The political left chokes–allows Bradley Manning to be tortured

There are a few news media figure who are taking principled stands regarding the the horrific way that the United States government is treating Bradley Manning, who has not been convicted of any crime. Glen Greenwald is one of the few with scruples. Other principled voices can be read at Alternet, including Lynn Parramore, who (rightfully) suggests that we'd be outraged if we viewed a fictitious movie of someone being treated as badly as Manning, but since it's happening in real life we don't give a shit. Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake has admirably covered the story. Andrew Sullivan has weighed in. Barack Obama has fully earned the title of America's Second Modern Torture President. This is not hyperbole. Bradley Manning is being tortured by the United States. We are enthusiastically treating Manning the way we treated the (mostly innocent) prisoners at Gitmo. We are doing to Manning what we criticize when other countries do it. Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC has also presented the story with energy. The torture is bad enough, but the silence by mainstream Democrats is infuriating. We're running a great country, aren't we? No need to speak out about Wall Street corruption, massive problems with health care "reform," the right to assassinate U.S. citizens, government spying on its own citizens, and not blatant torture.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Continue ReadingThe political left chokes–allows Bradley Manning to be tortured

Bradley Birkenfeld still serving prison sentence

What the federal government has done to whistle-blower Bradley Birkenfeld is one of the most outrageous things I've ever heard. He blew the whistle on UBS and thousands of tax cheats, and he ends up being the only person associated with that scam to serve significant time (thousands of prominent well-to-do tax cheats are still running loose). Birkenfeld deserves immediate clemency, and you can lend your voice to this effort to help him out. Here's an earlier account with more sad details.

Continue ReadingBradley Birkenfeld still serving prison sentence

Openness correlates to moral relativism

Yale professor Joshua Knobe has gathered various findings suggesting that the personality trait of openness correlates with moral relativism. These findings suggest "we can start out with facts about people’s usual ways of thinking or talking and use these facts to get some insight into questions about the true nature of morality."

Continue ReadingOpenness correlates to moral relativism

Corporate pushback against supporters of Wikileaks

Glenn Greenwald discusses a recently disclosed corporate plan to sabotage the careers of supporters of Wikileaks such as Greenwald.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Glenn Greenwald develops this story in detail on his site.

Continue ReadingCorporate pushback against supporters of Wikileaks

A prisoner’s inside view of Guantanamo

You don't see many of these Guantanamo exit interviews in the American media. This particular story about a man named Saad Iqbal Madni was published by a website called The World Can't Wait. The way he was treated by American officials is despicable. We desperately need to make sure that the story of American torture at Guantanamo, and elsewhere is fully told, and that it never happens again. If you are a United States Citizen, this activity was done in your name.

Continue ReadingA prisoner’s inside view of Guantanamo