Various outlets are reporting that Chelsea Manning’s sentence has just been commuted by President Obama.
The former Army intelligence officer was incarcerated in 2010 after stealing roughly 700,000 military dossiers and diplomatic cables and turning them over to Wikileaks.
As NBC News reports, the decision — made in the very last days of Obama’s presidency — means that Manning can go free May 17th after serving seven years of her sentence.
Related: Chelsea Manning Begins Hunger Strike To Get Treatment For Gender Dysphoria
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.
Following Edward Snowden’s Tweet that said if Obama should free one person, it should be Manning, over 117,000 citizens signed a petition asking the President to cut the sentence short.
The request didn’t fall on deaf ears. Last week, Obama spokesperson Josh Earnest said in a White House briefing that there was a “stark difference” between Manning’s crimes and Snowden’s actions, with Snowden’s being “far more serious and far more dangerous” and, to our mind, ultimately awesome.
Manning applied for a presidential pardon there years ago and was rejected at the time. This November, she said in a petition that her previous request was “too soon” and “too much”.
“I should have waited,” she said.
I needed time to absorb the conviction, and to reflect on my actions. I also needed time to grow and mature as a person.
I take full and complete responsibility for my decision to disclose these materials to the public. I have never made any excuses for what I did. I pleaded guilty without the protection of a plea agreement because I believed the military justice system would understand my motivation for the disclosure and sentence me fairly. I was wrong.
Manning says she hasn’t been able to get proper medical treatment for her gender dysphoria while being incarcerated.
Related: Caitlyn Jenner Is “The Grinch Who Stole And Sold Out The Trans Movement,” Says Chelsea Manning
“The bottom-line is this,” she says. “I need help and I am still not getting it. I am living through a cycle of anxiety, anger, hopelessness, loss, and depression. I cannot focus. I cannot sleep. I attempted to take my own life.”
Mo Bro
Once you realize that Barack Obama hates America, everything he does makes sense.
Example #6,395.
cancorv
Thanks Barrack. A most fitting gesture at this stage. Thank you thank you.
myloginname
Fantastic news!
Juanjo
@Mo Bro: Once one realizes that Mo Bro is a pathetic troll, nothing foolish that he says comes as a surprise.
Chris
Congrats, Chelsea. Live out loud when you’re free to be who you are meant to be.
Caine
I hope this turns out to be true. I have been hoping.
@Mo Bro – go away you are probably a Russian bot and if you aren’t – you should be.
Hussain-TheCanadian
This is awesome news, I’m so happy for Chelsea – You are a brave and an honorable soul!!
@Mo Bro: Don’t let me take out the whip Mo Mo; I know your kinky @ss would like it, but don’t tempt me.
jsmnyny24
I didn’t realize that it was required of the LGBTQIA community to support traders to this nation. Pathetic.
I am sure I will be shot down on this board, but I don’t care because you are more concerned that he a “trans” than the security of this country. Shallow thinking, yes. Surprising, no.
NateOcean
Manning’s crime had nothing to do with being transgender.
She’s a traitor and deserves to be in prision.
(The full sentence seems unduly long, but seven years is way too short.)
I hope the government has put reasonable restrictions on her probation that prohibits her from profiting from books, movies, and talk show appearances.
And no Go-Fund-Me account to pay for her sex reassignment surgery.
Bob LaBlah
I make no apologies when I say this will go down as the biggest mistake he could have made. The only thing this action does is give a middle finger to the entire military and rules/regulations in general. He should have spent the rest of his life behind bars. He took an OATH and decided that HE would change the rules. The military is what it is: a non-democratic society. That is explained to you before you JOIN and once in their you must follow THEIR rules.
Thank you Obama for giving the GOP just cause to now changes its policy toward gays serving openly in the military. If this queen is allowed to give away secrets imagine what the next one will do once IT gets made as at superior officer when ordered to do something he didnt want to do.
