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President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning's Sentence (theverge.com)
The New York Times is reporting that President Obama has commuted Chelsea Manning's sentence. What this translates to is a reduced sentence for Manning, from 35 years to just over seven years. Since Manning has already served a majority of those years, she is due to be released from federal custody on May 17th. The Verge reports: While serving as an intelligence analyst in Iraq, Manning leaked more than 700,000 documents to Wikileaks, including video of a 2007 airstrike in Baghdad that killed two Reuters employees. In 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for her role in the leak and has been held at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth for the past three years. Julian Assange, who has long been sought by U.S. and EU authorities for extradition on Swedish rape charges, had previously pledged to surrender himself to U.S. authorities if Manning was pardoned. Born Bradley Manning, Chelsea announced her gender transition the day after the verdict was handed down. "I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female," she said in a statement. "Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible." Obtaining the resulting medical treatments was extremely difficult for Manning, and was the subject of significant and sustained activism. After a lawsuit, Manning was approved for hormone therapy in 2015. In September 2016, she launched a hunger strike, demanding access to gender reassignment surgery; the military complied five days later.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. If it was my estimation that the two political parties were more interested in what is best for America, rather than just winning their ideological war, this would hold more weight for me.
Snowdon seems the logical "other pardon". Not sure I'd like that to happen. Would prefer a trial where he would be allowed to make his case. Manning wasn't afforded that opportunity either.
Neither case is at the instigation of a foreign government. So the issues need to be gone through in an open court so the country can understand the issues. And legally decide whether a crime was committed, or these were justified acts done by patriots.
Another consultant who stuck it out.
"We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx..."
Sucks that she won't actually be released until may. She's going to go through absolute hell in there between now and then.
And Obama is showing everyone exactly what sort of person he is in these waning hours.
So then, any response from Wikileaks / Assange? Will he now give himself up, as per this tweet - https://twitter.com/wikileaks/... ? (Note - not a troll response, genuinely interested to hear what folks think happens on that front now... )
Prison does strange things to you. Go in a man, come out a woman.
Nobody is going to like it, on either the left or the right.
But that's the job as POTUS. Funny it attracts so many candidates.
Thank you Obama!!
Manning did the world a great service... I cant say more than this was long overdue.
Next.. Snowden? Perhaps all the people in prison and jail except for murders and rapist after they have had an independent review to make sure that they were REALLY guilty/not guilty??
More....
Incoming trolls!
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Best fucking part...
"Earlier this month, WikiLeaks said it would agree to a US extradition request for the site's founder, Julian Assange, if Obama granted clemency to Manning. It was not immediately clear if WikiLeaks would make good on its promise."
I'm sure Julian will honor this....
I guess what the (allegedly) Russians did with the DNC documents was not so bad after all? I mean you release illegally obtained documents to public domain.
For not being progressive, well, here you go. And thanks so much for staying home last November. Please, for God's sake show up for the mid terms.
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President Obama noted stark differences between Manning's and Snowden's cases.
From the New York Times article: “Chelsea Manning is somebody who went through the military criminal justice process, was exposed to due process, was found guilty, was sentenced for her crimes, and she acknowledged wrongdoing,” Pres. Obama said. “Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary, and has sought refuge in a country that most recently made a concerted effort to undermine confidence in our democracy.”
He also noted that while the documents Ms. Manning provided to WikiLeaks were “damaging to national security,” the ones Mr. Snowden disclosed were “far more serious and far more dangerous.” (None of the documents Ms. Manning disclosed were classified above the merely “secret” level.)
So, the president isn't about to pardon someone who hasn't even been tried for his crimes.
They were going to give Manning the gender reassignment surgery, now they don't have to.
Anyone taking bets on what Trump is going to tweet as a reaction to this? I'm sure something scathing and illogical, but likely entertaining.
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Obama is a hard core neoliberal neocon freakshow. This is the guy that bombed more countries than Bush, make the Patriot Act look like the Magna Carta by repealing Habeas Corpus with an NDAA, and started a war in Libya without Congressional authorization. Which his own VP said he would have supported Bush's impeachment if he had done the same thing with Iran.
You mean after he tortured Manning for a year with solitary confinement, and committed unlawful command influence by declaring Manning guilty before a conviction - and promoted the judge during the trial. But now, after seven years in prison, with consistent humiliation (and a little torture mixed in) is he not merciful?
What?!? now Manning is a human trafficker!? Oh when will the insanity end? Won't somebody think about the children?
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Impeached, tried, found guilty. Meaningless formalities. A lot like Manning's trial I'd guess.
So yeah, keep telling yourself Blagojevich did nothing.
