TPM
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison for giving hundreds of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in one of the nation’s biggest leak cases since the Pentagon Papers more than a generation ago.
Flanked by his lawyers, Manning, 25, stood at attention and appeared not to react when military judge Col. Denise Lind announced the punishment during a brief hearing. Among the spectators, there was a gasp, and one woman put her hands up, covering her face.
“I’m shocked. I did not think she would do that,” said Manning supporter Jim Holland, of San Diego. “Thirty-five years, my Lord.”
The former intelligence analyst was found guilty last month of 20 crimes, including six violations of the Espionage Act, as part of the Obama administration’s unprecedented crackdown on media leaks.
Can we expect to see some Obama hatred from you, Mikeb? After all, the Dear Messiah isn't living up to his halo.
ReplyDeleteObama should pardon Manning, no question about it.
DeleteThis is one of our points of agreement, perhaps. I see a government that is out of control with military adventurism and secret programs. Manning is a whistleblower.
DeleteBut here's the thing: Why do you trust that a government that does what you're showing us here will be reliable when it comes to guns in private hands?
"35 years in prison for giving hundreds of thousands of secret military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks in one of the nation’s biggest leak cases since the Pentagon Papers more than a generation ago."
ReplyDeleteIf you use a default of 100,000 documents, he is serving about two and a half hours per document.
Is that supposed to be a joke?
DeleteI figure he's being excessively punished for those few documents that highlighted the murder of civilians and made the US look bad.
I am not defending what our government has done in the Middle East. I do think we need to keep in mind one fact, though: Pfc. Manning broke the law. Ours is supposed to be a country in which the Rule of Law obtains. That some of our laws seem foolish or arbitrary can hardly be argued, but our system allows for such laws to be changed in a legal manner. Giving the government the finger does no good for any cause. Just so we're clear, that's really saying something when it comes from me ;)
ReplyDeleteMoonshine
I agree, but anything more than time served is too much.
DeleteMoonshine,
DeleteWhat about when the government is doing something illegal, or something that they've legalized but is completely immoral--say utilizing some of their powers under the Patriot Act and NDAA and were quietly rounding up "terrorism suspects" around the country and stashing them at Gitmo. Would you not want someone to shout about this from the rooftops, even if that meant breaking the law?
Even if you don't agree that the government action rose to the level to justify Manning's actions here, it might be worth reevaluating and determining, on a case by case basis, whether the breaking of the law is justified when the abuses reach a certain level and the system has been set up so that no legal redress is possible.