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Thread: Obama Commutes Manning's Sentence

  1. #1
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    Obama Commutes Manning's Sentence

    I see that Chelsea Manning will be released after serving seven years of a thirty-five year sentence.

    Not nearly enough, for such a petulant, far-reaching act of treachery.

    I hope this doesn't indicate that Edward Snowden will be gracing these shores anytime soon.

  2. #2
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LDAHL View Post
    I see that Chelsea Manning will be released after serving seven years of a thirty-five year sentence.

    Not nearly enough, for such a petulant, far-reaching act of treachery.

    I hope this doesn't indicate that Edward Snowden will be gracing these shores anytime soon.
    I just heard this NPR.

    Snowden cheered this on. There is no value to the Armed Services to having Manning serve that long sentence. This is what I learned from NPR. There are some places we could take this logic.

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    Simpleton Alan's Avatar
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    I'm sure this was a difficult balancing act for the President. On the one hand you have treason/aiding & abetting the enemy and on the other hand you've got a trans-gender Army Private. I can only assume that from a political perspective gender dysphoria cancels out the Uniform Code of Criminal Justice.

    In regards to Snowden, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest today said there were significant differences between the Manning and Snowden cases, mainly that Manning was tried and convicted while Snowden fled the country and has yet to face the charges against him. I'm thinking he should have returned, faced the consequences and changed his name to Edie.
    "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein

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    Senior Member Rogar's Avatar
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    I had to read up to refresh myself on Manning's crimes. The fact that he was on the wrong side of the law seemed obvious to me, but it was a fine line between treason and whistle blower. The documents had evidence of our military understating and maybe involved in unreported civilian deaths in the Iraq, torture of prisoners by the Iraqi military during the conflict, and evidence of foreign government corruption that seems to have triggered the Arab spring. He would have been eligible for parole in just a few years and reports said his life was in danger due to his trans status in an all male military prison. His long sentence was encouraged by prosecutors as a deterrent. I can see two sides of things.

    Obama also pardoned some 250 others, mostly non-violent drug criminals.

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    Violating your oath, disgracing your uniform and betraying your brothers in arms doesn't strike me as fine line material. Unless he carefully read through each of the 750,000 documents he stole to ensure he wouldn't endanger people serving the country he swore to defend, I have trouble swallowing the public-spirited whistleblower thing.

    The President's action is an insult to the people who put themselves in harm's way for this country.

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    I am really excited for the non-violent drug users to be pardoned. A chance at getting a new life started that could benefit us all. I had a guy I dated who had gone to prison and was trying to develop his career while also lying low and afraid that people would find out. I told him to ask for a pardon but he was too scared.

    I am not sure how I feel about the other pardon. I guess I am a bad liberal, but the reality is that governments have secrets. There are good and bad reasons for them and we try to have checks and balances. But often the big picture depends on some level of secrecy. However there is a point to also notice the intention of making some secrets public, seeing real corruption and not finding ways to make change. Not an easy one!

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zoe Girl View Post
    I am really excited for the non-violent drug users to be pardoned. A chance at getting a new life started that could benefit us all. I had a guy I dated who had gone to prison and was trying to develop his career while also lying low and afraid that people would find out. I told him to ask for a pardon but he was too scared.

    I am not sure how I feel about the other pardon. I guess I am a bad liberal, but the reality is that governments have secrets. There are good and bad reasons for them and we try to have checks and balances. But often the big picture depends on some level of secrecy. However there is a point to also notice the intention of making some secrets public, seeing real corruption and not finding ways to make change. Not an easy one!
    I like to think President Obama did the right by these non violent users and they will appreciate their 2nd chance. It is likely. I wont look them up on the web, I dont want my happy thought to ne challenged. The Prez probably did the right thing.

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    I am grateful that the President commuted his sentence.

    https://youtu.be/UFFkcCh-pCc

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