Keller @ Large: Tsarnaev Spin Strategy Pathetic
BOSTON (CBS) - Could there be anything more pathetic than the picture of the Tsarnaev sentencing defense strategy being painted by WBZ's Jim Armstrong, Carl Stevens, Lana Jones and other expert observers in the courtroom?
I feel bad for the weepy family members and former teachers of the convicted mass murderer. They are understandably stunned by the heartless, calculating savage he became, recalling only the cute kid they knew many years ago.
Their tears are sincere, I'm sure.
But they are also irrelevant.
Their gauzy memories are not a factor the jurors should reasonably consider as they choose between death and life in prison for the killer.
That decision is supposed to be about justice. And while reasonable people can and do disagree about which sentence is most just, the statement that he wasn't a killer as a child is – or at least should be – immaterial.
We knew the defense would try this desperate distraction from the truth of what occurred. But I didn't think they'd stoop so low as to invite testimony that the killer liked someone's pet – and the pet, allegedly, liked him.
As Jim Armstrong wrote in a tweet Monday: "[defense attorney] Miriam Conrad went out of her way to ask if her client & his friend's dog got along well."
This reminds us of another young man who loved animals, who became a staunch advocate for animal rights. Like our current subject, he was well-liked by his teachers, and despite a rocky family life, was a popular kid in school, according to one biographer, who "became the center of his group of friends and would often be the one leading them in games."
Those were some of the more sympathetic details of the life of Adolf Hitler.
Too bad for Adolf he didn't have Miriam Conrad around to spin for him.
Listen to Jon's commentary:
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.