Mercy Is Ours to Give, if We Choose It

[WilliamPitt]

Eric Sidiropoulos waves a flag as emergency vehicles pass after learning that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev,
the remaining suspect wanted in the Boston Marathon bombings, was caught, in Watertown,
Massachusetts, April 19, 2013. (Photo: Gretchen Ertl / The New York Times)

Mercy Is Ours to Give, if We Choose It
By William Rivers Pitt
Truthout | Op-Ed

Sunday 12 April 2015

Imagine living forever. For people who watch those insipid vampire movies, the idea clearly has some purchase, a kind of cool cachet ... but consider the reality of it. You live long enough to see every single person you love or even vaguely care about - wife, husband, children, brothers, sisters, friends, acquaintances, everyone - die before your eyes. Then you live long enough to make more friends, more family, only to watch all of them die. Then you do it again, and again, and again as an ocean of years pile up behind you until the stars burn out, and you are the last living thing on a dead planet beneath a barren sky.

Such would be my sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the accused, admitted and now convicted participant in the plot to bomb the Boston Marathon. Thanks to his actions and the actions of his brother, four people died and 264 others were injured. Many of them were almost literally cut in half - the prosthetics wings of several excellent Boston hospitals have been all too busy since that gruesome day on Boylston Street - and on Wednesday, the most unsurprising verdict in the history of jurisprudence was handed down: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was declared guilty on all thirty counts levied against him, seventeen of which carry a potential sentence of death, if the jury so decides during the upcoming penalty phase.

And there lies the rub.

I have traveled a long, hard distance within myself in considering my wishes for the fate of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev ... call it the soul version of the old saying, "Traveling 40 miles of bad road." I knew Krystle Campbell, and have seen the unredacted photos of her end on that Boylston Street sidewalk. My best friend crossed the finish line scant seconds before the bombs went off; his wife and their two sons were caught between the explosions, and she had to flee with the boys into an un-shattered storefront before trying to find Dad in the mayhem. They did.

I hate Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. I hate what he did to all those people, to my friends, to my city, and to an event that was once the best day of the year in Boston. Explaining Marathon Day to someone who has not experienced it, who is not from the region, is like a frog trying to tell tadpole what life is like on dry land. It's like trying to describe the taste of chocolate. It can't be done, and it was wonderful for so long, the day we all looked forward to as the herald of Spring, until that fuzzy little failure and his brother scarred it for all time, killed four people, maimed hundreds more, and stole it from us. The Marathon will go on, of course, and the region will horde the course and cheer the runners up Heartbreak Hill, but it will never be the same.

I hate him, despise him, I seethe at the very mention of his name ... and I hope, with all my heart, that the jury spares his life. Some of that sentiment comes from a vengeful corner of my soul, because I think death is an out. Timothy McVeigh went to his grave reading Invictus and believing himself to be a hero, and he did not deserve the privilege. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hopes to be a martyr, a hero in his own right, and he does not deserve the privilege, either. I can think of no greater insult, indignity or punishment more fitting for him than a long life.

In the end, however, my feelings do not and cannot matter. It comes down to this...

The rest: http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/30153-mercy-is-ours-to-give-if-we-choose-it

[marym625]

1. I admire your ability to search your soul on this.

I rec'd the post because of that. Because you see that there may actually be the ability for a change. That alone, when coming from a personal point of anger and emotion is difficult.

I don't, however, advocate for the supermax prison, continued and constant solitary confinement, or no possibility of parole. I won't get into more conversation on this. Had enough of it. Doesn't mean I think he should go free, be coddled or any such other crazy thing people want to interpret my words to mean

Nice post.

[alcibiades_mystery]

3. I agree with you

The European model is much more humane, and I think we should move towards it.

[marym625]

4. completely agree

I believe it is Sweden that has the best record but I can't remember for sure.

Maybe Switzerland?

[daleanime]

8. Amen.....

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. Good piece

I've heard a lot of people say that Tsarnaev "hopes to be a martyr" by receiving the death penalty, but I've never seen any evidence to that effect. Maybe I've just missed it. It seems, rather, that he has approved his defense team's attempt to spare his life, and that they've pursued that rather aggressively. Where do you get the claim, stated as fact ("Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hopes to be a martyr, a hero in his own right...&quot in this piece? I'm just asking from a journalistic point of view. Maybe I missed his statements to that effect that you're basing this on.

I'm an old school bleeding heart liberal on the question of rehabilitation. Prison should be for reflection, not suffering. The "punishment" is the appropriation of your time (of life), the restriction on freedom itself. I like that you suggested the possibility that people find a life in prison, especially if we're going to put people away forever.

[WilliamPitt]

5. He wrote this on the hull of the boat they found him in.

“I’m jealous of my brother who ha[s] [re]ceived the reward of jannutul Firdaus (inshallah) before me. I do not mourn because his soul is very much alive. God has a plan for each person. Mine was to hide in this boat and shed some light on our actions. I ask Allah to make me a shahied (iA) to allow me to return to him and be among all the righteous people in the highest levels of heaven...The US Government is killing our innocent civilians but most of you already know that."

http://www.ibtimes.com/what-did-dzhokhar-tsarnaev-write-boat-read-boston-bombing-suspects-note-here-1588472

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. Thanks for the response

Were I your editor, I would have hedged it a bit with "has stated that..." since we don't really know whether it is a present tense desire (the trial strategy argues against that), and I'd be skeptical of extrapolating the wounded, high pressure blood message to the present day. Nevertheless, I appreciate the citation.

[KingCharlemagne]

6. Heads up to DU: the 'rest' of the piece is well worth the read. I'm glad I do not

have to serve on that jury. (I probably would have been excused because I oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and that would probably disqualify me.)

Serious hat tip.

[mountain grammy]

9. The death penalty is wrong, just wrong.

If my child had been blown to bits, maybe I would feel differently, but I don't think so. The killing of another never makes it right.

[WilliamPitt]

10. Up