David Rovics - Song for Bradley Manning (official video)

[Generic Other]

[WillyT]

1. K & R !!!

[annm4peace]

2. this should have 100 kicks

anyone who cares about Democracy should be kicking anything with Bradley Manning in it right now.

[LiberalLovinLug]

3. Big Kick

Very powerful.

I wish someone would stand up at a press conference and ask President Obama why Bradley Manning has not been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

[iemitsu]

4. Whistle-blowers ought to be considered heros, in a free and open society,

not criminals.
If a government policy or procedure cannot hold up to public scrutiny then it ought not to be policy.
If the government's procedures are criminal then they ought to be exposed to the light.
The idea that our government has criminalized ethical and moral behavior is appalling.
We should all be in the streets demanding that Bradley Manning be set free.

[Generic Other]

5. He had no obligation to hide their crimes

And he actually had a moral responsibility to expose the truth.

[iemitsu]

6. That is how I see it, Generic.

Its the individual responsibility thing (that politicians always tout when expecting us to fend for ourselves) that underpins the checks and balances aspect of our political system.
People and institutions ought to be honest by their own volition and because it is the right way to be, but we know that fear of exposure is often the base motive for honest behavior.
If we don't expose wrong doing then we are as much of a problem as those doing wrong.