Chelsea Manning Running for U.S. Senate in Maryland

 

According to reports, Chelsea Manning has filed to run for the U.S. Senate in Maryland as a Democrat. She will be challenging Democrat Ben Cardin, who is up for re-election in November after serving two terms in the Senate.

Chelsea was convicted under the Espionage Act for leaking nearly 750,000 government documents to WikiLeaks. This included the now infamous ‘Collateral Murder’ video that showed the U.S. military’s murder of more than a dozen people, including two Reuters staff members. Among those shot were two children.

As with Edward Snowden, there are those who call Chelsea a traitor. To many others around the world, she’s a hero. Progressives who feel the Democratic Party has been overtaken by centrist neo-Liberal, corporate-“Lefts", find the news exciting.

Her filing apparently caught Maryland’s political class by surprise, states the CIA-owned Washington Post (LULZ), and it was immediately reported by Red Maryland (who called her a “convicted traitor”). Chelsea has not yet made a statement.

Establishment-run media pundits are already trying to shape public perception, and set the stage for Chelsea’s defeat. Washington Post quoted political science professor at St. Mary’s College, Todd Eberly, who equated Chelsea to Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey.

Eberly completely disregarded her experience as a former intelligence analyst for the U.S. military. He also disregards her experience with the corrupt U.S. judicial system. Both are experiences that neither talk show host possess.

While in prison, Chelsea became a symbol of transgender rights after the LGBTQ community supported her transition. Staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union previously stated the following:

“Like far too many people in prison, particularly transgender women, Chelsea Manning has had to survive unthinkable violence throughout the seven years of her incarceration. Finally, she will be leaving prison and building a life beyond the physical walls of the many sites of her detention. It is a remarkable gift to the world that Chelsea will be able to grow and fight alongside us for justice.”

We look forward to Chelsea’s upcoming fight for the Senate, and will report on her progress.