Manning sentence

Updated to reflect correct gender.

It's depressing. Bradley Chelsea Manning got 35 years, supposedly in Leavenworth, not the most pleasant prison.

Unfortunately, there's no way to get him her out in the near future. Hillary won't offer any hope. She loves authoritarianism. Remember, this is the lady who gave us a flag burning amendment. Thanks, Hillary! And with the Supreme Court leaning right, there's no hope there either.

I think we should start to demand that high schools around the country be renamed "Pfc. Bradley Chelsea Manning HS". And streets, too. Let's name at least three streets after him her each month. Let's also "adopt" stretches of highway in his her name. What we can't do is forget about him Chelsea and let him her languish in that hole.

Probably his her jailers will torment him her, because they have little nit brains. If that happens, I hope he she finds the moxie to say, "You've accomplished nothing in life. I changed the world."

Poor Bradley Chelsea. I'm going to write him her a letter this evening. You should too. (If a new mailing address is assigned to him her, I'll update this post.)

Zinnia Jones on Bradley Manning

I had never been to Zinnia Jones' blog at FTB (FreeThoughtBlogs) until yesterday. This woman can write! (FYI, Zinnia Jones seems to be her blogging name. Her posts use the byline Lauren McNamara. Same person.)

Here's the thing: she had to testify at Bradley Manning's trial. Apparently they had several internet conversations before Manning sent the packet to WikiLeaks. By way of background: she's trans, and we've heard that Manning was moving in that direction. I only mention this because it comes up in her long post about the experience of testifying at Manning's trial. It's great. Grab a cup of coffee and read it. Here's an excerpt:

It’s easy to forget that at the center of all this furor is one person – a person like us, who thinks like us and feels like us and hurts like us. Having seen Manning in that room, I can never forget this. Before, he was just a name to me, one of thousands that have crossed my screen. But Bradley Manning is not, and never will be, just a name.

In that room, I saw a person who was in more trouble than I had ever seen another person be in, someone who had suffered and was still suffering the full wrath of an enraged, unforgiving American government. And that scared me, and I wanted to help him, to do anything I could to get him out of there, and I couldn’t. And that hurts beyond any words.

I'm going to put Zinnia Jones' blog on my list of sites to visit daily. Amazing post.

The Manning verdict is "Obama's defining injustice"

So says Spiegel Online. Here's an excerpt:

By using the Espionage Act to punish Bradley Manning, the Obama administration has shown how far it will go to intimidate leakers. His sentencing is a stain on the president's legacy and on America's global reputation. 

It seems that outside the United States, people see Manning's brave act as the whistleblowing that it certainly was. It would be great if Americans could see things as clearly. But that would require an honest, vigilant media -- something we lack entirely.

Support Bradley Manning

Apparently we can write letters to Bradley Manning. Something tells me he might need a cheerful letter or two right about now. I'm definitely going to write him many letters of support. I found the following information on a web site. Here's the address:

Commander, HHC USAG
Attn: PFC Bradley Manning
239 Sheridan Ave, Bldg 417
JBM-HH, VA 22211

I was surprised to find this information so easily. I just googled "how to write to Bradley Manning". It seems we could have been writing him all this time. Drat. But now I'll make up for lost time. I hope you will, too.

The news plays differently outside US borders

You don't see many American stories that portray Bradley Manning as a hero. But just look outside our borders and it's a different story. Here's an excerpt from an article at Asia Times Online:

Bradley Manning, WikiLeaks' source inside the US Army, has done more to make Americans safer than the Navy SEAL unit that assassinated Osama bin Laden. As his trial proceeds to its foregone conclusion, the greatest threat to the United States is not terrorism but secrecy and the clueless foreign policy that Manning helped expose.

A bit different from what you read in the US, eh? Bradley Manning is a hero, whether Americans realize it or not. And that's truth, so help me dog.

Truth not allowed at Manning trial

Pfc. Bradley Manning's court-martial over the leak of hundreds of thousands of classified documents has been all about secrecy and security, and his trial has taken on a cloak and dagger feel, too.  

It's also taken on the feel of a clown-car.

Manning supporters wearing "truth" T-shirts had to turn them inside out before entering the courtroom. The shirts were made by the Bradley Manning Support Network in early 2012 as an alternative to "Free Bradley Manning" T-shirts banned from early pretrial hearings, spokesman Nathan Fuller said. 

Apparently realizing how stupid the court looked for taking this action, they allowed supporters to wear the shirts the following day. But truth was definitely banned the first day of the trial. And I suspect "truth", the concept, will never be allowed into the courtroom.

