PayPal, the eBay-owned company once controlled by Meg Whitman, has shut down the account of Courage to Resist, which had been raising funds for Bradley Manning’s legal defense. Not that PayPal, which already cut off Wikileaks’ account after pressure for Sen. Joe Lieberman, cites any legal reason for killing Manning’s money movements; it was simply an “internal policy decision.” UPDATE: PayPal has reinstated the account.
ousslander
my heart is breaking
Riker
I think we’re forgetting that only an accusation has been made. He hasn’t been convicted, and he hasn’t even been charged with anything. In America, trials come *before* sentencing.
Lefty
I read on Fagburn earlier that Paypal have reversed their decision…
http://www.bradleymanning.org/16196/paypal-backs-down-reinstates-account-for-supporters-of-bradley-manning/
@Riker: So true. It seems like it has to be said every time a piece on Bradley Manning is posted. The same old people seem to come on here almost tripping over themselves to show what good house-trained gay Americans they are by slagging Manning off.
bob
I think everyone has a right to defend himself and raise money to do so. Therefore, this decision is regretable but it’s not the end of the world for this guy. There are other ways to raise money. What does distress me is comments from people who seem to pooh pooh the seriousness of what has happened. Whoever leaked this data to Wikileaks is a traitor and should be held accountable. This is NOT a Pentagon Papers situation but rather a wholesale, indiscriminate data dump with no thought as to the consequences to the US or individuals. I will give Manning his presumption of innocence but when someone is finally convicted, he should be remembered as a Timothy McVeigh type of villain.
GayGOP
I hope that PayPal, and all the other organizations that do this sort of fund allocation to legal defense funds refuse to pay funds to the legal defense funds of these Wikileaks spies and, in the case of Americans supporting Wikileaks by leaking documents or giving money to them, traitors.
Lefty
@bob: You say in your opinion this isn’t “a Pentagon Papers situation” but Daniel Ellsberg would most definitely disagree with you:
Ellsberg said he frequently hears people praise his 1971 leak of the Pentagon’s secret history of the Vietnam War while condemning the WikiLeaks disclosures. The 79-year-old former military analyst rejected that argument, calling Manning a “brother” who, if he indeed provided the documents to WikiLeaks, committed “a very admirable act.”
Ellsberg has been actively defending Bradley Manning these past few months, on TV, in print and also attending various talks aimed at highlighting Manning’s plight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msTCOqaeg5k
Your assertion that – were Manning to be found guilty – he should be remembered as “a Timothy McVeigh type villain” is even more bizarre.
As far as I know, no one has claimed a single death as a result of the leaks attributed to Manning. Timothy McVeigh murdered 168 people and injured four times as many. He did so in cold blood. His clear motive was murder.
To draw any kind of comparison between the two is pretty fucking low, not to mention self-evidently bullshit.
Ellsberg said, also referring to the man suspected of leaking the documents, Pvt. Bradley Manning. “To call them terrorists is not only mistaken, it’s absurd.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/16/daniel-ellsberg-wikileaks_n_797801.html
Lefty
@GayGOP: That’s hilarious.
You should write for The Onion.
unclemike
@GayGOP: You’re adorable. Like a tea cup chihuahua. Or a tiny penis.
zaniell
Hope the traitors *** die, better kill themselves, but I do have some sympathy for Manning–who, apparently, experienced severe mental breakdown–I hate the scum Assange.
Paypal is a private company and can refuse service to anyone. They can refuse service to me or you as well. It’s up to them. So is Ebay (and they often to refuse service to companies for various reasons and sometimes without such reason–it’s up to them). If you don’t like it: open your own company and invite Manning’s defense fund.
Lefty
@zaniell: said:
“Paypal is a private company and can refuse service to anyone. They can refuse service to me or you as well. It’s up to them.”
Not really. Companies used to be able to refuse service to anyone for all sorts of reasons, most notably if they were black of course (there have been a series of recent cases in the UK with people who run companies wanting to refuse service to gay people) but thankfully the world is a bit more civilised these days and most people stopped thinking like you 50 years ago.
Your advocacy for discrimination of individuals in favour of the rights of business is quite chilling from someone who I assume is gay.
“Hope the traitors *** die, better kill themselves…”
What a good American you are.
Joseph McCarthy would be proud.
Riker
@zaniell: Julian Assange isn’t a traitor more or less by definition. You can’t commit treason against America if you aren’t American nor have ever even been to America.
Pfc. Manning also is not a traitor, since nobody is even considering a treason charge against him. Treason is very narrowly defined in the Constitution, and requires two witnesses who saw the overt act take place.