In the wake of State Department spokesman P. J Crowley’s forced resignation an opinion piece in yesterday’s Washington Post (Pfc. Bradley Manning doesn’t deserve humiliating treatment) reinforces Crowley’s comments that Mr. Manning’s treatment is “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” Crowley’s comment riled the White House, and President Obama was forced to uncomfortably address the Manning issue in public. His response was that he’d asked the Pentagon “whether or not the procedures that have been taken in terms of his confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards. They [Pentagon] assured me that they are.”
I have been an Obama supporter in the past (here and here), but I have finally abandoned his ship. It’s obviously more of a stone boat than it is an actual ship of state. Calling the Pentagon and asking them if everything’s copacetic, is like calling Earl’s Pizza and asking Earl if he’s got the best pies in town. Earl’s answer is going to be as equally unsurprising as the Pentagon saying, “We’re treating Pvt. Manning appropriately, sir.” Obama’s fractured response is an indicator of just how far he has fallen and how badly he’s limping towards what might actually be his 2012 finish line. His response was a line that we would have expected fumbling from the tongue-tied mouth of George W. Bush: ” Yeah, well, ummm, I called over there, and ….you know across the river in Maryland … no Virginia, you know, and the guy who answered said, “It’s all good, chief.” And, you know …, ummm … well, that’s … uhhh … good enough for me.” Obama said it smoother, but the message was the same. “Earl’s got the best pizza in town. He said so.”
And what can only be seen as even more inanity coming from the jailers:
Senior Defense Department officials say the current level of security is appropriate because of the seriousness of the charges against Mr. Manning.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice is not the U.S. Constitution, though it does include a presumption of innocence clause and the “burden of proof to establish the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt is upon the United States.” The “seriousness of the charges” sound very much like a presumption of guilt, and that the burden of proof of guilt is not the responsibility of the United States, since he is already guilty, which is why we can treat him like a pound dog.
Obama’s campaign of audacity and hope has steadily collapsed in the face of his swaggering generals. That he and the Misses are ramrodding an anti-bullying campaign while Bradley Manning is being tortured (and, yes, it is torture!) right down the road from the White House is another indication of just how far out in his private executive orbit he is spinning. So, before you lose us all, Citizen Obama, call Earl back and tell him you found a better pizza. And while he’s at it, he ought to think about giving Pvt. Manning a break.
It’s always much easier to nail the scapegoat than it is to hammer the officers and officials who, through immeasurable incompetence and utter lack of foresight allowed so much information to be read by a lowly private in Baghdad. That he may have actually stumbled upon some serious crimes is no surprise. But then again, one man’s whistleblower is another man’s spy. Ask all the big corporations. There with you on the ‘spy’ tag.
What all enlisted men always learn – and never forget – is the direction in which shit always rolls. Although there ought to be ‘stars and bars’ sitting in jail cells for the mishandling of sensitive information and allowing a SIPRNet access policy that let everyone in but the maintenance crew, there aren’t nor will there ever be. Once you go after the generals, you’re deep into very dark and dangerous political waters, even meaner and more criminal than Chicago. Nail a private and then treat him like an animal is comparatively easy. And a whole world easier than it would be going after the boys with the real guns. This is just more “same as it ever was.” And, Mr. Obama, you’re just more of the same old guys. Good luck with that. You’ll learn this, finally, when you’re life is a bit more private, when those nagging ethical thoughts creep in and you sit straight up and scream, “Back up! What have I done!” But, guess what? By then it’s too late. That’s what enlisted men already know. That’s what Bradley Manning knows while your flash ‘n dash Pentagon boys spit out, “It’s all good here, Boss. We’re just gonna treat him like he’s not human a bit longer.” And you know, they will, Boss, right up until you grow a pair and make them stop. You’re the Commander-in-Chief. You’re the bully here! Own up to it and be the man.
