Rant #3,596: Guilty

I know that what I am going to say goes against all ethics--including my personal ones--all laws, and what we firmly believe in this country, that people accused of crimes--even heinous ones--are innocent until proven guilty.

I align with all of that, but I am starting to waiver a bit ...

I think the accused Gilgo Beach killer and the guy who allegedly shot the health insurance chairman, and shot him in the back, no less--

ARE AS GUILTY AS SIN.

Yes, they certainly deserve trials, and to be judged by their peers, due process, and every legal stipend and doctrine that we believe in in our country, and they both have the right to a fair trial.

But it seems that every day, these guys are getting more guilty, more enmeshed in their own bizarre worlds, and it simply makes it more and more obvious that they did exactly what they are accused of doing.

Now, the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer has had yet another murder put on his docket, the seventh person he is alleged to have done away with.

And the guy who supposedly offed the health insurance company chairman ... well, he has been indicted by the Manhattan district attorney, and there are about 20 other charges against him, including terrorism.

I mean, can the evidence be much more obvious in both cases?

The fellow who is said to have shot the health onsurance chairman to death actually had most of the evidence on his very person, while the supposed Gilgo Beach murderer may as well have had the evidence on his person, because whatever they have found has had his DNA--or his wife or daughter's DNA--all over it.

Evidence has been found that supposedly proves that each case was planned meticulously, which, of course, also makes it pretty obvious who committed these horrid crimes.

But we cannot assume anything--

Which is something I have to keep telling myself.

And other obvious cases have been fouled up on technicalities, so even the most guilty--or who we feel are the most guilty--sometimes can do an end-around against the crimes they have been charged with.

Time will tell, and I am not a lawyer, but to me, these guys should rot in jail for the rest of their god-forsaken lives.

But this is America, and they will each have their day in court.

And the good thing about this, at least to me, is that I do believe the outcomes of these fair trials will prove, without a shadow of a doubt, exactly what I think these individuals are accused of.

Good riddance.

And while we are all pondering what I just said, how about putting on trial the next chapter of my novel?

Please, give me an innocent or even a guilty verdict.

I will get what I deserve.

Thanks!

12

Although Alexander Lincoln Panim had earned his high school diploma, he sought more knowledge. Mrs. Stottle could only provide him just so much, and Mrs. Panim had her school to run.

Two years had passed, and Abraham Lincoln Panim was now 18 years of age.

“Abraham Lincoln Panim,” said Mrs. Stottle one day when she and the boy were studying with each other, “there is so much more for you to learn. You have a high school diploma now, and I really cannot teach you any more myself.”

“So how am I going to learn more?” asked Abraham Lincoln Panim, pretty much knowing the answer to his question.

“I will talk it over with your mother, but I believe it is time for you to venture out into the world, but do it without me or your mother leading you,” said Mrs. Stottle. “It is time you went to—“

“College?” Abraham Lincoln Panim asked, knowing that that was the answer.

“Yes, that is what I think you have to do,” Mrs. Stottle said. I mean, I simply cannot teach you what you need to know at this point, and quite frankly, I am getting a bit older now, and my eyesight and my feet are not well … maybe you should go out and meet people, make friends, go out and live your own life.”

“But how can I live my own life—“

“You can, Abraham Lincoln Panim. You might just have to take the good with the bad, and there is so much more good to higher learning than bad. I think you should try it, at least try it.

“Remember what I always say, ‘Do unto others as you would have the do unto you … treat other people the way you would like to be treated yourself.’

“But Mrs. Stottle—“

“Abraham Lincoln Panim, I do believe it is time for you to experience the outside world. Don’t equate it what happened to all those years ago when you were a little boy to now. Colleges have a much more liberal view of the world and people. I think that you will fit right in. Nobody will notice you as being odd or different—

“Because you aren’t odd, and you aren’t different.”

Later that day, when Mrs. Panim arrived home from school, Mrs. Stottle broached the subject to Abraham Lincoln Panim’s mother.

During one of their regular walks in the evening, Mrs. Panim decided to sit down on one of the benches where they usually took their walks, which was somewhat unusual, because the mother and son were used to walking and rarely stopping.

“Abraham Lincoln Panim, Mrs. Stottle brought up something to me today that I have been thinking about a lot lately myself, and that is—“

“Going to college, mom.”

“Yes, and I agree with Mrs. Stottle. It is time you get out on your own, meet people, and get a higher dose of education.”

“But mom, I don’t know, I haven’t been in school—“

“Yes, for many years, But with Mrs. Stottle’s help, you were able to learn, and you learned well. You are 18 now, you aren’t a baby anymore. I think it is high time that you tried to go to a public college.”

“But mom, I still look like a rat.”

“Nobody cares what anyone looks like when you get to college. And to me, you are very handsome, anyway.”

“Mom, come on, I look … well … different than a lot of people do.”

“But that is what colleges are for, to blend people from all different backgrounds into one. I loved college. Maybe you will too.”

“But will college love me?” asked Abraham Lincoln Panim, as the mother and son left the bench and continued their walk into the moonlight.

That talk signaled the beginning of a new chapter in Abraham Lincoln Panim’s life that was ready to unfold.