Lies my Obama told me
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Lies my Obama told me
"I don't want to have people who just agree with me. I want people who are continually pushing me out of my comfort zone."
-- Barack Obama, June 18, 2008.
Barack Obama lied.
He lied because somebody -- a good man, a decent man, and a respected spokesman for the U.S. State Department -- pushed Obama out of his comfort zone this week. And so what happened? -- the Obama administration forced him out of his job. Apparently Obama does just want to have people who agree with him. Imagine that.
Truth be told (heh), the biggest outrage in this story actually is not the firing of the State Department spokesman, P.J. Crowley (pictured at top). It's the episode that Crowley spoke out about -- the bizarre and immoral treatment of alleged Wikileaks leaker Pfc. Bradley Manning, who according to multiple news accounts is being held under conditions that make Gitmo look look like a halfway house for inside traders.
Made to endure strict conditions under a prevention of injury order against the advice of military psychiatrists, he is treated like no other prisoner at the 250-capacity Quantico Brig detention facility in Virginia. Despite that he is yet to be convicted of any crime, for the past 218 consecutive days he has been made to live in a cell 6ft wide and 12ft long, without contact with any other detainees. He is not allowed to exercise or have personal effects in his cell, and for the one hour each day he is allowed free from his windowless cell he is taken to an empty room where he is allowed to walk, but not run.
One of the few people to have visited Manning, David House, spoke yesterday of how he had witnessed his friend go from a "bright-eyed intelligent young man" to someone who at times has appeared "catatonic" with "very high difficulty carrying on day to day conversation".
And it got worse:
Military jailers are forcing Bradley Manning, the 23-year-old soldier accused of passing classified documents to WikiLeaks.org, to strip naked in his cell at night and sleep without clothing, a requirement his lawyer says was imposed after Manning made a "sarcastic quip" about his confinement.
So basically the administration that ran on a platform of ending torture of suspected al-Qaeda terrorists and closing Guantanamo has not only not closed Gitmo (yes, Congress was a big part of that, but still..) but is now inbhumanely treating a United States soldier who's accused of a serious crime. This is an unforced error, to use the kindest possible languiage. It is not George W. Bush's fault or Dick Cheney's fault that Barack Obama's Pentagon is torturing Bradley Manning. It is only Barack Obama's fault.
It took P.J. Crowley to see the emperor's new clothes. Speaking last week at an informal panel at MIT* on new media, Crowley was asked about the Manning case and blurted out the truth. He said the circumstances of Manning's detention have been “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid.” Those five seconds of brutal candor cost Crowley his job today -- although, for what it's worth, he is an American hero to me and to many others.
Look, this is not a commentary on what Manning did or not do. He is charged with a serious offense under the law in leaking classified documents. His advocates call him a whistleblower. I'm not sure what Manning's defense will be but I do know two things: 1) he is entitled to his day in court, just like anyone else and b) he is also entitled to be held in humane conditions, not a form of torture -- sleep deprivation is torture -- which may aimed at forcing a confession.
I'm 52 years old, and I'm constantly amazed at how much about human nature I still don't really get. What exactly goes on in Obama's mind? He's a smart and supposedly idealistic guy who came of age during the Reagan years, who surely -- those first times he dared to dream about the Oval Office -- saw himself taking all the obvious hypocrisy. Instead, he is taking presidential hypocrisy to new levels. What switch got turned off, or on, that stops him from ordering a halt to the mistreatment of Bradley Manning?
How does Barack Obama look in the mirror some mornings?
* Corrected from initial version.
Really can't call bradley a traitor until he's convicted of something.— DogfightingAficionado
In addition to be outraged by Manning's treatment, I am greatly disturbed by the loss of P.J. Crowley (Hillary may have had a hand in this since Crowley worked for her). As a regular listener to the Sirius-XM POTUS radio channel, I have enjoyed Crowley's press briefings, usually carried live on POTUS. He has been an articulate and diplomatic defender of America's foreign policy decisions. I don't blame him at all for dropping the diplomatic manner to tell the truth about the way that the Obama administration has once again abandoned the principles Obama ran on.- Will, how is that hopey, changy thing working out for ya? A quote from your favorite conservative...no, not Glenn Beck. Obama has lied to the American people. He said if he passed the stimulus, umeployment would not go above 8%. He has not closed Gitmo, He has not ended our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has punted leadership whenever he can. Sorry you are seeing through the facade. Perhaps you can find a new liberal to support. I think Howard Dean is looking for support.— Bush3
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Here's the whole tweet:
"Happy birthday President #Ahmadinejad. Celebrate by sending Josh Fattal and Shane Bauer home. What a gift that would be. #Iran"
He was encouraging Ahmadinejad to release American prisoners, but why bother pointing that out when you can try to score political points instead?
Now, go lookup what a "lie of omission" is.— peter.milley - Comment removed.
- If it turns out that it was Eli Manning that illegally intercepted and passed the State Department database to the enemy, instead of Bradley Manning, I will stand corrected. For now, I will continue to believe that it was Bradley Manning. And the guy should be on suicide watch. He is likely to do the rest of his life in a small, cold cell in Quantico.— Mr. Smith
- Comment removed.
- First, this is an issue of military justice and his treatment is in fact within standards upheld by the US Supreme Court for military personnel charged with felony treason. This individual will have his day in court, but the delays are currently due to efforts by his lawyers. Second, he is not charged with a singe violation, but with thousands of felony violations. The sheer number speaks for itself. Third, he did this in a war zone and has put thousands of lives at risk. Hundreds in Afghanistan have already been killed thanks to this individual. That said, why is a state department talking head even commenting on this? This case is now headed toward military court. Why did he not say that although he disagreed with the treatment, it is a matter for the military justice system. If Cowley is too dumb to think before shooting off his mouth, then too bad. Cowley knows better. Unless he actually supports what manning did and that alone would justify his termination.
So haw about it little willie, do you support what? Someone who is already has blood on his hands, the talking head who supports the suspected leaker (at the cost of potentially thousands of lives), or what? At least you are now understanding that little O has a tough time telling the truth, something that was clear before 2008 if you wanted to see.— Dutch-wayne - Manning is a traitor and as such as no rights he should be hung!— Dha90660
- Amazing, all these right wingers who profess to believe in the Constitution and criticize Obama for not doing so sure are with him in this instance of Constitution violation.— BillHicksLives!
- huh? — rysagr
- There is no such thing as torture when it comes to Bradley Manning.— mokey1057
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