Asked about this snafu, "Army spokeswoman Col. Michelle Roberts said the earlier decision made 'out of a concern for public safety'..." Indeed. The public has to be protected from truth. It might set them free.

The military/government officials even insisted that news reporters sign a statement wherein they promised not to reveal the names of "spokespeople". For two days, they signed it but on the third day, an AP photographer and reporter rebelled and crossed that section out -- and were allowed into the trial. 

Jeebus. Is this Putin's trial against Pussy Riot or is it an American courtroom proceeding against a soldier? It's hard to tell. Admittedly, military courts are not civilian courts. But this style of intense overkill has been part of the government's vendetta against Manning from the outset. And let us recall that the UN "torture chief" called Manning's treatment torture.

This is a trial like no other.

The depressing trial of Bradley Manning

I can hardly read the news about Pfc. Manning's trial. He's the American hero who alerted the world to the illegal acts the United States engaged in while pursuing its extra-legal, pre-emptive wars. They'll name a high school after him one day. But for now, the show goes on.

Julian Assange nailed it:

"This is not justice; never could this be justice," Assange said in a statement Monday. "The verdict was ordained long ago. Its function is not to determine questions such as guilt or innocence, or truth or falsehood. It is a public relations exercise, designed to provide the government with an alibi for posterity." 

It's a sickening charade. One day I hope to be able to write Manning a letter of praise. But for now, the KGB U.S. government won't let anything get through to him. It's another example of torture by Americans. By blocking communication with the outside world, the US is putting blinders on Manning's eyes -- lest he realize that he has a legion of supporters. Their goal is to make him feel very alone.

After the show trial and the inevitable verdict, they'll undoubtedly persecute him for the entire span of his imprisonment, which will probably be a life sentence. He's going to need all our letters of praise just to get through it.

Pvt. Manning's trial a primer on secrecy

The government's treatment of Bradley Manning, the man who passed its secrets to Wikileaks, has been appalling since day one. His trial continues this tradition.

“I am very sympathetic, as any reasonable person would be, to the fact that there are issues in a military court that should be kept secret, but that is not what we are talking about here,” Mr. Pilkington said. “This is kindergarten stuff, with restrictions on very basic documents like dockets and orders.” 

Reporters can't report on the trial because of all the insane restrictions. For instance, the judge will read a long document aloud in a very speedy manner -- and then won't issue the document to the reporters. But it's public, it was read aloud in court. Doesn't matter. They're doing everything they can to make this trial difficult to cover.

Remember when Obama said his administration would be the most transparent in history? Yeah, transparent like Putin's government. Obama has carried forward the worst aspects of the Bush administration. Never forget this.

Uh, wait a minute...

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — A U.S. law firm hired by the Ukrainian government has concluded that the trial of former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko was rife with problems including violating her right to defense and unfairly imprisoning her before she was convicted. 

You mean, like the US imprisoned Bradley Manning though he was neither convicted nor charged with a crime? Like that?

(I'm also greatly amused when the US issues sanctions against other countries because of human rights violations. Hypocrisy, thy name is United States.)

July 4th reading

Glenn Greenwald has an excellent article up today about Pfc. Bradley Manning. On this day, we should celebrate those who risk all for freedom. On this day, we should celebrate Bradley Manning, a true hero in the most American sense of the term.

Wikileaks speaks

This morning I had an hourlong video-chat with Julian Assange. The news is grim. Doctor Vito is indeed imprisoned -- and you won't believe the route his imprisonment has taken. Read on if you think you can stomach the news.

More Bradley Manning

If you care about whether the United States is an ethical, law-abiding entity, read Glenn Greenwald's post today about the torture of Pfc. Bradley Manning, a man convicted of no crime but held in solitary confinement for the past seven months. Click Greenwald's name above to get there.

Don't get fooled

While everyone is cheering the president's signing of the repeal of DADT today (you know, the bill he never fought for), we remain a filthy, craven country.

Digby today reports that they are waking Pfc. Bradley Manning every five minutes while he's in isolation, although he has been charged with no crime, and certainly hasn't been convicted of any crime.

They're using sleep deprivation (torture) to get him to lie and turn on Julian Assange. (I can't link to the post directly since Digby doesn't separate her posts for direct linking. Click here to visit Digby's site.)

This is no longer my country. No matter how much lipstick they put on the pig (DADT repeal, for instance), the United States is a terroristic, torturing nation that pays no attention its own Constitution. I could not be more ashamed of our country.

Oh, look, there goes a drone on its mission to kill another innocent Afghan family!