Mkiel
@NateOcean: & you are a nasty vile spiteful person,& I hope you are Not gay as I hate to be in the same club.
Franklin
@Bob LaBlah: veteran here. I think I’ll be the judge of what actions give the middle finger to my service. Thanks.
Franklin
@Bob LaBlah: in the actions of that one person is not the basis for how to judge other gay people in the military.
Bob LaBlah
@Franklin: Tell that to those in power and be sure to come back and let us know how far you got with it. I willing to be it will be as far as this little twit could be picked up and thrown. She committed an act of treason and should be punished for it.
And to think I thought his bowing down and kissing the ass of the jews was bad enough when they demanded the release of another traitor to the U.S. (and one of THEIR own) Jonathan Pollard a few years ago. Pollard should have faced the firing squad considering the damage he did FAR exceeded what ol’ bra and panties (Manning) did.
Xzamilloh
@Mo Bro: You’re gonna find out how much a president hates America when Trump brings the Kremlin to America.
Rizsauvage
Just hope that Trump doesn’t veto it.
Franklin
@Bob Lablah Oliver North did 3 years in prison for far worse than Chelsea Manning did. So he can get a break and move on with his life, I think Chelsea Manning can.
Bob LaBlah
North did community service. To be honest, she (Chelsea) reminds me of you.
Bob LaBlah
@Franklin: Above comment was meant of you.
jonasalden
@jsmnyny24: It’s “traitor”, not “trader”. You’d think that would matter when publicly posting, but in America I guess not. Not only are you and people like you more interested in misguided patriotism than the truth, but also proud of it. Odd. You drank the Kool-Aid, as the kids say.
inbama
@Bob LaBlah:
With that comment, you lost all credibility on the subject.
Mo Bro
@Xzamilloh:
C’mon, that’s just reckless fearmongering, kind of like when the Republicans assured us that Obama was going to communize America.
flybyKnight
This is actually the perfect action for our soon to be former Ditherer in Chief. Commutation of Chelsea Manning’s sentence is a nod to the LGBTQ community and those Progressives that criticized Obama’s protection and strengthening of the Clandestine domestic spying apperatus which was exposed by Edward Snowden… without actually pardoning Edward Snowden. Manning was largely credited for releasing information that brought about the Arab Spring which destabilized a number of despotic governments leading to power vacuums that ISIS and other terrorist and hard right groups took full advantage of. Now that I think of it… Obama should have preemptively pardoned Snowden instead of commuting Manning’s sentence.
Danny279
He deserved a firing squad. Instead, he gets “transition” services in prison and then early release. Disgusting. Hopefully, Trump will put him in solitary confinement on Friday and then scour the prison record for any infractions which might also constitute crimes. The military can then prosecute Manning for these new offenses and extend his stay.
crowebobby
@Bob LaBlah: “The military is what it is: a non-democratic society. That is explained to you before you JOIN and once in their you must follow THEIR rules.” So what were the Nuremberg Trials all about?
Bob LaBlah
@crowebobby: The Nuremberg trials put criminals on trial and served out justice to those who violated the rules of war. Those criminals were the hierarchy of the Nazi Party. You see, there are rules as to how war can be fought. It was decided after World War 1 that things such as poison gas, mass executions of civilians who were not engaged in combat and such were war crimes.
Bob LaBlah
@inbama: I know, I know. The truth does hurt but some one needs to tell you girls the truth as you slowly but surely drift away from reality and refuse to look down the road at just what it is your doing and where your heading. This manipulative little queen will get out in May and no doubt have a book deal, speaking appearances and other things offered to her that you, the poorer queens, never will.
As desperate as she is for attention it would not shock me if Bruce Jenner will have something to say about her sentence being commuted. You people really do need to stop and see Twittyetta for what she really is: an opportunist and attention whore.
Bob LaBlah
@Danny279: I’m surprised the old Halloween-haired hippie hasn’t Twittered something about this. Or maybe he already has. Who knows and who cares?
