Kudos to the State of Oklahoma for their perserverance for a decade in the prosecution of Terry Nichols for the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 169 people. Though already convicted and sentenced to life in a federal court, the state prosecuted as well with the power to impose the death penalty.
Some thoughts:
Nichols is definitely guilty of an abhorrent crime. I hope this second conviction gives some comfort to victims families.
The judge limited testimony regarding other conspirators who helped McVeigh, including middle eastern connections. I'm sure this was helpful in the narrow interest of convicting Nichols. It was not helpful broadly for Americans to learn the full nature of the conspiracy to bomb the building. There is clear evidence that Nichols met in the Phillipines with terrorists with Iraqi and Al Qaida connections. When is that going to get examined in public? And why don't more Americans know about that connection.
One hidden tidbit I learned by reading news accounts closely is that Nichols was convicted of killing 160 people and 1 fetus. Killing a fetus is a convictable offense? How can that be when it happens 4,400 times a day in America under the banner of choice?
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