themselves and then can ask our government to respond and give us some answers to this situation. So we are extremely encouraged that the federal government is relaunching their investigation. They actually put their investigation on hold and gave deference to the state. Yes. And so thats whats taking place. Mr. Zimmerman has been found not legally responsible for Trayvon Martins death. But i have to ask you, is he not morally cu morally culpable. Just because the state law didnt suggest the answer, that doesnt make him innocent. Morally is how most people are judging the situation. And i think that when you listen to his defense team talk, yes, maybe the state law didnt offer a solution. However, there are other solutions. And to this point, we know that he has not been fully apologetic. Hes given haefl haslf hearted jazz but hasnt been sincerely apologetic to the family for the life he took. We heard him say he wouldnt do anything differently. I think people when this he see this case though, they judge it fundamentally is the word i use sometimes when you Start Talking about morals that fundamentally, they see it as wrong that anyone with a gun could ever kill a person without a gun. And that just because you lose a fight doesnt mean you get to arm yourself and kill the other person. So some concocted theory that the concrete would have killed you, you can move, you can fight. And tussle. He knew the police were coming. The Police Showed up less than a minute from the time that you know, he was killed. But he also knew that he was operating in a state with ludicrously lax gun laws and he was armed. And he knew that he could use that weapon if he himself perceived himself to be threatened. And that appears to be the justification in this country. Certainly. Certainly. Darrell parks, thank you for joining us this afternoon. Thank you for having me. With me now in new york, here is legal analyst lisa bloom with us throughout this. You followed this case closely. Are we likely to see a federal case brought against mr. Zimmerman . Its hard to say. I read the threepage long list of federal guidelines today. What it boils down to is the whether the federal charges would be different than the state charges. You cant be retried for the same crime. Even if zimmerman stood up and said there was no selfdefense. I am guilty. Heres new evidence. He could not ever be retried for murder or manslaughter of martin. But for civil rights violations, its possible. What about the civil case . Because we heard mark omara after the verdict saying that he felt his client would be granted immunity in any kind of civil proceedings. I didnt understand that. That was odd. And im going to assume a misstatement on his part. Perhaps he was referring to other state criminal cases for which there would be immunity. The family could file a civil case today if they wanted to. There would be no immunity. George zimmerman could be required to testify in that case if theres no federal are criminal case Going Forward because now hes been acquitted. We saw that in the is o. J. Simpson case almost 20 years ago that simpson was acquitted in a criminal case. There was civil charges filed by the family. He was required to testify. He did very poorly on crossexamination. Ultimately found civilly liable for the deaths. Do you think that will happen in this case . The civil case . The difference though is is that George Zimmerman has no money. He raised about 450,000 in a defense fund. Im going to assume thats all gone. He could do a book deal perhaps. There could be money coming down the pike fop for the family its not about money, its about justice. If they have attorneys will to take the deposition of George Zimmerman, to do further investigation to handle this case differently than the prosecutors handled it, i would assume that they would want to go forward. Lisa bloom our legal analyst, thank you so much. Weve appreciated your help. A special edition of our top lines still ahead. First, the White House Briefing began not with a question about filibusters or even cia leaks. The loss is greater when a young person dies because the potential of that life is so unfulfilled. So i think thats how the president viewed it then and views it now. Every parent wants the safest and healthiest products for their family. Thats why i created the Honest Company. I was just a concerned mom, with a crazy dream. A wish that there was a company that i could rely on, that did all of the hard work for me. Im jessica alba, and the Honest Company was my dream. 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Read and consider it carefully before investing. Risk includes possible loss of principal. As your juror number is being called, please answer whether this is your verdict. Juror b 29 is, this your verdict . Yes. Juror b 76, is this your verdict . Yes. Juror b 37, is this your verdict . Yes. Juror b 51, is this your verdict . Yes. Juror e 6, is this your verdict . Yes. Juror e 40, is this your verdict . Yes. Thank you. Ladies, i wish to thank you for your time and consideration. So after that verdict, where does our National Conversation go from here . Stay with us. The days top lines are next. [ dad ] so i walked into that dealers office and you know what i walked out with . [ slurps ] [ dad ] a new passat. [ dad ] 0 apr. 60 months. Done and done. [ dad ] in that driveway is a germanengineered piece of awesome. That i got for 0 apr. Good one, dad. Thank you, dalton. [ male announcer ] its the car you wont stop talking about. Ever. Hurry in to the volkswagen best. Thing. Ever. Event. 