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In reply to the discussion: Like it or Not, Bradley Manning is a Traitor [View all]freshwest
(53,661 posts)I consider him a victim of 1% media stars who didn't give a damn about the consequences to him. He was considered a lesser human being, a source for fodder or meat for the grinder like they see people like him and most of us.
This has all been a show for them to divide the 99% while the 1% fight over the loot. They are playing a game of chess, we're the pawns, but the kings remain in place, fighting for who has the most money and power.
None of these guys who used Manning's stolen data have gone through what Manning has gone through. He's a patsy.
I'm not mad at him and the term 'volunteered' in the piece doesn't mean much with a fragile young person with no help from his very much dysfunctional family, if reports are true.
He's also not mentally ill from his gender situation. He's sure of what he is and had his priorities out of order in the bad hand he got in life, no family support, and a need to find a way in life. He had military in his family so maybe he thought he would escape that way. I've known people who joined to escape their families, and you know, it's pretty fucking bad when going to a war zone is better than family. Yet is happens.
He was way off the mark with how the world works and the article points out the insanity of his concerns, deep stress and depression. He is intelligent. As the old saying goes, 'It's a fine line between genius and madness.'
I don't see the point of this article now, but glad to get more information. At the very best, he will leave prison in 8 years. He could finish college and by that time be ready to go on with his life.
I cannot say he is a hero and cannot call him a traitor, as either would require a maturity that he apparently does not have, from reports. If lives were lost, and it is said they were, I can't see any of these people as heroes. I don't believe in martyrs or sacrificial lambs. It's sick to want satisfaction against an supposed enemy when it's not you in the dock or prison or whatever.
I see Trayvon Martin's parents as heroes by being more than the people arrayed against them. Their nobility of character in the face of some really low down doings makes the haters look bad. But they and him are degraded with media satire to pump up Manning's reputation. I don't believe that they nor Manning would care for it or find it funny or enlightening. More like vampiring.
If he hears of what was done to a young man who didn't get half the chances that Manning did in life, and is dead, and then having his actions justified by some odd ball juxtaposition, he would be ashamed of the words the satirists put in his mouth. For money.
I think better of Manning than his so-called media supporters. They will use him until they can't get a headline anymore, then discard him like Assange did when they've made all the money off his life they could.
They make me sick.