Imprisoning (after torturing &; mistreating him for a year or more) Bradley Manning for 35 years is part of a dark circus. It is wrapped in flags and high-sounding language about oaths and USA secrets.
A lot of it was embarrassing, it exposed bumbling, stupidity and proof of SNAFU. It let many cats out of the bag about what we had done and shouldn't have done. It made a lot of people in our government look stupid. It exposed some black hearts. It all looks very official and serious, of course.
The case is ring mastered by older judicial officers with lots of shiny medals. The truth of this matter is he's (was) an 18-year-old kid who thought he was doing the heroic right thing. Yes, he's a criminal. No, we certainly cannot have low ranking, unauthorized, idealistic military people, releasing classified documents.
At the same time look carefully at what Bradley Manning's intent was. At who he was. At why this came about. What will we have accomplished, when they lead this kid away in shackles?
Why do I feel the same about watching all this, as I did when my non-violent, otherwise productive and peaceful, marijuana smuggling clients, with no priors, got 25 years in federal prison for driving around with a bale of pot?
Something is wrong in OZ.
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