The conscience of a nation,……..in prison.

This statement is odd. 2/3rds of the statement is about his collegues and captors.

Classy. So much more so than his captors.

I don’t find it odd. That’s the kind of thing somebody who selflessly gives his/her freedom away in order to spotlight criminal behavior would say.

I was just about to ask you what you thought, because it sounds a bit Stockholm-ish to me. Perhaps I’m reading way into it with all the posts about his treatment lately. If it was me, the statement would be different. *heh*

wow. Greenwald really is our Murrow – and this is one helluva Harvest of Shame

thank you Jane Hamsher and Firedoglake . . . leading the gd way, again !!!

Mornin’ All

although I concur with Ms Peggy upthread, it also wont hurt his defense – well, if he’s ever allowed a defense

I don’t really find it Stockholmish. He surely wouldn’t have said it if he was being held by the Taliban, that would be weird. It indicates to me that his jailers are being as gentle with him as their orders allow. You gotta realize that in a place like Quantico, unlike Iraq, the soldiers doing guard duty have zero input in the treatment of prisoners. He’s thinking of his fellow service members who, like him, won’t be home for xmas this year. That’s my .02 anyway.

It is the kind of thing that Pema Chodron, author of Practicing Peace in Time of War would recommend.

He knows he’s in a huge sick game and his fellow pawns deserve blame the least.

I’m thinking it might mean that the people at Quantico that are just “following orders” are possibly sympathetic to him.

Yeah, and his treatment might be *that much* better with such a generous statement.

Reading that Manning’s mental and physical states are in decline certainly color my reading of the statement.

Sounds to me like the kid’s gotta big heart. If it were a Stockholm Syndrome thing, he’d be recanting and sqealing.
Adding my signature.

I’ve been driving David House to Quantico, and although I can’t visit Bradley, I can say that the guards at the brig have been very courteous and that Bradley never wants to cause trouble for them. David says he has always expressed concern that they not be blamed for whatever is happening. The action letter is addressed to the brig commander simply because lifting the POI is something he has the discretion to do, and not because Bradley believes he’s the villain in the situation.

I think it may be how he stays sane. Constant anger motivates over the short run, but can kill over the long run.

How long would it take one person to download 250,000+ documents and not get noticed?

I agree and they probably relate to him more than the superiors who make the rules.

I, of course don’t have even that level of access but I agree. His jailers should be distinguished from his captors.

Indeed. Caring for others would keep him hopeful and strong. No point in creating a prison inside the prison. Sometimes we only have control of how we deal with a situation.
PS, hiya PW.

What are you getting at? You think someone knew he was doing that and let him think he was getting away with it?

Maybe so. The chat logs mention an inability of the soldier to do much of conscience beyond just following orders.

It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that this was another “sting” and he only downloaded what they wanted released, without letting people know they wanted it released. I have no evidence of that. Just idle speculation.

If his lawyer is any good at all, then he would’ve drafted the letter even if Bradley didn’t.

Not taking anything away from Bradley, just saying this is the kind of thing a good lawyer keeps on top of. This case is so public, all the positive PR you can get is good.

So I hope his lawyer IS good. Cause he’s gonna need a good one. I’m thinking he could have the ultimate Dream Team(TM) and he’s got very little chance.

This country is so far gone down the rabbit hole now there really may be no saving it.

Gotta keep trying though.

But, that would be aiding and abetting a crime, wouldn’t it? Say it ain’t so. I’ve read others who speculated the same thing which is why I asked LS what she thought. Thanks for your imput too.

No, I just find it odd that one person in such a position as he was in could do that. I consider him innocent until proven guilty, and I think he “might” have been set-up somehow. I really want to know how long it would take…that’s a lot of documents to download and then get it to WL…just sayin’. And, I’m suspicious about the whole WL thing in general, because of all of the Iran stuff..mixed in with a bunch of innocuous crappola. Reminds me of Judy drumming up war via NYT with BS…

Ask Nixon to define a crime. He would have told you it’s not a crime when he (the person in charge) does it.

I’ve been driving David House to Quantico

For your sake, I sure hope Route 1 has improved since the last time I was on that parking lot road.

And, the little guy(s) go to prison. Speaking of prison, have you heard anything about Delay? Is his sentencing happening soon after the first of the year?

I’m saying…he could be a patsy…a means to an end, etc. I also think he is in great danger.

Bingo.

I’ve been driving David House to Quantico

Why does that not surprise me. Living what you believe. Doesn’t get any better than that.

