At her new digs over at Bloomberg, Megan McArdle has penned an article about George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. She concludes with the following:
Here’s my opinion of what happened on that dark night in Sanford, Florida: I don’t know. I don’t know what Zimmerman and Martin were thinking. I don’t know who said what to whom. I don’t know who threw the first punch, or why Zimmerman got out of his car, or why Martin didn’t go home.
What I know is that we find it very easy to imagine the worst of people who are not like us. And we frequently confuse our imaginations with reality.
I think this is what every political pundit that’s touched the case should have concluded as well. Ask yourself this- what good has come from all the discussion? Have we agreed on anything? Is there any law everyone agrees will benefit society? How has the “discussion” benefited the country? Does anyone even agree on what happened that night? Is everyone in comfortable that justice has been served?
I’d say that, if anything, the “discussion” has made things a little worse. Trayvon Martin is dead and his memory is being established by innuendo and armchair detective and psychology work. George Zimmerman, his family and his friends fear for their lives now that he’s been acquitted. LDP’s (Liberals/ Democrats/ Progressives) are uniformly disgusted with “Stand Your Ground” Laws. CRT (Conservative/ Republican/ Tea Partiers) are stinging from another round of being called racists and violence enabling thugs.
Worst of all, everyone is 100% convinced of their righteousness and the motivations of “the other side.” It’s been a pretty pathetic display all the way around.
Contrast that with what likely would have transpired if everyone had had the humility to conclude “You know what, I just don’t know what happened and I don’t think I’ll ever know.” I think it’s a pretty simple case we’d all be better off now.