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This is more than just Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. This whole system is wrong. This is a failure of justice. This is so far from being racial its not even funny. This case has never been about race. It wasnt about skittles. If you think what attorney max omara said. Things would have been different if George Zimmerman was black. He never would have been charged with a crime. Probably one of the most incorrect things ive heard. I challenge anybody to go to court. If you are white and have killed someone black, 35 chance that its justifiable homicide. If you are black and shoot someone 3 . You can stand your ground unless youre a black man. Our Justice System is color blind. Trayvon as sybrina said could have been your son. My 11yearold was home with her father watching. Young black man cant walk home from the store without being murdered. She felt like there was no justice in america. Theres no reason for this to happen to any other families. No one should have to go through this. Lets get to our panel. Joinings us now is contributor goldie taylor, Professor James peterson, director of african nap studies as the lehigh university, and Jonathan Capehart from the washington host. Professor, how do you assess the way people are responding . Well, i think that there is a tremendous amount of emotion around this case. Im still grappling and wrestling with my own emotions in response to the verdict and just the entire sort of debacle of the situation and this case. But the way that people are responding has been inspiring because you know, i wasnt one of those focaling for peace because i didnt feel like that was appropriate nordy feel that was my position to do that. What youre sighing is people are engaged in direct action. Penal are seething and sometimes weeping at the same time. But when it comes right down to the bottom line here, folk are wanting to find constructive ways to wrestle with the situation and to redress the racism in our criminal Justice System. Yeah. Jonathan, defense counsel mark omara has already raised a few eyebrows by suggesting that George Zimmerman would not have been charged if he were black. But i want to play Something Else mr. Omara said. Take a listen to this. I understand peoples frustration, but it would seem to be that will Trayvon Martin overreacted to what he perceived to be something going on, and he overreacted in a violent way. Some people would say theres an extraordinary process of transfurens going on here when mr. Omar ral said that Trayvon Martin overreacted do you think he meant he was responsible for his own death. Watching the case thats exactly what he thought. He even asked Trayvon Martins mother if she would accept the possibility that her own son caused his own death. I mean, i mean, ive been going through my inbox for the last few hours. And everyone, the folks who are happy with the verdict and the folks who disagree with the fact that Trayvon Martin was defending himself, they all talk about how according to the defense George Zimmerman was sucker punked in the nose and that if only Trayvon Martin hadnt done that, none of this would have happened. No one goes back to the nonemergency 911 call the nonemergency Sanford Police call where one, it was suggested to George Zimmerman that he not follow martin but also, here you have a 17yearold kid in a community where hes staying as a guest walking at 7 15 at night and its raining and a strange quote creepy man is following him. In a time when weve got shows to catch a predator and stranger danger, why dont some of these folks understand that a 17yearold kid could be fearful of a stranger following him at night. Goldie, answer that question. Why . You know, i really dont know the what the defense counsels position was about that, but what i do understand is this. I live in atlanta. Here we underwent a tragedy called the atlanta child murders, and those children were victims of stranger danger. More than 30 children were found dead and mutilated in the city because they were accosted at night by someone that they did not know. You know, i have taught my sons how to deal with people in authority, especially Police Officers if they are stopped during a track stop or any other public space. But i havent begun to rationalize for myself how i teach them to deal with strange people who may try to assert authority over them, whether it be day or night. So its a very, very difficult conversation i think for all of us to really grapple with, but i think what weve got to the stand back and take a look at here is, Trayvon Martins case, the case of George Zimmerman really does reach beyond the borders of that courtroom. It reaches to all of our communities. What ive seen today some of the things ive seen today have been very, very disheartening. People have decided to take our collective pain and use it as an onramp, an onramp to advance their own agendas around this. The agenda has to be how do we get to and protect and advance the lives of black men and boys in this country. How do we keep them safe . Profess per peterson, to goldies point, is having a black face now a fatal complexion in some circumstances . It has been for some time, sadly, martin. It has been for some time. Its 50 years since medgar evers, since dr. Martin luther king wrote that letter from the birmingham jail. Its 50 years since those children were killed that the church. Youre right. And unfortunately, when you look at the data, we havent made a lot of progress when it comes to black mortality. Theres so many people who try to tweet me or talk about how come you dont get upset about black on black crime. First of all, on this show and every show that i do, we talk specifically about black on black crime. Theres an ands and oranges comparison because black men are going to jail in droves for is murdering other black men. The problem is here we have a racially biassed criminal system. Is what we have to tell young people listen, there are institutions in this society. Do not see you as a human being. Institutions. There are individuals, as well. Zimmerman is an individual. Institutions that you and your parents fund with their taxpayers seen in exactly. Those are institutions which you are a stakeholder in and you are saying, professor peterson, that you tell your own children that these institutions do not exist to protect them. That is exactly right. Because we cant listen, black folk know this. Its not that we want to tell them to be second class citizens or think that way. We want them to be conscious of what the stakes are. The stakes are high. When institutions undervalue your humanity and are built around incarcerating black bodies. Those are the stakes. Weve