O. J. Moussaoui

What happens when you "turn the other cheek"? Answer: You become a weather vane. One good turn deserves another, and pretty soon your cheek turning has you going in circles.

Perhaps it was much too much to expect that peri-Washington, D.C. jurors, deep in the northern Virginia Islamic Corridor, would not go marshmallow. There must have been too many Mr. Magoos, Casper Milquetoasts, Walter Mittys, and O. J. Simpson jurors.

And, to be saying this, we fly in the face of our own opposition to the death penalty. No, we are not opposed in principle, but there are too many people sent to die by means of ignorance, incompetence, and downright prosecutorial and judical malfeasance. So, we are opposed in fact, with notable exceptions.

Moussaoui was just such an exception. Justice was not served, but mercy certainly was. IF YOU HAVE TRUE JUSTICE, THERE IS NO REQUIREMENT FOR "MERCY." True justice takes into account all relevant context; if anyone thinks that mercy is required, then what is being practiced is not true justice. Mercy bypasses justice and is in itself a form of injustice. If anyone thinks mercy is good, then keep those cheeks turning.

Causality has not gone away, and there will be causal consequences from the sentencing verdict. For one, we have broadcast to the Islamic Barbaric World that we are just as weak as they are told we are. We are full of soft-formed, loosely wrapped polyannas who have grown too weak and will-less to defend themselves any longer. Why, we are just like Europe, we are saying.

The possibilities for future perfidy which can follow is another causal possibility that ought to make any of us sick even to contemplate. Imagine Righteous George pardoning or commuting ZM on the last day of his last term. Or, imagine that under the unremitting pressure of Islamic nasties abroad and at home, and those pouring through our porous border to get their "rights," Congress, SCOTUS, and the Executive cook up something that lets ZM out, short of his dying.

We keep seeing the face of a black American gentleman, who lost his wife of 24 years on 11 September 2001. He is extremely well-spoken, well-dressed, and seems to be an outstanding human being. Everything he said all during the trial and this morning-after has been so correct. He wants justice, but justice was denied. It would kill this man for ZM to get some sort of mercy in the future that makes life for him any better to any extent. This American is not alone, and, even though we lost no one on 11 September, we feel that all 2900+ were "ours," and that we lost them also.

Stand by for consequences. They are coming, and they won't be good ones.