Manning Sentenced To 35 Years In The Slammer Fair....!!

[camberiu]

To say no one in America gives a shit about what happens when the US involves itself in some BS war is offensive for me.

Sorry if I offended you. That certainly was not my intent. Just a correction. I never said NO ONE gives a damn. I said most Americans don't. Disagree with me? Then tell me where is the outrage. With the Trayvon Martin case, the public outrage was very obvious. So obvious that Obama had to do a press meeting in order to appease public opinion.
People keep insisting that most Americans care, but where is the evidence? Our policy and policy makers are a reflection of the American public and they are very good at responding to public pressure (they like to keep their jobs). If there is no outrage at the information leaked by Manning showing dramatic civilian casualties in the Middle East, but there is about the NSA spying on Americans, what does this tells you? What other interpretation do you have of this, that I might be missing? Please enlighten me and show me where am I wrong.

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

camberiu,

For anyone, anywhere, casualties 1/2 world away are less relevant than a Maverick missile coming through your own front door. 911 wouldn't matter much if your SO had just been run over by a bus that morning and was on life support. I don't know if "most Americans" are different than "most Brasilians" or "most Russians" when it comes to having a handle on geo-political events. I think the Average Joe, Juanita, or Sergei are pretty much concerned with what happens as it affects them personally.

There is a strong anti-war movement in the US. Many of us think that we use the military as a quick answer to problems. Many of us are very conflicted about the use of drones. They are extremely effective but at a very high public opinion price.

The Trayvon case was important because it touched and affected all of us.

 

[camberiu]

camberiu,
I don't know if "most Americans" are different than "most Brasilians" or "most Russians" when it comes to having a handle on geo-political events. I think the Average Joe, Juanita, or Sergei are pretty much concerned with what happens as it affects them personally.

Colonel Bacevich made a case that the average American has developed over the past decades, an "imperial" mindset. Brazilians and most other nationalities lack that mindset. I am not saying that we are better than Americans (that would be silly), but we have a much much lower tolerance for foreign adventures, military occupations overseas than the typical American. For example, the US today represents about 20% of the world's GDP. Yet, it spends more in military and defense than all other countries on Earth COMBINED. Where else would this be politically possible? In arrived in the US in 1990. The US has been into war ever since. That is over 20 years of continuous conflict. I arrived in the US, I lived there, I left for Argentina, and the war is still going on. The US has a generation of 20 somethings that have known no other reality but war. All of them of choice and overseas. And we are now talking about attacking Syria. Don't you find that different and usual when compared with most other countries?

There is a strong anti-war movement in the US. Many of us think that we use the military as a quick answer to problems. Many of us are very conflicted about the use of drones. They are extremely effective but at a very high public opinion price.

There WAS a strong anti-war movement in the US, until Obama got elected. Then it mostly vanished into the thin air. Remember Cindy Sheehan, the mother of the GI killed in Iraq that used to camp on Bush's ranch as a protest against the war? Where is she? Where did she go? I have not heard of her since Obama started his first term in office. What happened to movie director Michael Moore? Why there is no documentary of his about drone strikes and torture happening under the Obama administration?

The Trayvon case was important because it touched and affected all of us.

More important than the indiscriminate killing of civilians? OK.
How about the Jerry Sandusky case? was that more important too?
How about the Kate Middleton story? Did that touch us all too?
How about Rihanna and Aston Kutcher Hooking Up?
How about the launch of the Ipad Mini?

All those things were much bigger news than ANYTHING leaked by Manning.

 

[French jurist]

We, in Europe, were quite happy to be protected by the US during the Cold war, let's never forget that.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the US have changed though. If you add to that the "anarcho-capitalism" (and it's not "Liberalism" or whatever) that started during the 80's and of which the US + UK actually are the champions, then you have two major things to criticize the US about.

Could the US weapon industry survive if there were no conflicts during 10/15 years? Answer seems a No, then you can understand why so many wars have been started by the so-called Freedom countries since 20 years (including Europe).

About the Manning case: aside of debating if she is a traitor or a hero, the main concern here is about a fundamental right = getting informed. It's really worrying that Americans seem to consider this Constitutional right lower than the right to bear weapons (could be wrong about this though). This applies too to Europe + UK. Have you seen during the past year those two hackers who died strangely while they were in their 30s?!

