OK, the trial that so many people thought would never happen is now history, and what I'm wondering is: What exactly did we learn in the last two months?
My answer: Not very much.
My take-away is that all the stories I've heard about Whitey Bulger weren't true, because the truth turned out to be worse than the stories…lower on the scale of humanity.
For Whitey, other people's lives had no value and no dignity, and now we know the details.
But the reality in federal court never lived up to the fantasy in our minds:
Come on! Didn't we all want Whitey to take the stand, and — with a killer's cold stare — make the case that the FBI approved his murders?
The mob man versus the g-men in a courtroom duel that would uncover decades of dirty secrets, stretching from South Boston to the state house.
Now that was something to look forward to.
But all we got from whitey was a cowardly "Do what yous want with me," and a "as far as I'm concerned I did not get a fair trial. This is a sham."
Sorry, Whitey, but it wasn't a sham.
But it was unbalanced, because only one side appeared to have a case.
All Whitey appeared to have were unprovable memories.
But our memories of him are very real.
He was a terrorist, because he terrorized Boston families.
And his weapons of mass destruction were fear, violence, bullets and blood.
No more.
For years in Boston we asked each other, "Where's Whitey?"
Now we all know: He's in a cell, where he'll stay until he dies, presumably of natural causes.
Which is more than he deserves.