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If Obama had any balls or integrity, he'd pardon Brandley Manning

By Dan8267   Follow   Sat, 28 Apr 2012, 3:38pm   956 views   15 comments
In Boca Raton FL 33433   Watch (0)   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike  

and put a stop to this monkey trial.

http://www.alternet.org/rights/155136/bradley_manning%3A_a_totalitarian_show_trial_of_state_secrecy

Bradley Manning is a modern day George Washington, fighting to preserve our liberty against tyranny. It is utterly despicable how our country has treated him. So much for support our troops.

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1. iwog Follow Befriend (48) 273 threads 12,475 comments 47 male Lafayette, CA Premium

   1   3:52pm Sat 28 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Remember this is 2007, not 2003 or 2005.

2. Kevin Follow Befriend 40 threads 2,652 comments

   2   11:54pm Sat 28 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Dan8267 says and put a stop to this monkey trial. http://www.alternet.org/rights/155136/bradley_manning%3A_a_totalitarian_show_trial_of_state_secrecy Bradley Manning is a modern day George Washington, fighting to preserve our liberty against tyranny. It is utterly despicable how our country has treated him. So much for support our troops. Oh please. Have you actually read anything that Mr. Manning leaked? 90% of it is meaningless bullshit. There weren't any smoking guns or tales of vile misdeeds in the lot. I'm completely in favor of whistleblowing, but that doesn't mean that everything that a government does needs to be out in the public. Would you prefer that we publish every military strategy, details of every criminal investigation, and everything every political leader says behind closed doors in real time? If not, you clearly support some level of government secrecy. If so, you're an idiot. Comparing Manning to Washington is the second most ridiculous thing I've read today.

3. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 761 threads 7,677 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

   3   2:44am Sun 29 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Kevin says Oh please. Have you actually read anything that Mr. Manning leaked? 90% of it is meaningless bullshit. Releasing meaningless bullshit certainly does not constitute treason. Furthermore, have you seen the helicopter video. That was hardly meaningless bullshit. The people of the United States have every right to know what their government is doing. The government has no right to privacy. And the greatest threat to national security is secrecy in the government.

4. Kevin Follow Befriend 40 threads 2,652 comments

   4   4:13pm Sun 29 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Dan8267 says Releasing meaningless bullshit certainly does not constitute treason. Depends on what it is. If it aids "enemies", then it's treason by definition. Dan8267 says Furthermore, have you seen the helicopter video. That was hardly meaningless bullshit. Yeah, I've seen it. I'm glad that it came to light, but it didn't really change anything either. Bad soldiers misbehaving is hardly a new problem or unique in this case. Dan8267 says The people of the United States have every right to know what their government is doing. No, we don't. We have the right to: - Vote out people who aren't doing what we want - Find out what happened after the fact (FOIA and the like) We do not have the "right" to know military strategy, details of foreign policy plans, or private communication. Like I said: "Would you prefer that we publish every military strategy, details of every criminal investigation, and everything every political leader says behind closed doors in real time? If not, you clearly support some level of government secrecy." Good luck trying to run a country if you tried to do any of those things. You wouldn't survive a week.

5. david1 Follow Befriend (2) 8 threads 755 comments 33 male Fort Mill, SC

   5   4:41pm Sun 29 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Reminds of the South Park episode. "He's coming right for us!" I am embarrassed and ashamed that people wear our flag and behave in this manner. I don't know what happened to the solders responsible. Where they court-martial ed? If not, I am even more embarrassed.

6. CaptainShuddup Follow Befriend (1) 246 threads 4,668 comments

   6   5:35pm Sun 29 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike (2)   Kevin says I'm completely in favor of whistleblowing, but that doesn't mean that everything that a government does needs to be out in the public. Would you prefer that we publish every military strategy, details of every criminal investigation, and everything every political leader says behind closed doors in real time? If not, you clearly support some level of government secrecy. If so, you're an idiot. No but I'd be happy with a stuffed bust of Bin Laden if we can't have photos and a proper postmortem autopsy. .

7. iwog Follow Befriend (48) 273 threads 12,475 comments 47 male Lafayette, CA Premium

   7   10:00pm Sun 29 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   CaptainShuddup says No but I'd be happy with a stuffed bust of Bin Laden if we can't have photos and a proper postmortem autopsy. . Because Bin Laden wasn't really killed right?

8. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 761 threads 7,677 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

   8   11:24pm Sun 29 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Kevin says Dan8267 says Releasing meaningless bullshit certainly does not constitute treason. Depends on what it is. If it aids "enemies", then it's treason by definition. If the truth aids the enemies of our government, then our government is our enemy. For no government that destroys truth is a friend of liberty, democracy, or freedom.

9. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 761 threads 7,677 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

   9   11:25pm Sun 29 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Kevin says Yeah, I've seen it. I'm glad that it came to light, but it didn't really change anything either. Bad soldiers misbehaving is hardly a new problem or unique in this case. I doubt that would be your attitude had the soldiers been firing on your children.

10. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 761 threads 7,677 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    10   11:28pm Sun 29 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Kevin says Dan8267 says The people of the United States have every right to know what their government is doing. No, we don't. Transparency is the cornerstone of democracy. Without it, there can be no democracy of any meaningful type. Furthermore, both the First Amendment and the Freedom of Information Act gives us the right to know and publish evidence of government wrongdoing as a means of addressing grievances. To deny this is to deny the very foundation of America. Quite frankly, without transparency and accountability, we'd have been better off if America lost the Revolutionary War.

11. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 761 threads 7,677 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    11   11:31pm Sun 29 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   iwog says Because Bin Laden wasn't really killed right? The killing of Bid Laden only served to prove that America is not a nation of laws. He should have been brought to NYC to stand trial. Instead our government decided to show how weak and pathetic our country is. A strong country would have upheld its legal principles and try the terrorist in an open, fair court. Now that would have shown courage and integrity. But once again, our government wets itself like a coward instead of doing the right thing.

12. Kevin Follow Befriend 40 threads 2,652 comments

    12   12:36am Mon 30 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Dan8267 says Kevin says Yeah, I've seen it. I'm glad that it came to light, but it didn't really change anything either. Bad soldiers misbehaving is hardly a new problem or unique in this case. I doubt that would be your attitude had the soldiers been firing on your children. If soldiers were firing on american children, things would be very different, yes. Soldiers behaving badly in a warzone is simply shitty reality. War is fucked up. It's not the same thing at all, though. Dan8267 says Transparency is the cornerstone of democracy. Without it, there can be no democracy of any meaningful type. Furthermore, both the First Amendment and the Freedom of Information Act gives us the right to know and publish evidence of government wrongdoing as a means of addressing grievances. To deny this is to deny the very foundation of America. Quite frankly, without transparency and accountability, we'd have been better off if America lost the Revolutionary War. *WRONGDOING*, yes. Diplomats saying snarky things about foreign leaders, military plans, government policies, no. There is absolutely a need for governmental secrecy around these matters. As I said, 90% of what manning leaked was meaningless bullshit. There are a few nuggets in there that were leak-worthy, but comparing the man to George Washington? Really? Dan8267 says iwog says Because Bin Laden wasn't really killed right? The killing of Bid Laden only served to prove that America is not a nation of laws. He should have been brought to NYC to stand trial. Instead our government decided to show how weak and pathetic our country is. A strong country would have upheld its legal principles and try the terrorist in an open, fair court. Now that would have shown courage and integrity. But once again, our government wets itself like a coward instead of doing the right thing. I have absolutely no problem with the government killing people who have declared war on us. War is not the same thing as a criminal trial. There's plenty of shady stuff to be concerned about (just about everyone in gitmo, for instance), but bin Laden was pretty cut and dry. If we'd been able to take bin Laden alive, a Nuremberg style show trial (what else could it possibly be?) might have been useful, or it could have turned into a rallying cry for other extremists. I'm doubtful he would have been taken alive in any case.

13. FortWayne Follow Befriend (13) 102 threads 3,759 comments

    13   7:50am Mon 30 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Why doesn't everyone write to the President, they have a convenient way to send a message through the website. Politicians don't do much on election year unless it will guarantee them votes.

14. Dan8267 Follow Befriend (16) 761 threads 7,677 comments Boca Raton, FL Premium

    14   2:14pm Mon 30 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   FortWayne says Why doesn't everyone write to the President, they have a convenient way to send a message through the website. Amnesty International has written many letters by many people to both Obama and his predecessor Bush. They don't listen. It's really sad that America receives so many letters from Amnesty International. I was a part of that organization in high school, and we used to write letters to governments that we considered pretty low on the ethics totem pole, the type of government that was shameful. In high school, I would never had thought that America would be one of those countries.

15. Kevin Follow Befriend 40 threads 2,652 comments

    15   10:58pm Mon 30 Apr 2012   Share   Quote   Permalink   Like   Dislike   Writing letters is probably about as effective as an online petition.