Who Speaks for the Children?

OK, so it's been awhile since I last posted, but now that my muse returned, I wanted to throw out some thoughts on the Andrea Yates verdict that was just reported in the press. If you missed it, the jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity. The insanity here is that, despite the fact she'll be confined to the looney bin for a few years, doctors can (and probably will) release her when she's "no longer a threat." Yeah....the children she threatened are dead, so who's left to murder now?

I didn't hear testimony for the retrial and don't know what was going through the jurors' heads, but something obviously changed from the first trial where she was convicted of murder. The fact that some idiot of a witness offered testimony based upon a phantom "Law and Order" episode is what earned Mrs. Yates a new trial in the first place. This notwithstanding the tons of other evidence the prosecutors offered to prove her guilt in the first trial. I can't believe a judge gave that much weight to the original manufactured testimony to completely set aside the rest of the damning evidence and award a new trial.

Apparently Mr. Yates supports the new verdict, maintaining from the beginning that Andrea suffered from psychosis and that she didn't deserve to be convicted of murder. You could say that the fact her children are dead is punishment she'll live with the rest of her life, but she's crazy, remember? That small detail will undoubtedly remove all remorse she's supposed to suffer for her actions. Don't forget, she waited until her husband left for work to go insane and drown her children; she covered them with a sheet once the killings were completed; then in a moment of apparent clarity had the presence of mind to call 911 to report the emergency. Yup...sounds like the workings of a mind that's totally broke with reality to me. All that's left now are the book tours and interviews on "Oprah" and "The View" to round out the media circus that's sure to follow once she's deemed to have completed her time at Club Nuts.

Life goes on, the kids are still dead, and no one truly pays for this heinous crime. At least they're in a place with no more pain and suffering.