Snowden would be tried under the Espionage Act, like other whistleblowers persecuted by Obama, which doesn't allow defendants to claim their actions were justified. It would be an open-and shut case for the prosecution, in a closed trial, and then Snowden would be hit with an effective lifetime sentence after all the charges for all the documents were piled up. Then he could look forward to torture (the solitary confinement Manning was subjected to is torture) and routine humiliation (threaten more prison time for subversive materials that came through the prison).
Still, you might get a few years left where your prejudice may be voiced in polite company, as trans rights are 20-30 years behind gay rights in this country.
Blagojevich should be hung. Manning (she you fuckface) was a whisleblowing hero, not a "traitor"
Trump could also reduce Madoff's sentence to time served. Then, put him in charge of his business empire.
Typical depraved authoritarian groupthink. If you gave two shits about the lawwww, you would in fact demand that Manning and Snowden spend time in prison - behind every politician and official who were revealed to have broken the law by their leaks.
Take FISA just for starters. Up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for each offense. You guys demanding that Obama be sentenced to a few million years in prison and be fined a quadrillion dollars for tapping every phone call in the US without a warrant?
And then, "Sensitive" "Male", what about the boy fucking in Afghanistan? It was Wikileaks that revealed the contractors were engaged in child rape trafficking. You'll be happy to know that Hillary's State Department cleared itself of any wrong doing in the trafficking. But now it's just "old news", like Obama's drone strikes and repeal of habeas corpus, and soldiers are told to STFU and forget they saw anything.
But you DGAF about any of that, because you're a mindless authoritarian goon.
Kellyann, is that you?
Yes, it's PROVEN.
Instead I guess you'd have preferred that he, Manning, should have, oh, I dunno, gone on Sixty Minutes and said "I can't prove it but the government is doing some bad things. I can't tell you what they are. I can't show you any corroborating materials. I can't give you any evidence. You'll just have to take my word.
Yeah, and that sure would have put a stop to those bad things. Absolutely. Bad things that violate the US Constitution.
But you don't care about the Constitution, or maybe only when someone threatens to impose background checks before you can buy a gun.
We all know – if we're being honest – that the only way Manning would have had any credibility as a whistle blower is by doing what he did. At incredible risk to him – now her – self.
So yeah, keep shouting PROVEN. It makes you look like a dick, IMO. But yeah, keep it up.
What other facts are you guys going to object to? Yaknow your BFF even wanted to bring back whaling, when there isn't even a domestic whaling industry to pander to?
I suspect Obama signed Chelsea's death warrant.
Sure, Chelsea may become a superstar on tumblr but I do not think that will give her what she is looking for.
Prison gave her national attention.
With a long pattern of things that look like desperate attention seeking, that has been poorly thought out, I suspect she will take her own life in the next year or two as no one cares about her anymore.
Sad she will get her freedom but not the help she clearly needs.
As should be obvious to everyone by now Obama was just another puppet-head, just like Trump will be.
The only reason for this last minute about-face was because of Assanges statement that he would give himself up if Manning was given clemency, which has happened.
Now either Assange gives himself up and is made an example of (resulting in the insurance file password going public), or he reneges on his promise (either claiming his account was hacked, or that commutation didn't meet his requirements for 'clemency'.) In the case of the latter it would destroy Assanges credibility to welsh on the agreement now, and given the fact that he has seemed to be acting wittingly or unwittingly as a Russian pawn for a while, would probably destroy the majority of Americans and maybe even Europeans who had previously respected and listened to him.
You're not a troll; you're just another flag-waving goon sucking spook cock.
USB, USB, USB!
We need whistleblowers to protect us.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Legitimizing anyone releasing classified is a dangerous thing. There is no such thing as whistle-blowing when dealing with Top Secret information. If you have ever gone through a classified briefing you know the damage that can be done doing it. So when you decide to do it in Bradley's case, you are taking one for the team. Yes it is PROVEN that it did damage. So let Bradley take it...
We need kill all traitors.
Fixed that for you.
The sentence was a bit harsh, and some of the methods used during interrogation and imprisonment, meant that a reduced sentence was reasonable.
Assange and Snowden need to make a deal now. Trump works for Russia, but he will hang them out to dry anyway, that's the kind of quisling he is.
Better the devil you know than the insane devil you don't know.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
First, I feel that Snowden should actually have his day in court and present his case before anything related to a pardon or commutation is discussed. The American people need to see and hear both his and the government's position and evidence in a more balanced, less sensational environment than the MSM gives us.
Second, I feel that neither Manning nor General Cartwright should have their sentences commuted. They were both members of the US military who had sworn oaths regarding their behavior and ethics in their service and disregarded them. Gen Cartwright, as an officer should be held to an even higher standard. They were both tried, found guilty and sentenced. What message does it send to the rest of the military if they don't have to serve their sentences? Why should anyone in the military feel compelled to obey any order or protect any secret if they know that whatever punishment they get will be commuted and all they need is some publicity to make it happen.
