There's Something Wrong with This

It's the same week -- two trials in military courts -- one in Texas and one in Washington state. Both defendants plead guilty -- one to killing 13 adults; the other for killing 16 men, women, and children. Robert Bales gets life imprisonment for killing the 16 and Nidal Hasan gets the death penalty for killing the 13. Both crimes are horrible. Both defendants deserve punishment. But why did the military courts come up with such different sentences? Both are American born citizens. Both are in the military. The standards of sentencing should be the same in both military courts. Of course! Bales is a Christian and Hasan is a Muslim. And we wonder why people in other countries think we're prejudiced against Muslims.