Americans, like any other nationals, are able of the worst & the best. Who would have bet 20 years ago they would have elected a Black president? I wonder if it's not too late to change things though (medias are puppets, too late to cut the tie with the Financial world + the weapons lobby is far too powerful to overcome now, etc.).

 

[Hybrid Ambassador]

Well,in japan, we think that the USoA is treating us as an most preferred ally amongst the many. We also being doctrined by the Jpnse guvnmnt that the US nuclear ambrella is safer bet. But now that the PRC wants a passage sea way to the Pacific Ocean for their rapidly growing military,and especially their Navy fleet they are muscling through the Japnese owned and certified by the US as belonging to Japan "Senkaku Island"..We have been constantly provoked by the Chinese fleets of tens of their vessels perpertraiting Japanese waters various times a day. In one occasion, one of their war ships locked a missile launching radar targetting a Japanese cruiser! It makes me laugh of hearing, that the Chinese are calling Japan becoming right wing.! See the story:

_Japan lodged a formal protest with China after a Chinese warship aimed a radar used to guide missiles at a Japanese ship, Japan's defense minister said today, raising the stakes in an ongoing spat over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

The incident near the Senkaku or Diaoyu islands last week was the first involving naval ships from two countries and followed an incident earlier in January where a Chinese warship directed its radar towards a Japanese military helicopter, Itsunori Onodera said._

http://news.yahoo.com/china-locked-radar-japan-ship-154332346--abc-news-topstories.html

 

[D.B. Cooper]

Regardless what people may say,... I think he's going to make a wonderful cell mate

 

[Gringoboy]

It isn't up to any of us to 'buy it' or not. Chelsea Manning has told the world that she is a women and has politely requested that people respect her name change and that she would like to referred to with female pronouns. I don't really see why the world would not respect her wishes given that gender identity issues are something many humans experience. It's not like she has just invented it. 'I don't buy it' was (and still is) used against homosexuals to delegitimise homosexuality or make it seem like it is unnatural or not real. When people tell me they're homosexual I wouldn't say "I don't buy it", so why would I say it to someone that tells me they're transgender?

I find it quite a leap of faith from yesterday referring to him as Private Bradley Manning US Army, the soldier who found his conscience to today referring to Chelsea Manning US Army, the woman who found her conscience.
I won't deny that I have a big problem with the whole transgender issue and understanding just how we adjust our gender radar.

 

[PhilipDT]

It isn't up to any of us to 'buy it' or not. Chelsea Manning has told the world that she is a women and has politely requested that people respect her name change and that she would like to referred to with female pronouns. I don't really see why the world would not respect her wishes given that gender identity issues are something many humans experience. It's not like she has just invented it. 'I don't buy it' was (and still is) used against homosexuals to delegitimise homosexuality or make it seem like it is unnatural or not real. When people tell me they're homosexual I wouldn't say "I don't buy it", so why would I say it to someone that tells me they're transgender?

I don't buy it either. The timing makes it seems like a ridiculous publicity stunt designed to keep this media whore in the national spotlight for a little longer before the inevitable relegation to incarcerated anonymity. Doing so for something such petty and trivial reasons delegitimizes the real problems that gender confused people deal with.

 

[arlean]

I can update you on Cindy Sheehan. She is still at it. Joyce Riley has her periodically as a guest on her show www.thepowerhour.com and strongly supports her. As for not hearing about Sheehan, I hope everybody here knows that the U. S. media is almost entirely owned by 5 corporations--the 5 corporations that benefit most from their other enterprises, like manufacturing weapons and pharmaceuticals, and that they often do not report things that would influence the public contrary to their goals. You could have 50 thousand nurses marching on Washington DC and the mainstream news will not report it--unless it is being reported elsewhere (the alternative media) and they need to put a spin on it to try to soften it up a little..They also report total fabrications as news. It's why I don't have a TV. However, the TV can be kind of helpful at times in that most people do act based on what they see on the TV. Therefore it can affect things like the stock market on the short term so that could be helpful. But that's about it.

 

[PhilipDT]

I hope everybody here knows that the U. S. media is almost entirely owned by 5 corporations-

And 2 companies control the fizzy sugar water market, and 2 companies control the long haul airplane market and 4 companies control the pick up truck market and 3 companies control the toothpaste market.


What is your point?


Also,

t[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]he 5 corporations that benefit most from their other enterprises, like manufacturing weapons[/background]

Examples?