If he’s guilty, Manning not only violated security protocol and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, he violated the trust of his colleagues, the Army and his countrymen. Now that he prepares to stand trial, he has shown himself to be willing to sacrifice honorable gay and lesbian servicemembers to avoid responsibility.
Lawyers for Manning are claiming that his struggle with his sexual orientation contributed to emotional problems that should have precluded him from working in a classified environment. This shameful defense is an offense to the tens of thousands of gay servicemembers who served honorably under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
We all served under the same law, with the same challenges and struggles. We did not commit treason because of it…
To justify misbehavior in the workplace because of minority status is detrimental to the morale and performance of others. For Manning’s legal counsel at Fort Meade, MD, to suggest that his orientation and/or gender identity be part of a defense or excuse for misbehavior is as unacceptable as the use of a ‘gay panic’ defense by a murderer.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Log Cabin Republican executive director Capt. R. Clarke Cooper, on Bradley Manning possibly claiming stress from DADT made him leak military documents, in a Stars and Stripes opinion piece. Cooper is a strategic intelligence officer in the Army Reserve with a Top Secret/SCI clearance.
QJ201
Douche
JohnAGJ
@QJ201: Who, Manning? I agree. He IS a douche. Cooper on the other hand is spot on!
QJ201
@JohnAGJ: Cooper. The comparison is a huge stretch.
Mark Nolan
Manning’s defence is an absolute disgrace to LGBT people…
Nichole Weberring
Cooper jumps to a couple of conclusions without basing them in anything other than his own imagination. The largest being that Pfc. Manning’s defence will be a kind of “twinkie” defense on how the Army made her do it. That mayn’t be the case at all. The case has nothing to do with “gay” and everything to do with gender identity dysphoria (DSM-V.)
The argument may well be that given the emotional and mental stress of what’s determined to be a progressive condition that resolves effectively most often through surgery to bring one’s body into alignment with her or his mind, that Pfc. Manning reported the condition to superiors who, for reasons of their own and likely due to some vague “troop morale” reasoning kept Pfc Manning in place with no relief.
That decision would have exacerbated the turmoil the Pfc, Manning was feeling due to various other events. As the Co and others “knew” they appear to have had an obligation under the uniform code to have relieved Pfc. Manning of duty and suggested or even commanded hospitalization or therapy likely followed by a discharge for the good of the service.
I am not sure what Log Cabin Republicans think they see, but what I seem to see from Cooper is a leap that doesn’t make it across the abyss.
I think a better defense would be that Pfc Manning did herself and the rest of America and the world a grand good service by blowing the whistle on USA policy and procedure in a small slice of hell. She likely caused a war to be discontinued rather abruptly and all troops to be withdrawn on a timetable that was surely much shorter than was planned in 2008. Good for her.
GOD (gay old dude)
This piece of shit did what he did because he’s an angry, spiteful douchebag who thought he was going to stick it to the man by dumping boatloads of information that would hurt his own country. He didn’t do it for reasons of mental illness or oppression; that’s what one refers to as a defense grab-bag, where they grasp at straws when their client is so obviously guilty.
@Nichole Weberring: Manning is a she? Seriously? A SHE?!? Wow, I guess you’ll buy anything a defense lawyer says, which is why our jury system st times fails so epically. Sure, Bradley Manning is a she, Casey Anthony’s kid really drowned in an accident, and O.J. was innocent. Sweet. Thanks for making me laugh.
:)
Manning is a hero and deserves recognition as such. Not just a hero for LGBT soldiers, but for all Americans and all those around the world affected by US foreign policy. To hell with these log cabin house queers.
Mike
Manning didn’t use DADT as an excuse. The defense was only bringing up those issues as a mitigating factor for the punishment phase. This is an Article 32 military pre-trial hearing, which has very different rules from a normal trial, and the press hasn’t reported on it accurately. The defense was prepared to call many more witnesses, and bring in evidence from the government itself which showed ***no threat to national security**** posed by this information. (DIA/State/White House… all came to the same internal conclusion!) However, the government *of course* didn’t allow any of this evidence or those witnesses to be called. Hence… all you are being allowed to see is what you have been allowed to see.. the gender identity issue.. which is only a very small point the defense had intended to make. This is a show trial.. it is not a normal trial. Don’t expect it to make sense.
stevoj
leaking classified information that could endanger those around you is not an act of heroism. i hope he has come to terms with what ever caused him to make this mistake and understands that he was wrong
i have no sympathy for anyone who willingly endangers others. i work for my state and there is a great deal of privy information i have access to. even though i may not agree with it or support it at times i understand the damage it could do too the institution (and the population at large) if it were disclosed to the public
Mark
Cooper is COMPLETELY right. I think what Manning did was wrong, but even if you think what he did was right, you can’t possibly think it had anything to do with him being gay. It’s a disgrace to the real problems LGBT Americans face.
Eric in Chicago
They used to not let open GLBT people serve in the government with the excuse that they were a security risk so they could be blackmailed for being gay at any time and reaveal classified information. Having his attys say he shouldn’t have had access to classified information because he is gay is really a homophobic piece of thinking from the past and it’s disgusting.
However I will say no matter what Bradley Manning did or didn’t do – if you study his case you will see that our government has been on a campaign to emotionally torture this young man through total and complete isolation. Something that psychologist will tell you is a way to “break someone”. I think the USA is a more humane place than that or should be. If you haven’t see the Bradley Manning story from FRONTLINE – you should watch it before making a lot of rash judgments.
Cam
Cooper was sleeping with men the entire time he was in the military. So he broke the military laws of that time and according to his own comments should have been in jail.
Remember, this is the same group that was celebrating when Congressman Pat Murphy, a Vet who spearheaded the DADT repeal was DEFEATED in his reelection bid by somebody not even close to being as gay friendly.
This group doesn’t like gays anymore, they are shills for the GOP. The OLD Log Cabin that would withold endorsements from republicans who were not gay friendly at least had some integrity, but that was under Patrick Guarino, not Cooper.
Cam
@stevoj: said…
“leaking classified information that could endanger those around you is not an act of heroism. i hope he has come to terms with what ever caused him to make this mistake and understands that he was wrong”
__________________________________________
Thats funny, because not one piece of information leaked has been shown to have endangered our troops. And YET, what WAS shown, is that the govt. was hiding information that Pakistan was leaking our troop movement information to the Taliban endangering our troops, that the govt. and the govt. of Japan knew that that nuclear reactor was dangerously unsafe, as well as other information that was dangerous.
So actually that could be considered whistle blowing.
GayGOP
Cooper is spot on. If this guy is guilty, then he is a traitor. This is akin to a gay panic defense, i.e. I did it because I’m gay, in this case. What a disgrace to humanity, the LGBT community, America, and to the uniform. If he’s guilty, I say string him up. He disgraced himself, and the US.