I wish there were some explanation for the travesty of justice that happened down in Florida today with the Trayvon Martin verdict. Intellectually I suppose I could try to hash it out in terms of questions of whether or not the prosecution met their burden of proof, what the preponderance of evidence suggested, etc. As I was not in that courtroom, I never heard all of it, so I suppose that my understanding of the analyses that will come out after this has happened will be colored by that.
Warning: profanity to follow.
However, I. Just. Don't. Fucking. Understand. Follow me over the orange spinning thing (that's a graphic of my mind right now).
Admittedly, I was out to dinner with my husband and not watching any news coverage until I got home and saw a posting on social media of someone in my circle of friends reacting to the verdict. I saw his posting and I knew instantly from the tone that justice in Florida--if not the whole nation--has been given a black eye by the Zimmerman verdict. I wanted to throw heavy and breakable things against the wall, but given that I was near to neither (and didn't want to wake the neighbors), I figured I would take to writing a diary instead.
I will leave it to far clearer minds (and eyes, as mine are sore from crying) to analyze what may or may not have gone down in that courtroom, as they have analyzed the events that lead up to Martin's death. Some of those genius minds have been here on DKos, and to those who have those minds, thank you for your hard work. I will also leave the predictions of the social implications of this to others as well--you know who you are, and you are probably far more qualified than I am to offer such predictions.
However, that doesn't change the fact that I just don't fucking understand how the hell this jury is going to be able to live with themselves. For the love of Flying Spaghetti Monster, a man was able to gun down a kid who was minding his own fucking business, after being repeatedly told not to engage him! I have NO DOUBT in my muddled mind that had Zimmerman been able to follow one simple instruction, Martin would still be alive.
I am devastated, and there is nothing that will change that. This is a tragic day for our country, with tragic consequences that we will be feeling for many years to come. I am, despite the profanities I've used, too devastated to even rant right now. May God/ess have mercy on our country and bring healing to Martin's family--and to Zimmerman, for he will need it as well, when he realizes the magnitude of what's happened here, that he has essentially gotten away with murder and Martin's blood can now never be washed off his hands. I am out of words for this.