Protesters at Obama fundraiser: "Free Bradley Manning"

[The Northerner]

Source: MSNBC

Carrie Dann writes: Protesters interrupted President Barack Obama’s remarks at a breakfast fundraiser in San Francisco early on Thursday, urging the president to “free” Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence specialist accused of releasing hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables to the website WikiLeaks.

According to a pool reporter in the room, a woman in the crowd of about 200 guests began singing and humming as Obama was speaking, removing her blazer to reveal a T-shirt with picture of Manning.

...

She started singing and humming and then everyone at her table, in coordination, held up tiny signs - yellow and white that said "Free Bradley Manning."

Some of the lyrics of her song - which the people at the table hummed along too, "Each of you brought you $5,000 - we'll vote for you in 2012, yes that's true, Look at the Republicans, what else can we do."


Read more: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/21/6508173-protesters-at-obama-fundraiser-free-bradley-manning-

[dennis4868]

1. are you saying we should free...

a person who violated federal law? Plus, his dad says he is being treated fine....

[Jumping John]

2. Plenty of politicians have divulged classified info and were never

threatened or treated like Manning. Are you saying that some people should be treated special by our system of justice in the USA and others not?

[24601]

32. Once I got a ticket for speeding but the officer didn't let me off

just because others were also going too fast.

If Obama really wants to turn the WH over in Jan 2011, he can get out of the job by pardoning Manning or by dismissing the charges.

[AlphaCentauri]

49. like whoever denounced Valerie Plame n/t

[midnight]

4. I didn't know Bradley Manning had a trial and was found to violate a federal law..

However, I know George Bush and some of his administration have violated some laws too. They are free. It is very curious to the U.N. that a supervised visit was blocked... So how can the concealment of someones condition provide a parent with that knowledge of treatment?

[EFerrari]

6. No, his dad didn't say that.

Bradley Manning's father speaks out over Pentagon's treatment of his son

'You've crossed a line. This is wrong,' says Brian Manning, comparing his son's treatment to those in Guantánamo


http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/15/bradley-manning-father-pentagon-treatment

[dennis4868]

15. No, his father....

said that he is not being mistreated.....

[EFerrari]

17. Wrong and you have been corrrected on this point many times. n/t

[dennis4868]

20. I have been

"corrected" who want the facts to be that he is being mistreated but that is not the truth according to his father

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x655938

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CBHagman]

39. N/T?

You're too unmotivated to make a case, you post N/T and just pull the Saturday Night Live McLaughlin Group parody "Wrong!" and that's it?

[EFerrari]

40. I've posted this video of the face and voice of Brian Manning so often

I'm probably in danger of carpal tunnel by now. The man went out into the press for the express purpose of protesting his son's treatment. And no spin at some obscure blog changes that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d8McFwOg4E

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dennis4868]

16. I keep posting the truth....

not the fantasy land "facts" you want to be true because it goes along with your narrative....

[dennis4868]

19. Because

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x655938

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EFerrari]

25. Because you keep waving a discredited blog post. Yes, we know. n/t

[sulphurdunn]

14. I thought he'd been accused

of breaking federal laws. I was unaware a court had found him guilty of anything. He must have had the speedy trial guaranteed by the Constitution, with all due process rights observed. Maybe that's why he's been in solitary confinement for going on a year.

[roody]

38. Yes.

[KoKo]

3. "We payed our dues, where's our change?" the group at the table sang.

"The woman was escorted out of the room by two White House aides, with Obama commenting “that was a nice song,” as she finished singing.

As she was being led out, she said: "Free Bradley Manning. I'm leaving. I hope I don't get tortured in jail."

"Where was I?" Obama said after her departure, continuing his speech. “That didn't break my flow."

[Jumping John]

5. O's response reminded me of W saying, "Now watch my drive." n/t

[Iliyah]

7. Wrong is

wrong no matter what. I'm a strong supporter of Prez O and will vote for him. Free to protest is the American way. Can you image a country where Americans can not protest in peace? I see one if the wrong people get in. So again, what I have read, yes it's wrong and hopefully his trial will be set soon and hopefully he will win. In another world run by the koch brothers, us chambers and carl rove, we may never see him again, ever.

[dennis4868]

18. protesting is fine...

but to disrupt the president's speech is wrong!

[EFerrari]

26. Not according to the First Amendment it isn't. n/t

[Zhade]

29. Wow. He truly doesn't give a fuck that he's allowing torture.

NT!

[JJW]

8. He should get whistle blower protection

As he divulged war crimes.

[EFerrari]

9. So far, the only one being punished for those war crimes

is Bradley Manning.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

11. Perhaps the most amazing feat that Bradley Manning accomplished

was that he had access to all those diplomatic cables, that speaks volumes about the lack of any real security and how one low ranking enlisted man could download and pass on that much data, right under the Army's nose.
I admire him for his ethics, he is a true hero in our struggle against the fascism that has a hold of this country.
May peace and freedom be his soon.

