Finding a silver lining to this mess is murder

THERE IS no silver lining in the stinking, bloated storm cloud that is the George Zimmerman verdict. But I have been trying desperately to find one. Otherwise, this travesty of justice is too much to bear.

Here is what I have come up with so far:

1 Good people of all races have been horrified that Zimmerman was not, at the very least, convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Our rainbow of outrage doesn't make us the colorblind, postracial America we bragged about being when a majority of Americans - composed of all races - elected our first black president. I'm not sure we'll be postracial in my lifetime, and I'm counting on being around for the next 50 years.

But it can't be ignored that Americans of every hue see the injustice of the Zimmerman verdict and are aghast that a jury couldn't see it, too.

They are wearing hoodies in Martin's honor. They are expressing profound sympathy for his family. They are holding prayer services and community rallies to express their heartbreak.

This comforts me. It's a cold comfort - none of it will bring Martin back or lock Zimmerman away - but, like I said, I'm desperate here.

2 The injustice of the verdict may give new urgency to a national examination of "stand your ground" laws. In May, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights voted to investigate whether the laws, versions of which exist in 24 states (including Pennsylvania), have a racial bias.

The commission should begin its inquiry in Florida for an obvious reason: Police were initially reluctant to dig deeper into Martin's death, swiftly deciding that Zimmerman's actions were justified by "stand your ground."

The law, for those unfamiliar with it, states that "A person is justified in using force, except deadly force, against another when . . . the person reasonably believes . . . such conduct is necessary to defend himself . . . against the other's imminent use of unlawful force."

However, the law clarifies, deadly force would be justified if "he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself . . . or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony."

Sounds reasonable, doesn't it? Especially since Zimmerman told cops it was Martin who threw the first punch.

By then, though, cops knew that Zimmerman, armed with a gun, had called 9-1-1 to report a suspicious-looking kid, had muttered about Martin, "These assh---s always get away," and had left his car when he had been instructed by the police dispatcher not to do so.

Yet it had never occurred to cops that perhaps Martin, if he had indeed thrown the first punch, might have been standing his ground, reasonably believing that he was about to endure great bodily harm.

It wasn't until the public demanded answers that police thought to extend to dark-skinned Martin the same benefit of the doubt they'd automatically bequeathed to light-skinned Zimmerman.

So, yeah, let's get working on that racial-bias investigation.

3 There will be a civil trial against Zimmerman.

If Zimmerman had been criminally convicted, it's doubtful Martin's family would have sought civil damages against the trigger-happy, wannabe cop whose John Wayne delusions made him judge and jury of a kid who didn't look or comport himself according to expectations. I think the family would have felt that justice had been served.

Now that Zimmerman is a free man, they're allegedly going to pursue damages against him. This time, the weasly shooter won't be able to plead the Fifth to get out of speaking aloud, in a courtroom, about the night he took an unarmed kid's life.

I know - this is thin gruel. But Zimmerman got away with murder. He shouldn't also get away with keeping his mouth shut.

4 Despite fears of riots following a not-guilty verdict, calm has remained.

Perhaps we are at long last beyond using violence to express dismay at unfair verdicts that any reasonable person could conclude are racially biased. Maybe the overwhelming, preverdict support of Martin's family has been powerful enough that no one feels a show of mob-rule is needed to make a point that was obviously missed.

Or maybe we are so resigned and shattered, there's nothing left to do but weep.

Because I am looking for the silver lining, though, I'd like to believe that the public has taken to heart the words of Martin family attorney Benjamin Crump, who urged calm after the verdict.

"For Trayvon to rest in peace," he said, "we must all be peaceful."