Sunday, April 8, 2012

Why Bradley Manning is a hero

Bradley Manning is cooling his heels in a military prison waiting for a trial over his alleged forwarding of a treasure trove of US military secrets to WikiLeaks.

He should have his countenance chiseled into Mount Rushmore.

When the leaders of a supposed democracy need to keep secrets from the populace that elected them, we're on a slippery slope.

We've been busy sliding down that slope for a long time.

The America I see today bears little resemblance to the America I grew up lionizing as a kid who only got two radio stations on the little GE radio beside his bed.

They were both from Chicago.

WLS.

WCFL.

I fell in love with the America that came through that little radio.

And while it wasn't necessarily entirely true, it was at least still possible to believe that America was about freedom and human rights more than any other country in the world.

That's over.

It takes courageous people like Bradley Manning to draw our attention to just how much that's over.

Secrets have no place in a democracy.

Bradley Manning doesn't belong in jail.

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