“Manning’s sole purpose was to do precisely those things that POTUS claims to respect and honor”
This week we witnessed the distressing spectacle of a hero apologizing to those who should be prostrating themselves in shame for their persecution of him.
This kangaroo courtroom with a blustering prosecutor waving his hands about and a stern judge pronouncing this hero “Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty…”, both of whom claim the moral and legal high ground. They do our Commander-in-Chief’s vengeful bidding.
POTUS, who speaks ever so frequently and eloquently about the rule of law, of transparency, and of Constitutional rights, elected to pursue this persecution of Bradley Manning. He could have greeted – gratefully – Manning’s revelations of crimes and acted to right the wrongs that Manning uncovered.
After all, he claims to uphold the rights and importance of whistleblowers.
But the reader here – I am certain – knows better.
Even if you are still a fan of Obama, you probably guffaw at the idea of POTUS pursuing the prosecution of the crimes that Manning uncovered, knowing that the head of this empire would not dare to pursue the perpetrators of these atrocities because to do so would mean that he’d have to prosecute virtually his entire cabinet, federal agencies including the NSA, FBI, CIA and Pentagon, most of Congress, and himself. He would prefer to continue to murder the truth, torture innocent prisoners with forced feeding, indefinite, and preventive detention, drive them to hunger strike and suicide, assassinate children with drones, and persecute the truthtellers, all the while claiming to be on the side of the angels, than to actually prosecute those crimes! He would never, ever prosecute the very people that he has appointed to do his bidding and certainly never, ever, bite the hand that feeds him. Why should we ever expect him to do so? Not in a reality-based community anyway.
Because this crime scene has been so sullied, some reminders are in order.
Manning’s sole purpose was to do precisely those things that POTUS claims to respect and honor: to reveal the truth so that the public could know what was and is being done in their names, so that the people could defend the rule of law against those who so brazenly murder it on a daily basis, and so that the populace could stand up for and recognize their civil liberties and not have them summarily destroyed till there is nothing left but words meant to conceal the harsh reality of their destruction, likes a gravestone marking:
Here Lies the Fourth Amendment.
Here Lies the UN Charter.
Here Lies the First Amendment.
Here Lies Due Process.
Here Lies the Rule of Law.
R.I.P.
Some have characterized the turn in the defense’s strategy as being that Manning’s not guilty because “he’s a pervert.” What perversions are herein to be seen? The perversion of truth? The perversion of journalism? The perversions of authorities who claim to be doing the people’s bidding when they are in fact assassins and torturers? The perversions of the people’s right to privacy? The perversions of all electronic communications so that snoops can obscenely track our every move, our every association, our explorations online, and our every expressed thought?
Who are the real perverts here? And how much longer will those who have not yet spoken out be silent in the face of these perversions and these perverts posing as the ultimate in respectability and honor? If you have not yet spoken up and taken up the fight, then what on earth are you waiting for? Bradley Manning did this for you and all of us.
Dennis Loo is a member of the Steering Committee of World Can’t Wait. His website is dennisloo.com.