Never let a crisis go to waste: Trayvon Martin edition

“You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste; it’s an opportunity to do important things that you would otherwise avoid."

That's what former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel declared while Washington policymakers were weighing their options in pumping taxpayer stimulus dollars into the economy, including questionable investments in green energy firms close to President Obama's heart. But today, it's Attorney General Eric Holder echoing Emanuel's words, seeing a parallel opportunity in the wake of the George Zimmerman trial.

From the AP:

In his first comments since the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Martin case, the attorney general said that Martin's parents have suffered a pain that no parent should have to endure. He said the nation must not forgo an opportunity toward better understanding of one another. [...]

Holder said, "We are ... mindful of the pain felt by our nation surrounding the tragic, unnecessary shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., last year."

"I want to assure you" that the Justice Department" will continue to act in a manner that is consistent with the facts and the law," said Holder.

"Independent of the legal determination that will be made, I believe that this tragedy provides yet another opportunity for our nation to speak honestly about the complicated and emotionally charged issues that this case has raised," Holder said in remarks to the 51st national convention of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

"We must not — as we have too often in the past — let this opportunity pass," he added.

Similarly, many of Holder's friends on the left are using the Zimmerman trial as a rallying call for gun control activism, including former senior White House advisor David Axelrod who tweeted:

Setting aside that an unarmed teenager, who was minding his own business, was stalked and killed, and the killer has gone free...1/2

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) July 14, 2013

...the undeniable fact is that none of this would have happened if an emboldened George Zimmerman were not carrying a gun that night. 2/2

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) July 14, 2013