Monday, December 24, 2012

MAN OF THE YEAR 2012: BRADLEY MANNING


Courtesy of bradleymanning.org

Because his neverending imprisonment defies logic

Because his imprisonment is dangerous, dangerous, dangerous precedent
Because he is a mirror to the moral vacuity that is American power today
Because he has been held in prison for over 900 days
Because his imprisonment is a travesty of justice
Because his imprisonment is a mockery of morality
Because one doesn’t flatten a molehill with a bulldozer
Because he exposed state-sanctioned murder and cover-ups
Because his 'dereliction of duty' was a service to truth
Because he leaked those classified military documents for all the right reasons
Because he believed what he did was the right thing to do – and just

Because Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King were also named 'enemies of the state'
Because no state has the right to be that monstrously secretive

Because he should be an icon to all gay men

Because he should be an icon to everyone who believes in truth and freedom of information
Because he is fast becoming the conscience of a generation

Because he is us

For all these reasons, and many, many more, I found it inevitable and only correct that I make Bradley Manning my Man of the Year for 2012.

Unfortunately, I felt compelled to do so.
May his ordeal come to an end - very soon - and in the right and morally proper way.

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