You know, a few years ago, when I was fresh out of high school, International Baccalaureate diploma in my hand, I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to be in the legal system and help fight for justice. So I enrolled in my first law classes, expecting to see something noble and right.

Instead, I was disillusioned in less than a semester. In only a few months and a few books and a few trips down to the courthouse and a few talks with judges and attorneys, my idealism was shattered. It only took me a few months to see the truth first-hand.

There are actually some people in this country who think we have a functional justice system. There are also radical right-wingers who seem to think military members are incapable of doing wrong.

I wish both were right.

But they're not.

And here's a recent example.

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AP---JACKSON, Mich. - An Iraq war veteran accused of raping his 3-month-old daughter in Michigan pleaded guilty to attempted child abuse.

Former Army paratrooper Kirk Coleman entered his plea Friday after prosecutors agreed to drop charges of criminal sexual conduct and child abuse.

Authorities said Coleman attacked the baby in September in a home west of Detroit. She suffered brain damage and broken bones.

The 27-year-old faces up to five years in prison.

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You know, things like this make me question my pacifism. People like this monster and the monsters who all but pardoned him invite my hands to wrap around their throat and squeeze.

This isn't a case of shaking the baby. The man raped his infant daughter. The baby suffered brain damage and broken bones and lord knows what other injuries that the papers don't want to detail. But instead of rape charges...instead of the attempted murder charges that this should obviously warrant...instead of locking this bastard up for the rest of his miserable life...he gets away with it. Attempted child abuse.

Sounds like it fucking succeeded to me.

Interesting that they don't put the names of the prosecutors in the article. Smart, too. Because they're just as guilty as the spineless coward who raped his daughter.

Five years. Which, in the American justice system, will likely end up as less than half of that. That's how long he's being punished. He'll be out just in time for his daughter to be old enough to understand that there's a person behind her injuries, and that such a so-called person might drop by again.

Justice isn't just blind. It's been raped and killed, both by the corrupted shits who walk into the courthouse and the corrupted judges and prosecutors and defense attorneys who let them walk out. It was assaulted by paroles and plea deals and finished off by the never-ending flow of cash that corrodes justice as thoroughly as acid.

I better stop now before I make certain threats that might get me in trouble. I don't have a tarted-up war record to win sympathy or the money it takes to bribe the judges and prosecutors.