got to be very, very clear with young people. Thats also some of the rays that you see. Its not surprise. People arent surprised. If you would uphold a lot of black folk thinking about this case all the way, we werent cynical but we were very, very reserved whether or not we could believe this would have an outcome that wouldnt be this, this would have some outcome that the wouldnt smack us in the face again with the bias in the criminal Justice System. Weve celebrated the lives of some of your children who have graduated. Goldie, what do you tell your children . What do you tell them about the prospect of an individual who may seek to exert some kind of authority and who may actually be carrying a concealed weapon . You know, and therein lies the real conflict for me. How do i tell my children that theres a Justice System there to protect them that was never built for them in the first place. You know, my children republican grown and out pursuing jobs. Im a grandmother now. So were going to be having this conversation with yet another generation in my household. I have younger cousins who were victims of violence, a young cousin who was shot in his front yard multiple times. His sister found dead in her home. These were people that they were not familiar with, people who were strangers to them, people who wanted to assert authority over them. So i am still grappling with how i do not only teach my children as growing people but how do i then help them to teach their children when they are living in this america who does not seem that does not seem to value their bodies as human beings. John, a final question to you. If you can be brief, what is the legacy of this trial . What is the single thematic that it speaks to you about . I think the single thing is that black teenagers, black adolescents cant be the typical american teenager. They cant get into a fight ever. They cant experiment with pot. They cant take silly pictures on their cell phone or send you know silly sophomoric Text Messages to their friends. Ive learned that you know, black teenagers have to live their lives beyond reproach because if they are killed, it will come back to haunt them. Thats a tragedy. Goldie taylor, James Peterson and Jonathan Capehart, thank you all so much. Coming up, how to defuse a filibuster. Go nuclear. Well be right back. [ brent ] this guys a pro, herbie. [ herbie ] theres no doubt about it brent, a real gate keeper. Heres kevin, the new boyfriend. Lamb to the slaughter. Thats right brent. Moms baked cookies but hell be lucky to make it inside. And heres the play. Oh dad did not see this coming. [ crowd cheering ] now if kevin can just seize the opportunity. Its looking good, herbie. Hes seen it. Its all over. 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Tonight, senators are meeting in the Old Senate Chamber to see if they can work out a solution to the filibusters that republicans are using to block several of the president s nominees. If a solution cannot be worked out to allow a simple vote yea or nay for those seven men and women, then harry reid is promising whats called the Nuclear Option where he and the democrats would try to change the rules to confirm nonjudicial nominees, not legislation, just those nominees to require 51 votes instead of 60. And that has set off fireworks between the senates majority and minority leaders. The changes were making are very, very minimal. What were doing is saying, look american people. Shouldnt president obama have somebody working for him that he wants . I hope well come to our senses. And not change the core of the senate. We have never changed the rules of the senate by breaking the rules of the senate in order to diminish the voices of individual senators. Weve never done that. And we sure shouldnt start it now. Joining us now is niamalika henderson of the Washington Post and bob schrum from the daily beast. Niamalika, what are the repercussions if senator reid does take the Nuclear Option . I think one of the repercussions could be if the republicans take the house or take the senate in 2014 this could come back to bite democrats. But what theyre wanting to do, democrats essentially seven positions that havent been filled in the Labor Relations board, youve got vacancies at labor and vacancies in other agencies. They want to push through the seven folks theyre looking at. We have to remember that this happened before. Progressives were very much pushing for real robust changes to reform and hairy reid cut a deal with mcconnell with very minor changes to filibuster reform. So this is a debate. What i wouldnt pay to be a fly on that wall tonight with those hundred senators. You know, the senate has always been the cooling body, right . The house is hotter. The Senate Cooler heads prevail. But tonight, you can imagine that its going to be hot discussion over there. Bob, i cant help but think that were this rule to pass and were it in place eight years ago, then john bolton, likely would have been made george w. Bushs u. N. Ambassador. So should democrats be careful what they wish for . Weve reached the point where the government is dysfunctional. If we dont get these people confirmed to the national Labor Relations board, were going to destroy unions in this country because nobody can enforce the national Labor Relations acts. Republicans dont care about that. They do care about it. Their whole purpose is to destroy the unions. I think youre right. And niamalika is right. This could hurt democrats here. I think we should shut the gordon knot here. The day republicans take over the senate, Mitch Mcconnell will forget word hes screaming in that closed chamber where the air conditioning is not going to lower the heat. Hell forget every word he utters and they will change the rules of the senate. They will do it will overnight. They dont care about consistency and shown it over and over again. Niamalika quinnipiac asked who is responsible. Washington. Half said republicans. Only a third said the president. Why does there never appear to be any concern for Brand Management on their part . It doesnt matter if its immigration, samesex marriage or gridlock, they seem quite