So, what did we learn this afternoon?

• As much as it'll roll the eyes of many of those closest to me... as with OJ, we learned that America has most definitely progressed. The money of a rich (well, formerly at any rate) black man now buys the same amount of innocence as that of a rich white man*.
• Regardless of the media circus, regardless of common sense, "Joe and Jane Sixpack" really do take "beyond a reasonable doubt" seriously.
• Those on the left who think "trust the people" is eye-roll-worthy hyperbole should drop to their knees now and thank whatever it is they worship that they live in this country. You know, in case they ever get accused of something they didn't actually do. Or at least, didn't hurt anyone in the doing.
• The people of California, after a decade, still have not realized they must Clean House. Start from the lowliest elected official they can get their hands on and boot them over the horizon, then work their way up. Make sure whomever is put in their place knows the reason they have their job is to boot those the people couldn't directly affect over the horizon. Maybe, maybe then The People's Republic of California will stop being a law enforcement laughing stock.

Do I think Jackson did it? Like OJ, the answer is simple... oh hell yes. I read The Smoking Gun. Fourteen-year-olds don't come up with that kind of detail.

Do I think they proved it beyond a reasonable doubt? Again, as with OJ, oh hell no. California prosecutors, per historical precedent, chose to worship the cult of wealth and personality in their own special way and in the process allowed who knows how many real bad guys to walk. California citizens, swirled into the same narcissistic maelstrom, seem to keep re-electing these incompetents just to make sure their state's name stays in the papers. Of course, they then wonder cow-eyed at their monstrous state deficits.

The rest of us simply shake our heads and ponder how we can feel both sickened and heartened at the same time. Micheal Jackson is quite obviously someone who, were it not for obscene wealth, would have been given over to "Bubba the Love Machine" behind bars years ago. And yet he walks free, because in spite of the power and wealth of a state twelve people could not be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt he did what he almost certainly did.

Remeber folks, we're not looking for a perfect system. The world is infested with humanity, and anyone who even dreams of "perfect" justice is either hopelesly naive, an unapologetic card-carrying member of the liberal left (redundant I know), or selling something.

The rest of us, well... on a viceral level and in spite of the fact that I know it's irrational, it sometimes becomes difficult trusting family with my child. I think it takes a suspiciously naive person to allow their near-terminally-ill child to sleep alone in the bed of a man who spends millions of dollars every year to convince himself he's still eleven years old.

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* As destructive as that sentiment may seem, this is why they cheered ten years ago. If you don't think it matters, you're either white or not paying attention.