Bravo Zulu.

Dunno anything about it. I can’t wait to see him behind bars though. Maybe they’ll make him the cell block exterminator.

Si, and a way to continue the divisiveness inside and outside…keep ‘em all jumping, running and worried. Eggzalent.

It was a great road when I lived near it in the 50s and early 60s. My old high school, Mt Vernon HS, fronted it with a state trooper sub-station and coffee-donut shop across the highway. Fun times.

I just hope they keep Bug Boy away from the younger inmates. Put him in with the hungry old ones.

To what end? Peace

Maybe there are some Dancin’ With the Stars fans inside that would like to know him better…

How long would it take one person to download 250,000+ documents and not get noticed?

It took much longer for Daniel Ellsberg to photocopy several thousand pages of the Pentagon Papers. So depending on the connection, the time for several hundred thousand or three million government digital documents, might be half a day.

Of course, if two people know a secret, that is one person too many to genuinely keep it secret. It is ridiculous to have any classified information available on an open internet. That is, it is ridiculous to have three million people with access to these, and expect to keep these documents secret.

It is FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE by a government of torturers and psychopaths and war profiteers. STOP THE TORTURE OF BRADLEY MANNING!

Possibly to help discredit Wikileaks as criminal right before the leaks on BoA are released…???

Oh, yeah. And, he won’t be able to shout for security this time. Prissy creep.

LOL

I take it you’re no Delay fan?

Me either.

He’s a true asshole.

I have no idea what happened or what Manning’s role with regard to the leaks was (if any). I’ve been going through the timeline, however, and the whole story stinks. I made a lot of additions to it last night:

http://firedoglake.com/bradley-manning-wikileaks-timeline/

Lamo claims he was “feeding misinformation to Manning for the FBI.” He contradicts himself over and over again. Says the person he went to for help, his “ex,” just “happened to work for Army counterintelligence.”

Whole story is a mess. I don’t know what DID happen, but I can say with a fair degree of certainty it DIDN’T happen the way Adrian Lamo is likely to tell it on any given day. He’s got so many different stories they could never put him on a witness stand, he’d be ripped to shreds.

For example, take a look at the previous post regarding Iran/Afghanistan…sort of as if the softening up the public is going on again…some PTB are itching to find a reason to pull the trigger on Iran, but they need sympathetic public opinion…afterall, that nasty WL leaker leaked stuff about that nasty Iran..that sort of thing…JMHO

You got that right. What are you up to today? I’m going to make peanut butter cookies later. Also, I agree with your comment above about his lawyer. :)

Hi demmers!

Thank you for your input on this, Jane. And, speaking of cookies, you sure attract a lot of smart ones to your site. Happy whatever you celebrate, Ms.

Maybe I don’t disagree?? But that seems like going the long way ’round don’t you think? Unless we assume that Manning is actually a CIA mole out to discredit the Obama administration? Peace

I’m waiting on my super duper state o’ the art puter to arrive via UPS today!

Couldn’t believe when I got the tracking info on Monday that it was scheduled for delivery on DEC 24TH!! Can’t imagine why, but somebody up there likes me!

Nothing planned after….

And I love peanut butter cookies…

*g*

The image I’m getting of Lamo is that of the sort of utterly mercenary guy the DEA often uses as a paid informant. Not particularly reliable or stable, but will tell his handlers whatever he thinks they most want to hear — or will result in a bigger payoff for him — at that particular moment.

Badabing

BTW you were awesome on the teevee last night…super concise.

Good for you. Mine never showed up. First they got the address wrong, then the bar scanner was messed up and then something else fubared happened. Last night we found out that they gave up and shipped it back to my daughter in DC, without even calling her. Problem is, she’s not in DC, she’s here. Oh, man. But at least it’s not MIA.

One thing the federal government has never done well is cover stories. That cuts across party and ideological lines. They don’t know how to make fiction sound like not bullshit.

IMHO, nobody in the political or military class (oligarchy) will ever go to war with Iran directly. America would lose and lose badly. What the oligarchy wants to do is to collapse Iran from within. Nothing that Manning supposedly did advanced that cause one iota. Frankly, the leaked cables showing Fatah playing ball with the Israelis to bring Hamas down was one of the most important revelations in this entire paper dump. Perhaps this whole matter was directed at the destruction of Fatah and Hamas in favor of Israel? Maybe Mannning is a Mossad agent? Peace

Yes. She. Was.

