General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Like it or Not, Bradley Manning is a Traitor [View all]mick063
(2,424 posts)From all enemies, foreign and domestic.
As an old man, the only weapons I can effectively wield is political support and a few words.
As a person that believes our Constitution has been under constant attack beginning with the Patriot Act, I lack trust that our leadership is regarding the Constitution with the same regard as personal political power.
It is the NSA surveillance, the influence of money in politics, the lack of transparency in government, and the general failure to govern that leads me to believe that our Constitution is in great peril. I consider this to be abnormal times. I consider a great deal of information due for public consumption is kept secret for the sole purpose of individuals maintaining political power.
I would typically not condone any actions done by those that reveal "secrets", but my lack of faith in our government questions whether secrets are intended to be kept from known enemies or secrets are intended to keep our public misinformed for reasons other than national security. There has been information leaked that appears to only serve the purpose of retaining personal power for individuals, through mitigating public perception of failure, or revealing criminal acts, that warrant such information to be deemed a secret. Secret from me the citizen, not from an enemy. This leads me to believe that the infrastructure considers me to be the enemy.
I am philosophically opposed to revealing secrets unless I believe the secrets are used to manipulate citizens. With faith in our government, I would very much support due process and punishment for people that reveal sensitive information. Restore my faith and I will once again support your view.