Hussain-TheCanadian
@Bob LaBlah: execuse me but are you saying that video, of those military criminals, who shot at and murdered iraqi civilians in cold blood, while some in the military command covered it up rather than putting those soldiers on trial, that video shouldn’t have been exposed by Ms manning?
How about what happened in Abu Graib prison? Should that shit been kept secret too? Your army command sure is useless, and this proves we need whistle blowers.
notcisjustmale
Bradley Manning wasn’t a whistle blower. He was a frustrated closet case having a hissy fit. He disclosed information he had a duty to protect. May not have been during a declared war, but plenty of lead was flying through the air. They shoot spies in times of war, don’t they?
tomk1of1
She was used and abused like an animal (no we treat animals better by and large) to show people not to fuck with the government. I am most happy about this than anything else I can think of recently.
tomk1of1
@notcisjustmale: boy I haven’t read anything so off and lacking in equity and common sense in a very long time,,
tomk1of1
@Hussain-TheCanadian: She is a hero,but they saw her as dangerous and setting a precedent they needed to quash. Anyone who doesn’t see that is part of the problem. Thanx for you post. Some,of th she post are downright ignorant. I’m surprised!
Yours has so,of factual information… many don’t want facts,they simple want to judge and somehow this makes them feel better.
Also many see one short news story and never fact check the whole story,so remain ignorant.
She was a whistle blower … but she was tested like she was a foreign spy…actually worse. They used her to make a point. Thank you President Obama (I can still say that today) although he was part of the problem with this,I forgive him today….
Bob LaBlah
@tomk1of1: You know what, your comment reads just like Hussain-TheCanadian. I swear it does. It reads almost as if the ol’ rag head reread his post, got embarrassed by what he said and then tried to clean it up by signing in under a different name pretending to be another misinformed, directionless assed queen giving him a pat on the back.
But it didnt slip past ol’ Bob. The grammar, punctuation….the whole shabang all reads the same. What a piss poor try. Please don’t try again.
Franklin
@Bob LaBlah: You don’the don’t know a thing about me, so let’s not try and pretend that you do. I just care for when people try to speak for the military.
Franklin
I just don’t care for when people try and speak for the military.
Franklin
And rag head? That’s cute. Pretty much tells me everything I need to know about you. Peace out man. I don’t waste my time argue with bigots. That comment was meant for you Bob LaBlah.
Hussain-TheCanadian
@Bob LaBlah: bob needs to get her eyes checked, and possibly a refill on her medication.
As for the bigotry, that’s quite expected from an uncivilized neanderthal who has no compassion for his fellow human beings.
Danny279
@Hussain-TheCanadian: Nothing like what you described was in anything that Manning leaked. Manning was convicted for leaking hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables, the vast majority of which had nothing to do with Iraq or any war and none of which contained any evidence of wrongdoing. The so-called helicopter video did not show “cold blooded” killing but in any event was not part of Manning’s conviction.
Bob LaBlah
@Hussain-TheCanadian: “As for the bigotry, that’s quite expected from an uncivilized neanderthal who has no compassion for his fellow human beings.”
Dear, its painfully obvious you didnt take advantage of the top-notch public school system that Canada offers its citizens free of charge.
Obama is well aware that a for-profit prison system is in place here in America that feeds off of men and women who get clean behind bars, take advantage of what few job training skills offered behind bars only to end up back behind bars because of a criminal record that society refuses to forgive. The only difference between them and the majority of you ignoranuses (no typo) reading this is they got caught and you didn’t. They are the ones more deserving of a second chance than Twittyetta here, who is on her way to living Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous if IT (or whatever the hell you want to refer to her What Ever Happened To Baby Jane looking ass) can keep her mouth in check. Based on the responses here her reality television show ratings will exceed that last embarrassment, Bruce Jenner, by leaps and bounds. This is the type of low-life trash you people just adore obviously.