PFC Manning was forced to strip naked in his cell again last night. As with the previous evening, Quantico Brig guards required him to surrender all of his clothing. PFC Manning then walked back to his bed, and spent the next seven hours in humiliation.
The decision to require him to be stripped of all clothing was made by the Brig commander, Chief Warrant Officer-2 Denise Barnes ["Barnes said she plans to take things to another level within her new unit."] According to First Lieutenant Brian Villard, a Marine spokesman, the decision was "not punitive" and done in accordance with Brig rules. There can be no conceivable justification for requiring a soldier to surrender all his clothing, remain naked in his cell for seven hours, and then stand at attention the subsequent morning. This treatment is even more degrading considering that PFC Manning is being monitored -- both by direct observation and by video -- at all times. The defense was informed by Brig officials that the decision to strip PFC Manning of all his clothing was made without consulting any of the Brig's mental health providers.
This is common, or SOP, for "military intelligence". From a 2004 piece about Abu Ghraib: "Detainees were paraded naked past other prisoners and guards; some were ordered to do jumping jacks and sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in the nude, according to a several witnesses. Also, a father and his grown son were stripped, then forced to stand and stare at each other. The International Committee of the Red Cross, visiting in October, found prisoners left naked in their cells for days, modestly trying to shield themselves behind cardboard from meals-ready-to-eat boxes."
Remember...this is approved of by your Democratic President (if not, it would not be happening). Of course, this president has gone farther than the reviled GWB in that he has claimed the right to murder anyone in the world anywhere regardless of citizenship.
We are in a nation oozing systemic rot. These are not "insurgent" "bad actors" or mercenaries for hire who murder families while at weddings in foreign lands. This is your land, this is my land..."made for you and me" brothers and sisters. We are all in the brig with Bradley Manning. Manning is but one very clear example to you. Get with the program; Be "one of us". Or else. But that is really, the least of our worries.
Wisconsin's Governor is showing us the more of this same mindset--bullying and holding hostage the citizens of his state--defunding care for women; Ohio has already passed legislation to allow its labor force to be steamrolled into a third world existence; Arizona leads the nation in enacting hate legislation; systemic rot pervades our nation. We are lost. Were we ever the idyllic land our mythology proclaims? We are showing our true colors...the bully is in the ascendancy. He is your governor, your police chief, your president. He has the courts at his back. The bully is conservative; the bully says "my way".
I'm wondering when people are going to recognize that not only is the Tea Party socially conservative and uhm ... racially uncomfortable, their antipathy to taxes and government actually stems from those attitudes. It's not a coincidence or even a sympathetic constellation of various positions on the issues. They don't like government because they believe that government should not protect and support people they don't like. [bold emphasis added]Please read that part in bold again. This is the animus--no government, small government, less government...means keep out of my business. I don't want to treat all people equally. I want to hate my neighbor if he's not like me--I want to hang him from a tree after I drag him behind my truck for a few miles. Having this kind of politician "in charge" will lead to laws that ALLOW this kind of hate-filled abusive behavior and call it "freedom". In this way your only real liberty will be your death.
I'm finished with my own polite response to this kind of inherent bigotry. I believe it is systemic in our white Christian nation. Poll the haters...poll the tea partiers...poll the Klan...poll the neo-Nazis...Do you believe in God, ask them...do you believe in Jesus as your savior, ask them.
I do not fetishize atheism (hate needs no religion or god) but I do not believe any good can come of a religion where the divinity walks with you while you carry your uzi and your flag and your noose.
You cannot disassociate the "ease" of coming to hate from within this religious system. Faith in Hate!
Do some comparative reading to discover which religions are the most warring, aggressive and hate-filled. If you belong to one of these, you really should be asking yourself why. Then take a gander at the tolerance inherent in Hindu religious traditions.
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