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of congress. But then I repeat myself. -- Mark Twain
Assanage's offer was always empty, given that the US isn't after him, at least not publicly. Now he contends that the US wants to get him in secret, though he's presented no evidence of this and of course one would have to question if they'd agree to a public deal for something secret.
Assanage is wanted by Sweden and the UK. Sweden for a sexual assault case, and the UK for skipping bail in that case. The US has not filed any charges against him, though I'm quite sure they don't like him. If he left the embassy he would be arrested by the UK and shipped off to Sweden. Or they might not send him off, since he's broken UK law by skipping bail and try him there for that crime, then ship him off once she's served his sentence.
So this was always a stunt.
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Impeached, tried, found guilty. Meaningless formalities. A lot like Manning's trial I'd guess.
So yeah, keep telling yourself Blagojevich did nothing.
Please, taking his words in that example as evidence of corruption requires a tortuous interpretation of them.
Man, hyphenation in that sentence makes a HUGE difference.
By that standard, we'd need to kill dozens of people based on Snowden's leaks and they were not even fired.
And given Mr. Trumps extreme antagonism for Russia in 2014 but extreme love for Russia by 2015, I suspect he'd end up in front of a firing squad as well.
I think they've got something unforgivable on him. Like video of the violent rape of a teen girl. Something that even a pardon won't really fix.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
Difference is: we knew what Nixon did; with Snowden we are not sure how much data he stole and what he has revealed to foreign countries that happily granted him "safe" harbor.
"Legitimizing anyone releasing classified is a dangerous thing."
The proceeding message was a paid-for message from Hillary Clinton.
I hadn't heard Obama had pardoned Paul Manafort.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
If George Washington knew that one day an afro-American president would pardon a she-male who had committed treason, he would never have signed the Declaration of Independence.
XY chromosomes. It's a man, baby!
There's genitalia. But you would still be a bloke even if your dick was blown off, right? Because you'd still think of yourself as a bloke.
There's chemically. You have testosterone, right? Makes you a bloke, yes? What if someone with a vagina has as much or more testosterone than you? Are they male? And do they make you female?
There's also people who are chimeric, they are actually the same as twins, but within the same body. And one of those twins doesn't have to be the same gender as the one with the ballsack hanging down.
There's also socially and mentally your gender.
Hell, look at how we have miss and mrs. Both women, but we use a different name. Not because they are mentally deficient, but we socially have a different name for them.
And, for all this, it really REALLY doesn't matter, does it? She's called Chelsea. That's not a man's name. Therefore when referring to her as Chelsea, she's a she. When you talk about what they did as Bradley, you can say "him" for the time he was known as Bradley, if you want. But today she's Chelsea, and that's a she.
Doesn't neuter you to do that. Only proves that you're able to be open minded about it. Chicks love that emotionally mature shit, rather than the petulant sociopath of "Nuh uh, she was a man, she's nuts!".
So would Snowden, I imagine. But the laws Snowden would be charged under have no public interest exemption. Likewise, Whistleblower Protections only apply to actual Federal employees, not to contractors (or 'Office Supplies', as we used to call ourselves). So Snowden, in a U.S. court, will be explicitly prevented from 'making his case'. A jury would be forbidden from being allowed to consider it, meaning any such testimony could be blocked.
Maxim: People cannot follow directions.
Increases in truth directly with the length of time spent explaining them
Do you think the same about David Petraeus? Same crime, worse motive.
repeat after me: Progressive. Meaning progress. That doesn't mean he solves every problem in the ever loving world. But he damn well solves some.
And yeah, I know I'm feeding the trolls, but I can't let this shit slide no more.
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Just how many lies would you accept as fact, had the actions of the few not shed light into the darkest of corners?
It's hard to claim such severity, when the information age we live in, is so very grey. Hard to claim certainties in these times, for anyone, when not all is known.
Allowing anything to be classified is a dangerous thing. It shields official behaviour from scrutiny.
It is like the encryption debate. There are two sides to the argument and both are absolutes.
If you can trust your government then you can allow it to classify things so that secrets can be kept from enemies.
If you can not trust your government it will hide its bad behaviour behind the classified label.
The person who reveals the former is a traitor.
The person who reveals the latter is a hero.
So, what is revealed has to be considered. If it reveals official egregious offences against the law then the revealing person is a hero and should be praised not censured.
So what we have to ask is wether there was egregious behaviour involved. If yes, a patriot, if no, a traitor.