But she has to keep appearing on the Larry O’Donnel show???

Well, I’ll start watching but like I said in another thread, if she starts appearing on Fox News she’s on her own.

Jon Walker has a fresh cross-post up: The Great Success of Partisan “Overreach”

Yeah, like the magic bullet theory and finding Atta’s unscathed passport right after the plane was vaporized. Today, they’re trying to make us afraid of thermoses on the teevee. You can’t make this shit up. Bugga f’ing bugga.

Hey now. Not trying to deify the Hamsher, but even Jesus hung out with whores. Know what I mean?

Mossad agent? Nah.

Actually…appearing on Faux would be perfect…the only way to reach the uninformed.

But comparing Fox News to whores is unfair to whores..

Probably true, but I can’t watch more than 60 seconds of that network without my head hurting. Badly.

Yep, that was kinda my point. Great minds and all that.

LOL

Sawree to the ho’s.

This country sucks. When is everyone going to stop pretending?

You find that premise to be far fetched? Why? Peace

The thermos thing got a good gaffaw this morning. Who writes that stuff? Plastic and duct tape…

I listened to Michael Whitney describe the torturous conditions that Bradley Manning exists under on Laura Flanders.

If there were any justice in the world, Bush, Cheney, and Obama and the rest of the war criminals would be living in solitary, while Bradley Manning occupies the White House and ends this nation building idiocy.
If only.

Ya’ pays your money and ya’ takes your chances. Peace

After reading the article about just how misinformed Fox viewers are, I wondered: Could we ‘lefties’ print anti-Fox bumper stickers that read: “FOX–The more you watch, the less you know.” (I’m sure there are better slogans than this . . . but perhaps it’s a polite way to inform Fox viewers of the perils they face.

You can’t make this shit up. Bugga f’ing bugga.

LMAO! Neither can they!

I don’t find the premise regarding Hamas, etc., to be far-fetched at all. I think that Manning is a probably a patsy…for somebody..but I don’t think he is a Mossad “agent”..just doesn’t ring true to me..but what do I know anyway?

Maybe he had an ungodly stiffie…

Why bother? Fox watchers can barely spell FOX–let alone read a bumper sticker.

Better to “infiltrate”..heh

She has been on Fox.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/jane-hamshers-fox-friends-appearance-causes-firedogstorm/

HAH!!!!

Santa Claus just arrived!!!

Got my new super duper state ‘o teh art puter!!!

Now the unpacking and set up!

See you good folks later.

Stay safe, be well, AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Congratulations! Woohoo! :)

Well, Jingle Bells! Enjoy, OFG.

Speaking of Fox…they did an outstanding job of covering Sarah’s trip to Haiti, as far as showing what’s going on down there. One thing about Palin…she knows how to use the teevee..except when she kills innocent animals that is..Too bad Barry didn’t take such a trip but then I guess he doesn’t like associating with the poor people down there; whereas, footage of Palin holding a very sick, starving baby was pretty damn poignant. It was Greta’s show…I accidentally came across it while flipping channels. Glad I did.

Jingle Bells! Jingle Bells!

NORAD IS TRACKING SANTA!

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html

The university of Maryland took a grant from Soros and conducted the poll. If you think Soros is not biased, think again. Manning broke an oath and is paying the price. He may be executed.

The reichwing parrot speaks.

How do you know he broke an oath?

So did Cheney. Should we apply the same standard?

There’s been a troll swarm in the last few days with the same talking points.

Bradley is a mensch and a half for thinking of others on this Christmas, including his prison guards. I salute him and will be thinking of him throughout the season.

Tell me about it. Tiresome bunch. All hat and no cattle.

I think many folks in the military branch are suffering similarly as those in the civilian agencies as demonstrated by this incredibly embarrassing incident in Austin upon the arrival of Indian’s UN envoy Hardeep Puri who is a Sikh (excerpt’s link: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/12/13/sikh-profiling ):

The Indian official said Singh offered to touch the turban himself and to allow the security agents to run a check of his hands for traces of explosives, but he said that one security official refused. Singh insisted that the security official had no right to check his turban, citing TSA regulations for searches of foreign diplomats. “Obviously you don’t know your own rules. Please check your rules,” he told the security agent, according to the Indian official. “The person insisted that he had to do it. He said, ‘Don’t tell me the rules.’”

The Indian official said that the security officials finally checked the security regulations and issued an apology to the Indian ambassador. He said he was unaware of whether his government had filed an official complaint with the United States over the issue.