Bradley Manning is a sort of Forgotten Man. At 23 years old he is holed up in a U.S. military prison, uncharged so far, and treated abominably by the government he once chose to serve as a soldier. If he had asked me (I once chose to serve, in WWII, as a sailor) I'd have advised him to avoid military service as he would avoid the plague. At best it's deadly, and it certainly is if you have ideas about bucking the system.
I do not know if Manning leaked the documents to Wikileaks that evidently the govt. thinks he did. Assange won't say, as he shouldn't. And Assange is in enough trouble of his own anyway.
Manning, at 23 (God, that seems young to me with my 87 years) is being tortured in prison in various effective ways, and his lawyer thinks he is breaking down into catatonia.
If this young man is wrecked, as seems likely, I mean permanently reduced to a near-thing, it can be laid directly on Pres. Obama's doorstep. I daresay Obama thinks he has bigger things to worry about than some nobody airforce sergeant.
But Obama, who is coming to seem to me the Super Hypocrite of the Age, is quoted in the press as having said during his 2008 campaign:
"Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy, and must be protected from reprisal."
What a lovely sentiment. Too bad he didn't mean it and apparently can't recall it. And Bradley Manning is meanwhile expected to care about our government?
I'll keep this in mind in 2012. I hope Manning makes it whole to the same date.
I do not know if Manning leaked the documents to Wikileaks that evidently the govt. thinks he did. Assange won't say, as he shouldn't. And Assange is in enough trouble of his own anyway.
Manning, at 23 (God, that seems young to me with my 87 years) is being tortured in prison in various effective ways, and his lawyer thinks he is breaking down into catatonia.
If this young man is wrecked, as seems likely, I mean permanently reduced to a near-thing, it can be laid directly on Pres. Obama's doorstep. I daresay Obama thinks he has bigger things to worry about than some nobody airforce sergeant.
But Obama, who is coming to seem to me the Super Hypocrite of the Age, is quoted in the press as having said during his 2008 campaign:
"Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy, and must be protected from reprisal."
What a lovely sentiment. Too bad he didn't mean it and apparently can't recall it. And Bradley Manning is meanwhile expected to care about our government?
I'll keep this in mind in 2012. I hope Manning makes it whole to the same date.
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