Today, Bradley Manning Apologized. In a Just World, the U.S. Would Be Apologizing to Manning.

[kpete]

“I want to be a better person, to go to college to get a degree and to have a meaningful relationship with my sister, my sister’s family and my family,” he said.

He shared that he wanted to be a “positive influence in their lives” just as his aunt, has been to him.

“I know that I can and will be a better person,” Manning concluded. “I hope you can give me the opportunity to prove not through words but through conduct that I am a good person” and can “return to a productive place in society.”

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/08/14/bradley-manning-pleads-with-judge-to-allow-him-to-return-to-productive-place-in-society/
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/14/1231292/-Today-Bradley-Manning-Apologized-In-a-Just-World-the-U-S-Would-Be-Apologizing-to-Manning

[xocet]

1. And Bush et al. would be being tried for their crimes.... n/t

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. Exactly and absolutely. n/t

[kpete]

4. yep

[chimpymustgo]

14. K&R. May this brave young man be allowed to live a full, productive life.

[leftstreet]

8. +1

[Octafish]

19. Thank you.

A quote that explains why things are FUBAR: "Money trumps peace." -- George Walker Bush, Feb. 14, 2007

[HangOnKids]

23. Gutter talk from a piece of trash someone named George Walker Bush n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. And, to everyone that they've been spying on.

[Catherina]

5. A sad rec. Manning is not the one who needs to apologize.

...

Navy Capt. David Moulton, a forensic psychiatrist, said Bradley Manning exhibited symptoms of fetal alcohol syndrome. His sister Casey described their mother's drinking through her pregnancy with Bradley and their harsh family life on a five-acre plot in rural Crescent, Okla.

Their father was a "functional alcoholic," Casey said, yet he was the more stable parent. Their mother would start drinking a rum-and-Coke around noon and keep drinking through the night.

When the father decided to leave the family, the mother swallowed a bottle of Valium pills. As Casey drove to the emergency room, she recalled, she asked her father to move to the back seat to make sure her mother was still breathing, but he refused. So, Casey said, "unfortunately, my 12-year-old brother had to go back there."

...

Moulton testified that at the time of his document disclosures, Manning was grappling with gender dysphoria -- severe discomfort with one's apparent gender. Manning was considering transitioning to be a woman even as he remained within the hostile environment of the military, which still bans transgender people from serving openly. That, combined with a "post-adolescent idealistic phase," Moulton said, "impaired his ability to really rationally think through the consequences of what he was doing."

"He underestimated what the consequences would be, for sure. He thought he would be separated from the military, worst case scenario," Moulton said.

...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/14/bradley-manning-sorry_n_3757490.html

[jaysunb]

13. This appears to be a genuine and heartfelt statement

and I hope the judge will grant him leniency by sentencing him to time served.

[snappyturtle]

6. Absolutely. nt

[dennis4868]

7. so why did he apologize

He admitted that he hurt the United States.

[tiny elvis]

12. because the owsla were merciful

john mccain

"I am a black criminal and I have performed the deeds of an air pirate," McCain wrote in his confession. "I almost died and the Vietnamese people saved my life, thanks to the doctors."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Trials

Anastas Mikoyan and Vyacheslav Molotov later claimed that Bukharin was never tortured, but it is now known that his interrogators were given order, "beating permitted," and were under great pressure to extract confessions out of the "star" defendant. Bukharin held out for three months, but threats to his young wife and infant son, combined with "methods of physical influence" wore him down.

to have a meaningful relationship with my sister, my sister’s family and my family

[dennis4868]

24. Oh Please

what an idiotic response....this place is full of nutcases.

[Octafish]

20. Years of torture, maybe?

Solitary confinement? Sleep deprivation? Standing naked for 18 hours at a stretch?

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[dennis4868]

25. Yeah....it does not...

have anything to do with him acknowledging sincerely that he committed a crime and hurt our great country....

[Smarmie Doofus]

27. "Oh please.

what an idiotic response....this place is full of nutcases."

[Fire Walk With Me]

9. That's the statement of a person who has been broken beyond all repair by his country

Occupy Raleigh ‏@OccupyRaleigh

That's the statement of a person who has been broken beyond all repair by his country with over 1100 days in solitary confinement.

[DeSwiss]

10. K&R

[on point]

11. This took real courage. He deserves the Medal of Honor

[annm4peace]

15. from the Bradley Manning Support Network (you can see more info, and actions)

Bradley Manning, family, and doctors take stand: report and analysis: trial day 34

http://www.bradleymanning.org/news/bradley-manning-family-and-doctors-take-stand-report-and-analysis

the article reminds me how vulnerable, fragil, and young he is and was. and to think how the Marines tortured him at Quantico.

It is amazing he didn't commit suicide. I'm glad so many support him.

Please click on the link to the Bradley Manning Support Network and click "like" so the powers that be can see how many care about Bradley Manning and care about what happens to him

[burrowowl]

16. I agree!

[hrmjustin]

17. I pray the court shows mercy.

[ucrdem]

18. In a just world he'd get justice, and he is.

Pat Tillman wasn't so lucky. What a difference an election makes eh?

[Jenoch]

21. I wonder how much his apology will help him with the gov't?

[bvar22]

22. Who says torture doesn't work?

This is just sad.
Good Luck to Bradley Manning.


In my book, Bradley Manning will ALWAYS be a patriot.




"Political Language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable."--- George Orwell

[Hydra]

29. In my book too

And torture works great...if you want to destroy a person and replace him/her with a shadow of what they were.

[peace13]

26. Cheney got the guy he shot to apologize to him!

This is an upside down world! But sadly, nothing new! Remember,it all changed with 9/11!

[dkf]

28. "Justice"...we are so screwed.