Blake Hall
Someone cobbled together every contemporary racial issue into a single spectacle of political nuttiness and set it loose in Florida.
This absurd story begins with Andy Hallinan, the owner of Florida Gun Supply who is being sued by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for discriminating against Muslim customers. This lawsuit is a response to Hallinan’s very public declaration that his store was a “Muslim-free zone” because he didn’t want to sell guns to terrorists.
From stage left enters George Zimmerman, who controversially used the Florida’s Stand Your Ground laws to escape conviction for the murder of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman, who himself has been at the center of an enormous controversy surrounding race, offered one of his paintings to Hallinan to raise money to fight CAIR’s discrimination suit.
That painting is of the Confederate flag, a symbol which was scrubbed from Target, Amazon and Walmart’s inventories and removed from South Carolina flag poles after the racially-motivated shooting inside a historically black Charleston church. People around the country generally agree that the Confederate Flag is racist.
Zimmerman stated that he originally painted the American flag, but then covered it up with the Confederate one.
“The caption, ‘the 2nd protects the 1st’ is a double entendre,” Zimmerman said. “The first flag I painted on this canvas was an American Flag, but decided to repaint over it with the Confederate Flag when I heard Andy was getting sued by CAIR. The second flag I painted was the Battle Flag – which we need in America in order to protect the First [Amendment].”
The painting’s inscription also praises the second amendment and upholds Hallinan for using his First Amendment rights.
The duo defends the Confederate Flag on the Florida Gun Supply website, arguing “You cannot assume everyone who flies a Confederate Flag is racist in the same way that you cannot judge every Muslim to be a terrorist, or every gun owner to be a serial killer.”
Remember that this whole thing started when Hallihan banned all Muslims from his store in order to keep terrorists away. The irony is lost on no one.
Gawker described this story as “right-wing Mad Libs,” but perhaps a better term would be “right wing rat king.” There are multiple strands of stupidity tangled up, creating one large writhing mass of dumb that is sure to offend everyone in one way or another. It’s the quintessential story of the common man railing against political correctness amplified to its weirdest extreme.
We can’t say whether Hallihan will win or lose his lawsuit to CAIR, but we can guess that this racially-charged gambit will earn him and Zimmerman a quick buck. Florida Gun Supply is selling prints of Zimmerman’s Confederate flag painting and tickets to win it in a raffle. The proceeds go both to Hallihan and Zimmerman, which they will use for legal fees, living expenses and advancing their cause.