Exonerated?

 

Words

You think that I don't even mean
A single word I say
It's only words and words are all I have
To take your heart away

Words mean what they mean, NOT what you choose them to mean!

Merriam-Webster defines acquitted as “ to discharge completely (as from an accusation or obligation)”.  It defines innocent as “free from guilt or fault”. It defines guilty as “justly chargeable with or responsible for a usually grave breach of conduct or a crime” . This means that not guilty could be defined as “not responsible for a usually grave breach of conduct or a crime”.  Not guilty or acquitted is NOT the same as innocent.  There are different standards of evidence and proof, i.e. guilt, for criminal trials, for civil trials, and for the court of public opinion.  You can be not guilty in a criminal trial, guilty in a civil trial and guilty in the court of public opinion.  For example, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of criminal charges in the killing of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.  However, he was found guilty in the civil case for the same killings, and is guilty in the court of public opinion.  

Donald Trump was found not guilty in his first impeachment case concerning the Ukraine call. The Mueller report found that there were 10 instances where Obstruction of Justice charges might have been appropriate but were not pursued because of the DOJ’s position that a sitting president can not be indicted.  These are NOT findings of innocence.

In both Impeachment trials the vote was for or against impeachment, not for or against innocence.  Just as absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, a finding of not guilty is not a finding of innocence. You are only exonerated if you are found innocent.