comfortable in this role of being the person responsible for throwing spanners into the works on a daily basis. You have a Republican Party that is made up, certainly in the house, of freelancers, people thinking about the politics in their own backyard and not necessarily the party. In the senate, its somewhat different. But you know, i think schrum is right, this whole idea of things coming back to bite them and this idea that republicans are trying to stop things they dont like. Theyre not supportive of the epa. To keep Gina Mccarthy out of that role is a victory. Theyre slowing down the government. I guess thats the intention. Bob, willet me turn the conversation to immigration. Today the far right had its d. C. March for jobs in washington. Its a march that had absolutely nothing to do with jobs and everything to do with blocking immigration reform. Steve king was there. So was ted cruz. What is your prognosis for immigration in the house right now . Well, the house is where good ideas go to die. The house is the reason why the congress has been so totally unproductive. If john boehner allowed a bill to come to the floor, it would pass. It would get almost all the democrats and get enough republicans. If hes going to do that, he has to hand in his gavel. The tea party extremists, now the majority of the republican caucus, theyre all on the right. Those folks will not allow this to happen. If boehner allows it to happen, theyre going to throw him out. The tea party will hand him a cup of hemlock and his speakership will be dead. Theyre absurdly making the argument they can win the presidency just with white votes. Its an absurd argumenten a racist argument. Theres tremendous resistance from House Republicans from these gerrymandered districts to the idea this country is changing, becoming multiethnic and racial. Whites will not be a dominant majority. Theyre not going to be a majority in this country at all. We all need to learn together. Right now the republicans are proving how hard that is. Whatever happened to the gop autopsy and the report by Reince Priebus which said they had to be more open minded and more accepting . Thats to win the presidency. These folks in the house care only about their own districts. Their own districts are gerrymandered. Those are very tough on issues like Marriage Equality on issues like immigration. Gun rights. You have marco rubio right now who wants to be taken seriously as a president ial candidate playing to the peanut gallery by saying hes not going to increase the limit on the federal debt unless the president ez agrees to repeal obama care. Niamalika, professor, thank you so much. A final word on the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman coming up. Do stay with us. Well be rin a moment to clear the air. Asional have constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating . Yes one Phillips Colon Health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues. With three strains of good bacteria. [ Phillips Lady ] live the regular life. Phillips. [ babies crying ] surprise your house was built on an ancient burial ground. [ ghosts moaning ] surprise your car needs a new transmission. [ coyote howls ] how about no more surprises . Now you can get all the online Trading Tools you need without any surprise fees. Its not rocket science. Its just common sense. From td ameritrade. Its just common sense. Even superheroes need superheroes, and some superheroes need complete and balanced meals with 23 vitamins and minerals. Purina dog chow. Help keep him strong. Dog chow strong. I tthan probablycare moreanyone else. And weve had this farm for 30 years. We raise black and red angus cattle. We also produce natural gas. Thats how we make our living and thats how we can pass the land and water back to future generations. People should make up their own mind whats best for them. All i can say is it has worked well for us. Its time now to clear the air. And on a hot saturday night in florida had, just minutes after a squlir delivered its verdict, the defense team of mark omara and don west said they were ecstatic with the result. But when that verdict was read out, there were two empty seats in the court. Two places that had suddenly been deserted. They were the seats where the parents of Trayvon Martin had sat throughout a trial that aside from the night when they learned their son had been shot dead, must rank as some of the most difficult days in their lives. Their absence was symbolic of the emptiness they must feel after their son was taken from them. Beyond the proceedings in court and all the commentary thats followed for the parents of Trayvon Martin, there is a void that nothing in this world can fill. And yet, following the verdict, trayvons mother Sybrina Fulton tweeted what sounded like a prayer from the book of psalms, a prayer that resounded with hope and within faith. Lord, during my darkest hour, she wrote, i lean on you. You are all that i have. 53 years ago, on the exact same day as the verdict was delivered, july 13th, 1960, the Great British historian and author c. S. Louis lost his american wife joy davidman to cancer. Louis subsequently wrote a searing book about his loss entitled a grief observed. And that is what america has witnessed in the lives of Trayvon Martins parents. Their grief was observed when they learned that their son had been shot dead and the man who admitted responsibility was free to wander back to normal life. And that for 44 days until mr. Zimmerman was arrested. Their grief was observed when the defense tried to everything to describe their son as an gresser when all they knew was that he had gone shopping for skittles and a soft drink. Toward the end of c. S. Louiss book, there is a remarkably and poe site passage which though written 60 years ago almost perfectly describes the experience of a mother torn between her faith in god and the loss of her are child. It is a comfort to believe, writes louis, that she herself in losing her chief or only natural happiness may still hope to glorify god and enjoy him forever. A comfort to the godaimed eternal spirit within her but not to her motherhood. The specifically mater