I really could give two shits about Bradley Manning's choice to cut his dick off and live as a woman and I see it as utterly immaterial in the larger debate about secrecy, whistle-blowing and the rights of citizens in a democratic republic to know certain things about what is being done in their name. I don't know why, but I am suddenly reminded of this famous exchange that took place during Hermann Goering's detention at the Nuremberg trials I'm not saying Manning didn't break the law and breaking the law probably must be punished, but to call him traitorous? I ask, if we the people really are the ultimate authority and the source of power in this system of government and the people that we have chosen as representatives do things in our name and commit atrocities and then cover it up under the guise of "protecting us from the terrorists," isn't that something we should probably know about if we are going to make informed decisions about the direction this country is going? I'm not so naive to think that countries don't have secrets (and need some level of secrecy) but is the amount of material we call "classified" these days healthy for a functioning democratic republic? Is this state of "eternal war" that we entered 12 years ago likely to preserve our democracy or tear it apart as we become more and more authoritarian and fearful? Just some food for thought.
if they dont have anything to hide they shouldnt worry about it, we are just trying to catch criminals works both ways, no?
I'm talking about the government hiding things, not citizens ... or maybe you weren't responding to my "musings?"
my point is that it works both ways if the government has nothing to hide, they shouldnt worry about it, we are just trying to catch criminals in the government not so cut and dry obviously but it rings true
Well, that's your opinion. [video=youtube;aN6rjLcpBnI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN6rjLcpBnI[/video]
Oh I think our Government believes it has a ton to hide. I think if Americans were as aware of the methods of prosecuting this so-called "war on terror" as say people were during the Vietnam War, I'm guessing there'd be a helluva lot less enthusiasm (or disinterested assent) than we see now. In any case, I'm not really advocating a total reversal of our government's foreign and domestic policies (I was all on board for invading Afghanistan) I just like to make informed decisions about what I support or oppose and while Manning maybe went about it the wrong way, I think some of the information he leaked is valuable and probably should be seen by Americans if they are going to be real citizens and not bags of meat for stuffing Doritos into.
