Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Defender of the Constitution

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Friday, November 15, 2013

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Defender of the Constitution

Click here to access article by Andrew Cohen from The Atlantic.

Even if you have little sympathy for Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, you ought to support his lawyers' efforts to curtail the government's sprawling use of so-called "Special Administrative Measures" in his case. Whatever you think of him, and the capital crimes of which he stands accused, he has a right to counsel, a right to counsel who can privately and effectively communicate with him, and the Justice Department's efforts to undermine that right in this instance are unfair and perhaps even unconstitutional.

After the Empire's enforcers failed to kill Dzhokhar while hiding in a boat, their legal authorities are now trying to limit any access he has to the outside world. This treatment after the killing of a knowledgeable witness in May to the Boston Marathon bombings lends more credence to suspicions that the government is engaging in another coverup.