[Scottybeamer70]

12. Guess it's easier

to punish the one who exposed the lies than the liars who lied.

[EFerrari]

13. Oakland activist paid 76k to get protesters into fundraiser

from Greg Mitchell's blog:

3:50 Story on Oakland activist who organized Bradley Manning protest at Obama fundraiser today in San Fran -- and funded it to the alleged tune of $76,000. "Protesters included UC Santa Cruz art professor Elizabeth Stephens, songwriter Craig Casey, activist Jane Sullivan of Santa Cruz, writer Greg Archer, and David Schiller of Berkeley, as well as organizers from Tony’s Circus, all Bay Area locals. Pitcairn said she was happy to pay the tickets for all of them to enter so they could personally address the president with their concerns."

Video, more entries at link.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/160080/wikileaks-news-views-blog-thursday-day-145

Go, Oakland!

[Tarheel_Dem]

22. Well Manning certainly has two things in his favor. He's white, and the liberal....

intelligencia have come to the rescue. Hell, he'll probably never even have to stand trial, whether he committed crimes or not. He's certainly winning in the media's court of public opinion. That's a pretty good deal when you think about the millions of minorities who suffer these "alledged" abuses behind bars & much much more.

It always amazes me when a caucasian child goes missing, the parents get to talk to Katie Couric. A black or brown kid, you're lucky if it's mentioned a couple of times on the local outlets. If you're accused of stealing state secrets, and if you can afford a good shister, it certainly doesn't hurt to be of European descent.

Yeah! Free Bradley Manning!

[EFerrari]

24. That's a pretty disgusting straw man.

[Tarheel_Dem]

27. Disgusting, but true. (nt)

[EFerrari]

28. No, it's just disgusting.

You are saying that it's wrong for Bradley Manning to be supported because our justice system is racist.

As a woman of color, I completely repudiate that argument. Not to mention, the bigotry against gay Americans is at least as rife in the military, a place where Bradley Manning cannot TODAY serve as an out gay man.

So, yeah, it's just disgusting.

[Zhade]

30. You are awesome.

NT!

[Tarheel_Dem]

33. Support whom you like. I could care less. Just observing the disparities.

All you need is a rich, caucasian celebrity to mention you by name, and your case moves to the top of the national debate. Just observing. :shrug:

[EFerrari]

34. So your observation is that white people are powerful?

How does that advance this conversation?

Nothing to say about Bradley Manning, at all?

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bluebear]

42. Bravo to you, and to refuting whatever "ignored" spewed this time.

[Enrique]

36. wow, that's pretty bogus

that thing you're talking about is very real, with the racial disparities. But you're really reaching to apply it to this case. :thumbsdown:

[annm4peace]

41. You are not comparing apples to apples

I agree that whites always get more coverage than people of color but the Bradley Manning is a whole other incredible issue.

This young man is also gay. and young. And if the War Industrial Complex and Pentagon could kill Manning without him becoming a martyr they would.

[Freddie Stubbs]

45. So, perhaps Obama should order than Manning be waterboarded, so that he can raise even more $$$

[Whimsey]

31. reply to #18

It was a fundraiser! It was not a public forum! They paid to interrupt the President's speech.

[EFerrari]

35. How is that event not a public forum?

Maybe "public" doesn't mean what you think it means.

[Whimsey]

43. Maybe it does

You could not get into it unless you paid for your ticket. Even press is limited - one pool reporter, no cameras or mikes. Every ticket holder was given personal access to Obama. This was not public.

[JackRiddler]

46. Is a baseball game not a public event?

Not everything is entirely public or private. This event is held according to rules set by campaign finance laws (so it's not just someone's party), the highest elected official of the country is speaking to hundreds of people, and there is a pool reporter present (so it's not secret). These are not usual features of something that is "not public." If you're trying to make a point against their right to speak out as citizens in the way they chose, you're employing an extremely obtuse argument hinging on the definition of "private" -- also on the idea that "private" therefore means you must shut up and obey in every way. There are many situations that are neither public nor private. Here, the host may have the right to expel people from the space, but is not entitled to an expectation that people will never do anything that might cause the host to want to expel them in the first place.

[Whimsey]

47. I'm misunderstood

My initial response was to denis who criticised the singers
for interupting the president.  My point was it was not a
public forum, it was a paid fundraiser and they paid to
interrupt him, so they had the right to do so.  I was not
making a comment on the application of the first amendment. 
(But it was not a public forum in the sense of the first
amendment anyways.  But as a fundraiser, had the host expelled
the participants it would have looked bad).  I was not
critcizing them as I enjoy my child's singing.

[50000feet]

37. Yes.

Money talks is a prime value to political types. Money should be allowed to speak, no? Buy a ticket and say what you will.

[Imagevision]

48. America, "innocent until proven guilty" cute...