Dan Riehl admits, openly and proudly, that he's a racist.

Not that we didn't know this already, as this is the man who once claimed that all black kids, even when they’re “pretty young [and] not that big,” are “technically thugs," but his latest statement welds the deal shut in such a way that no excuse or apology will ever be able to escape it:

As Media Reports Conflict, Why Was Trayvon Martin Photo Altered?

Among a few interesting items uncovered in trying to examine the facts behind the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin without drawing any conclusions, was that a widely viewed photograph of Martin appears to have been altered, somewhat.

Here is what appears to be the original via the Miami Herald.

The one below has been observed in the media and at forums such as Democracy Now. Clearly, it has been lightened, or softened, somehow. Along with other possible alterations, he looks far more, perhaps innocent is the right word, in the altered image.

Dan Riehl believes that if you "lighten" an image -- that is, if you contribute to the impression that there's a possibility that the person in the photograph may be white -- that person "looks far more ... innocent." So:

White people?

Innocent.

Darkies?

Guilty.

Just look at them. They're "technically thugs," and therefore deserve to be shot by gun-toting racists who've made 46 calls to 911 complaining about "suspicious" darkies engaging in activities such as walking in and out of their parents' open garages or playing soccer in the street.

I won't republish them here, but I exchanged a series of emails with Riehl -- who's more than welcome to republish my replies, if he so desires -- after I called him a racist for being afraid of seventh graders who were only "technically thugs." His defense was that I would've been afraid too, which tells you all you need to know about Dan Riehl. That he worked for and admired Andrew Brietbart and supports the political theater of James O'Keefe is entirely beside the point, except that it isn't. He's a racist parading his denial with all the subtlety of someone who dons a "GOD HATES FAGS" sign at a Marine's funeral.

And just as classy, too.

Comments

[tosh]

"Appears to be the original"?

It appears to be a digital copy that somebody turned into a black-and-white image in Photoshop. Then it got blown up so that it could fit onto a sign. Then somebody photographed it. Then somebody jpg-compressed it and shrunk it so that it could be embedded on the website of the Miami Herald. And somewhere along the way it got cropped.

I mean, the Miami Herald mentions the photo journalist Mario Tama from Getty Images as the creator of the picture in the caption. That could have been a clue.

[SEK]

It appears to be a digital copy that somebody turned into a black-and-white image in Photoshop. Then it got blown up so that it could fit onto a sign. Then somebody photographed it. Then somebody jpg-compressed it and shrunk it so that it could be embedded on the website of the Miami Herald. And somewhere along the way it got cropped.

The world's a much lovelier place when you don't assume Riehl acts/thinks/is-capable-of-breathing in good faith.