Bradley Manning: I want to live as a woman

[tsmirandameadows]

I bet he's out in 7 or under.

Parole in 10 years is what they're saying in the news, provided he behaves, which I suspect he will.

But yeah, Ft. Leavenworth is not going to be a pleasant place for Manning. Still 35 wouldn't be a horrible time to transition, and if he writes a book or two in prison, I suspect there will be enough of an audience, given what a popular hero he is among the left wing, that he could make the money for transition before he even gets out.

[dderek123]

Manning wrote a letter to Obama asking for a pardon.

"The decisions that I made in 2010 were made out of a concern for my country and the world that we live in. Since the tragic events of 9/11, our country has been at war. We’ve been at war with an enemy that chooses not to meet us on any traditional battlefield, and due to this fact we’ve had to alter our methods of combating the risks posed to us and our way of life.
I initially agreed with these methods and chose to volunteer to help defend my country. It was not until I was in Iraq and reading secret military reports on a daily basis that I started to question the morality of what we were doing. It was at this time I realized that (in) our efforts to meet the risk posed to us by the enemy, we have forgotten our humanity. We consciously elected to devalue human life both in Iraq and Afghanistan. When we engaged those that we perceived were the enemy, we sometimes killed innocent civilians. Whenever we killed innocent civilians, instead of accepting responsibility for our conduct, we elected to hide behind the veil of national security and classified information in order to avoid any public accountability.
In our zeal to kill the enemy, we internally debated the definition of torture. We held individuals at Guantanamo for years without due process. We inexplicably turned a blind eye to torture and executions by the Iraqi government. And we stomached countless other acts in the name of our war on terror.
Patriotism is often the cry extolled when morally questionable acts are advocated by those in power. When these cries of patriotism drown out any logically based dissension, it is usually the American soldier that is given the order to carry out some ill-conceived mission.
Our nation has had similar dark moments for the virtues of democracy – the Trail of Tears, the Dred Scott decision, McCarthyism, and the Japanese-American internment camps – to mention a few. I am confident that many of the actions since 9/11 will one day be viewed in a similar light.
As the late Howard Zinn once said, “There is not a flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.”
I understand that my actions violated the law; I regret if my actions hurt anyone or harmed the United States. It was never my intent to hurt anyone. I only wanted to help people. When I chose to disclose classified information, I did so out of a love for my country and a sense of duty to others.
If you deny my request for a pardon, I will serve my time knowing that sometimes you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free society. I will gladly pay that price if it means we could have a country that is truly conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all women and men are created equal."

http://www.mediaite.com/online/read-...esting-pardon/

[tsmirandameadows]

Obama would never grant it. I don't really think he should either. Often times we do the wrong thing for the right reason, or even the right thing for the right reason, and yet things still turn to shit and we're left holding the bag. It just seems to be a feature of human existence, what with our inability to predict the future and our own mortality limiting the amount of time we have to work with to make amends when we make a major mistake. On the other hand, I'm a big fan of the Greek Tragic Vision and view our capacity to struggle on in light of such limitations as the height of nobility, a view which most modern people are NOT going to agree with or subscribe to, lol.

[dderek123]

I hope he gets it but like you I doubt that it'll happen.

I like that view. Reminds me of the Rocky speech. It gets me pumped up before i go jogging haha.

[bluesoul]

[iagodelgado]

Another vote for 7 years or under.

[CORVETTEDUDE]

I can just about guarantee she'll be out in 7 or less, with good behavior. However, there will be no VA benefits she can rely on....that pooch has been screwed!! She will be on her own, in a world where the welcome mat may have been pulled (in general). She (her attorney) is also hoping for a Presidential pardon, which I see little chance of materializing.

[GroobySteven]

She (her attorney) is also hoping for a Presidential pardon, which I see little chance of materializing.

Off this President - but the next might want to pull rank/embarrass/show compassion.

[Wendy Summers]

Just putting it out there but we'll offer him his first shoot when he gets out.

7 years will be a long time to remember who the fuck she is...

[Buddy Wood]

ugh...just like a tranny to stir up all that trouble. It all makes sense now.