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Losing Aaron
theodp writes "It's said that you can't fully understand someone until you meet their family. In Janelle Nanos's 'Losing Aaron,' you'll meet Bob Swartz, father of the late Aaron Swartz and adviser to MIT's Media Lab, and get a better understanding of how Aaron's family helped plant the seeds of his idealism. You'll also, sadly, see how MIT — the institution which Bob Swartz long felt stood for compassion and creativity, challenging authority, and pure scientific inquiry — took a self-described stance of 'neutrality' in the aggressive prosecution of his son that ended with Aaron's senseless death last January. 'Clearly I failed,' a tortured Bob Swartz acknowledges. 'There's no question, my son is dead. On the other hand, do I feel that I didn't try hard enough? Yes. Do I feel guilt about not trying hard enough? No. If you understand the distinction I'm trying to make. Could I have done more? Of course I could have done more. Because you can always do more. Did I put everything in that I possibly could? Did I work as hard pretty much as I knew how? Yes. Do I wish I did more? Yes. But I don't go home at night and say, "Well, you didn't care." Because I did. I cared about it more than anything else. And I don't go home at night and say, "I didn't try." Because I tried. Everything I could figure out. But I failed.'"
I think you are whitewashing the prosecutor. He demanded something like 25 years.
I am sure you can explain to us why it was Jesus' own fault to be nailed to a cross. He should have known that he should not tip over the tables of moneychangers.
Exactly the same with this guy. And Bradley Manning.
We are living in a world of corrupt ethics, our world is propelled by the dark fire of wickedness and lies.
Cheers.
Meanwhile, if you have money or power, you are only charged under the laws that absolutely apply and only if they absolutely have proof you did it and are fully at fault. We wind up with corporations, governments, and the wealthy doing incredibly immoral things that obviously should be illegal but are not "technically" illegal or it's just too difficult to prove that they did it, so no prosecutor wants to take it on.
Oh give me a break. Aaron Swartz was a child of privilege, like Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg, not just upper middle class but upper class. He attended private schools, his college degree was from Stanford, he was a fellow at a lab at Harvard where he was mentored by Larry Lessig. He had influential friends all over as a result of Reddit and his RDF work.
Don't play the "two systems of justice in America" card on Swartz's behalf.