I haven't explicitly stated one way or the other whether I think Zimmerman is guilty of murder or whether he acted in self-defense.
I haven't stated that I think Treyvon Martin was a thug or a worthless human being, because I don't believe he was.
He was a kid, a teenager, who like most teenagers was likely in a process of self-discovery and testing personal limits, and probably occasionally prone to making rash decisions.
I don't think Zimmerman was a drooling cretin either -- he had a few incidents with violence/authority/etc. in his past (
which a judge described as "run of the mill" when setting his bond), and he was concerned, perhaps hypervigilant, about crime in his neighborhood.
Ordinary people occasionally make mind-bogglingly egregious mistakes, and those mistakes can be compounded when placed together.
Part of me does wonder, that if Zimmerman had not been armed, perhaps we would just be discussing why Zimmerman was now in the hospital, but alive and expected to recover. That perhaps the absence of the gun from the scenario might mean that both Martin and Zimmerman would still be alive. But that's speculation - I have no more idea what the outcome would have been were that the case, nor any more idea what was going through Martin's mind in the last moments of the encounter than I do Zimmerman's.
But perhaps I should just defer to those who have an implacable moral compass to guide them, since in the estimation of at least one person I obviously don't have that luxury.
"People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they're not on your road doesn't mean they've gotten lost." - The Dalai Lama