The Whole Delivery

Yesterday, as most many know, Bradley Manning, the leaker to Wikileaks of the infamous US soldiers shouting Iraqi civilians, received criminal charges. The attack on whistleblowers from the Obama Administration is just as intense and reckless as if they were the Cheney/Bush Administration. And the brilliant and intrepid Jesselyn Radack has another massive post over at the Kos, talking about and reminding people how President Obama has clearly changed his stance on protecting whistleblowers like Manning and Tom Drake. Damaging : Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will stren...

As some of you may have heard last night, Wired.com's reporters Kevin Poulsen and Kim Zetter broke the story last night of the arrest of the man who provided Wikileaks video of the Collateral Damage 2007 Iraq video that made headlines a few months ago and embarrassed the US Military . SPC Bradley Manning, 22, of Potomac, Maryland, was stationed at Forward Operating Base Hammer, 40 miles east of Baghdad, where he was arrested nearly two weeks ago by the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division. A family member says he’s being held in custody in Kuwait, and has not been formally charged. Manning was getting comparisons in the lines of the legendary Daniel Ellsburg. And quotes like this one highlight the pure element of "humanity" and the "human soul" in its most maximum effect: “If you had unprecedented access to classified networks 14 hours a day 7 days a week for 8+ months, what would you do?” Manning asked. The man that turned him in also has a telling persp...