There is an important decision President Obama may make in the coming days that could reverse some of the damage he has done—Chelsea Manning is officially on the "shortlist" of the persons who could have their sentences commuted by Obama before he leaves office.
One thing to remember is that having a sentence commuted is not the same as having it fully pardoned. It would mean lessening the charges against Manning and lessening the prison sentence she is serving.
Manning, a former Army intelligence analyst, is currently serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified material. She has been in prison since 2010 after releasing 700,000 military files and diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks.
What did those military files include? Proof of torture, abuse, American soldiers laughing as they killed innocent civilians, graphic video of attack helicopters killing civilians, and much more that resulted in huge geopolitical repercussions on the U.S.
It is important to note that the people Manning exposed for torturing and murdering civilians received a lesser sentence than she did.
For example, Sgt. Santos Cardona was accused of “using his animal to threaten detainees at Abu Ghraib prison,” and was “found guilty of two of five counts against him, including aggravated assault and dereliction of duty,” and as a result, he was sentenced to “90 days hard labor, a reduction of rank, and must forfeit $600 of pay per month for a year.” Already, Manning has attempted suicide twice while in prison. She also went on a hunger strike over her treatment and the UN torture chief even ruled that Manning’s treatment in jail is cruel and inhumane.
As we know, Obama has used the Espionage Act more than all previous presidents combined in order to persecute whistleblowers and journalists, and he has gone after anyone who has attempted to expose what the U.S. government is doing in secret. The question remains as to whether he will have any grace for Chelsea Manning before it is too late.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
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Manning and Snowden should be pardoned and exonerated, but Obama won't do it and Trump won't do it.
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Keep up the good work Luke, good to see you remember the 4-tag-only issues here on the glitch brother.
#PardonSnowden #PardonManning
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What a powerful statement your served us! Thanks a bunch for the information on monumental mess and injustice. All for one and one for all!!! Namaste :)
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The whole situation is messed up.
Obama won't do it.
Trump might just to keep everyone guessing and to continue to let everyone know that he is unpredictable.
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The Tweet
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/819177951040249856
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Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
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snowden is a class act!
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Truth, I saw that today. Thumbs Up.
I made a post on here 6 or so weeks ago with the official Pardon Snowden petition. Got very little traction.
The actual videos in the post were the ones #Snowden did on the subject.
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Nice!
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nice post @lukewearechange
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I hope he does something nice like this before he goes. Obviously there is no way that he pardons Snowden .
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Snowden revealed not one thing that wasn't already known or confirmed by others who blew the whistle before him, he is to Thomas Drake what Assange is to Manning.
http://tomatobubble.com/snowden_hoax.html
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Come on luke. You really cant think this isnt all part of his political calculus for a bigger agenda. We both know he said he plans to be active and engaged in politics (likely on a world stage) after his presidency...
I am glad you stated it "could", but feel it would come across more reasonable to say "but probably not" somewhere closely thereafter. ;)
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I don't think it is in Obama's character.
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Nice! As a trans person and someone who likes transparency I am glad this came true, but I am not thankful and much less to Obama.
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