Prior to an initial court appearance from his hospital bed, Boston bombing suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev was finally read his Miranda rights, after already having provided possibly self-incriminating, information to federal officials.
The situation with Tsarnaev and the decision not to initially read him his Miranda rights when he was first arrested highlights the fact that we, as a nation, are on the edge of national hysteria.
Today, some are still suggesting that we have to “balance” our Constitutional rights with security, and that it was a good thing we did so by not initially telling Dzohkar Tsarnaev of his Fifth Amendment rights.
As Ben Franklin so famously asserted, if we’re going to go down the road of compromising our rights for security, we’ll deserve, and almost certainly end up, with neither.
Our Fifth Amendment rights are among our most important, because they protect us from abuse of and by the one, single institution that we have empowered to imprison and even kill us: our government.
The government of the United States is an extraordinary and precious thing, from its beginning as a noble experiment in freedom and democracy to today.
Buy, like all governments, with the power to grant life and death, it needs clear constraints.
Committing horrible crimes, even acts of terror, is wrong.
It’s brutal and horrible and criminal.
This is why it’s so very, very important that we hold ourselves to the highest standards possible in prosecuting such criminals.
The Bush Administration took us in some very, very wrong directions
One of the biggest, besides lying us into war, was to begin tearing apart these very constitutional rights, particularly those relating to the Fourth and Fifth Amendments which protect us from the most egregious abuses of government.
Now we have an opportunity to right that wrong, to put ourselves back on the side of the patriots who founded this country and all those who have fought and died to keep it a free democratic republic ever since.
It’s time to acknowledge the mistake in not reading this young man his Miranda rights as soon as was possible, and reverse this loophole that was never even voted on by us or our representatives.
But even more important, it’s time to stop carving holes in our Constitutional rights that protect us from unreasonable searches, seizures and arrests, and, instead, begin strengthening them.
America should again become a shining beacon of liberty to the world.
And that begins with repudiating the abuses of the Bush years and holding close to our founding principles.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment. We’re presently working to find 1500 new monthly donors to Truthout before the end of the year.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
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