Mary Winkler (Warning: Strong Opinions)

This afternoon, I sat down to watch the Oprah Show. Ordinarily, I must admit, Oprah makes me gag but I was curious to see what Mary Winkler would have to say.

For those who were on another planet at the time, Mary Winkler is the pastor's wife who shot her husband in the back and left him on the floor to die.

I don't doubt he was an abuser. I simply don't think women lie about those things.

At the same time, I believe she is guilty of first-degree murder. The final conviction for manslaughter surprises me. It was also surprising to see the velvet gloves on the iron fist of the legal system where she was concerned. A poor Black woman from Watts would not have been treated similarly.

But looking at it strictly from a legal point of view, Mary had the foresight to wait for her husband to fall asleep, unplug the phone so that he could not call for help, get the shotgun, go back to the bedroom, shoot him in the back and escape.

That's first degree murder, in my opinion. She had the time to think about what she was doing.

Today she appeared on Oprah and tried to look sympathetic. It didn't work.

She wants her children back.

No matter what, it's all about her and what she wants.

Her children are not possessions. They're not laptops or stereo systems. They are actually little human beings and I don't think she gets that.

They have been living a stable life with their grandparents for over a year now. She is not thinking about what is best for them. She is concerned about what she wants.

I find it distasteful and disgusting.

If there was ever a time when she should put the interests of those children ahead of her own desires, it is now.

By taking custody of those children, she is not only asking them to live with the person who killed their father. She is also creating great difficulty for them to have a relationship with the paternal side of their family. The grandparents said that so far, Mary has never even uttered a simple "I'm sorry". How strained would that relationship be?

The very woman who appeared initially to be a timid, mousy victim looks more like a heartless sociopath. If she had any sense at all, she would know that she has to build a trust relationship with her children all over again. And she needs to be selfless enough to give them the space to have a secure and comfortable life with their grandparents.

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