Our Collective Shame

Anytime some tells me that Barack Obama is a far better president than George W. Bush, I think of Bradley Manning. Though you don't see his name pop up in the mainstream press all that often, Manning is the soldier accused of passing classified documents to WikiLeaks. Though he was only recently charged with a list of crimes, he has been held in solitary confinement for over 9 months.

Think about that. Nine months or 3/4 of one year or approximately 270 days. It doesn't matter what a person could be charged with or convicted of -- that is inhumane punishment. That is torture. It is a form of terrorism. And remember, Manning hasn't been CONVICTED of a thing.

Of all the journalists out there, the one who has most courageously and doggedly kept the plight of Bradley Manning from being completely buried out-of-sight is Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com. Here's a snippet of his most recent report in which he reveals that Manning is now being subjected to prolonged forced nudity:

Let's review Manning's detention over the last nine straight months:
23-hour/day solitary confinement; barred even from exercising in his cell; one hour total outside his cell per day where he's allowed to walk around in circles in a room alone while shackled, and is returned to his cell the minute he stops walking; forced to respond to guards' inquiries literally every 5 minutes, all day, everyday; and awakened at night each time he is curled up in the corner of his bed or otherwise outside the guards' full view. Is there anyone who doubts that these measures -- and especially this prolonged forced nudity -- are punitive and designed to further erode his mental health, physical health and will? As The Guardian reported last year, forced nudity is almost certainly a breach of the Geneva Conventions; the Conventions do not technically apply to Manning, as he is not a prisoner of war, but they certainly establish the minimal protections to which all detainees -- let alone citizens convicted of nothing -- are entitled...

We treat animals in kennels better than Manning is being treated today! And this is being done under the watchful eye of the Obama administration.

While I am enthused by the energetic protests going on in support of public sector workers in Wisconsin and other states, I am equally horrified that a democracy that says it values human rights would treat a human being in this manner. As long as it continues, we each share a large measure of the shame.