TL;DR "You pays youse money and you takes youse choice"
You probably already realize that only the vast majority of people fall into the standard sexual/gender roles/identity. So while most people are born such that males have one Y chromosome and one X chromosome while females have two X chromosomes, that is the norm but there are plenty of exceptions. This is what, I think, gives the transgenders standing. As long as some people cannot be properly defined then nobody should be properly defined lest we make the wrong assumptions. I think that is a pure BS. Any sex alignment/change therapy is purely hormonal and seeks to align the patient/victim with traditional sex roles. Nobody is getting their chromosomes realigned! Doesn't this show that the two traditional sexual/gender role/identity is preferred even by those who wish to change for whatever reason?
Simultaneous with the selling of movie rights to raise cash to fund the lawsuits. He's going to long for the comfort of a cold cell in a while. I doubt they can teach him to keep his mouth shut either, so he will be losing the support of anyone who hears his other demented views. I wonder if he will continue with gender reassignment after the release? Could lose a lot of supporters if not.
In fact, aiding the election of someone who's campaigned on the vilification of the press may be one of the more short-sighted things that Assange has done.
You are implying that truth is negotiable ... and wrongness of that belief is exactly the reason why we need and why we have Wikileaks.
Trump's lovefest with Wikileaks will come to a very quick end, ... of course! As it is supposed to.
I highly doubt that the evil white man BRADLEY Manning would have gotten any mercy from The President. The only "rights" that Obama seems to care about are women's rights, black rights, gay rights, trans rights and whatever other "special persons" rights. White men be damned
Maybe Snowden should start identifying as a female to get his pardon?
Pervert transvestite leaks troop deployment and strength of American forces: FREE HIM! (Yes, him). Assange leaks stuff that hurts the Democrats: OFF WITH HIS HEAD!
It is interesting that there seem to be no consideration for Citizen Four even though arguably what Manning did was worse and was done with less than noble reasons.
Maybe it is just that the big O has that much of a hard-on for Assange after WikiLeaks revealed how corrupt his good buddy Hillary and the DNC is
I was surprised to hear about Manning. That said after reading the same content you posted, it starts to make a lot more sense. Considering Assange's role in the whole DNC and Russian hacking scandal this sounds a lot like a fsck you from Obama, the DNC, and the US government. Regardless of if Wikileaks honors what they said, it puts the ball firmly in their court (pardon pun), and also builds a stronger case against him, if only in the court of public appeal. In effect they have already had a win with a guilty Manning, keeping her in jail longer serves little purpose (not to mention her actions won her some public outcry), where offering clemency either nabs them a bigger fish in Assange, or more likely just gives him a public black eye. So yeah, I don't see this so much about Manning herself, but rather using her as a political pawn against Assange and his alleged recent actions with the Russians and "fixing" the US elections against the Democrats (or at least insomuch as the public story is concerned).
If someone suddenly thinks they're a Japanese cat, do we enable them by supporting that thought?
You ideologues are disgusting. A soldier committed a crime called treason during time of war. Usually such are HUNG or SHOT.
But y'all ideologues are happy as long as the crime hurts the USA.
No Wonder you all morons voted for Hilary, because you don't think the USA should have any secrets, just the rest of the fucking world should have secrets. FUCK YOU
Whoa whoa whoa.. back up a bit with the gender mud, I'm pretty sure Obama wants to be called he.
Doesn't matter. They'll just be calling us all "cucks" since we don't beat our wives or espouse genocide against people of color.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
I applaud him for revealing some of the atrocities of the US military... but unfortunately lost all respect for the gender bending shenanigans - even more is that the goverment caved, giving a taxpayer funded cosmetic surgery because of a hunger strike?
Manning's served years, now. From news reports, none of US "assets" were harmed; if necessary, they were moved out of harm's way.
Now, what about Dick Cheney, whose office (or maybe it was him, personally) outed CIA covert agent Valerie Plame to politically attack her ambassador husband, who had proof that Saddam Hussein had no effective WMDs, nor had they tried to get yellowcake uranium. According to news reports, the US *lost* "assets"... meaning imprisoned or killed. Why was Cheney, who WAS where the buck stops for his office as VPUS, not even charged?
mark
Which shower would you prefer in prison?
Can presidential actions like this be undone by a future president? Or does something like double jeopardy apply? (Not that I want it to be undone, I'm just curious.)
Sorry to be anal, but Treason cannot be committed outside of a declared war.
Article 3 Section 3 of the Constitution. The writers were VERY careful to be extremely specific when defining it, since it had been used as a generic charge for anyone who displeased the king for so long.
Even the Rosenbergs were executed for 'Conspiracy to commit espionage' .
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts."
Why are so many conservatives sexually aroused by Manning?
It's been in the press a few times as you should be aware unless you've been living under a rock. Google or asking someone who has been paying attention to this issue will help. Expensive people in Washington have burned through many hours of meetings about Assange, perhaps entirely pointlessly, but it's still you taxes at work.