Guantanamo and John Grisham

"Whereas economic power helped eventually to win World War II, the war against terrorism will finally only be won by economic justice. There is nothing metaphysical about terrorism. It springs from specific historical causes--political oppression and economic deprivation. Until these injustices and our complicity in their furtherance are faced, our escalating counter violence will predictably result in more and more terrorists attacking more and more American institutions at home and abroad."
   --William Sloane Coffin, in Credo

John Grisham is a hero of mine. A hero because he can write like he can write. A hero because, unlike most popular novelists, he has taken on some hard projects: capital punishment poverty and injustice in the legal system and other issues. A hero because though he has made millions he has given generously to good causes. In his latest article in The New York Times he aims his gun toward Guantanamo. His books have been banned there. Strange, isn’t it. John Grisham? But his article is about the injustice that we just keep repeating in Guantanamo. We have yet to prove that many of those still incarcerated are really guilty. President Obama promised in his first term to close this terrible place. Caught by many things and many issues—the Prison which does not represent even the worst of what we are as a country—the President has not been able to keep his promise. But our President still has two years to make good on what he said. Read Grisham’s article—it will move you and nudge you to remember that terrible place that we don’t think of very often. The men still locked in cages know all too well. Their families who have not seen or heard of them in ten-eleven years have not forgotten.  Neither should we.