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Chelsea Manning
Barack Obama
LGBTQ

“Manning, then a low-level Army intelligence analyst in Iraq, was arrested in 2010 and pled guilty in 2013 to 10 charges related to releasing classified information through the WikiLeaks organization.” BPNews

Discussion

Thu, 01/19/17

I was prepared to be horrified at this, but then it occurred to me that Mr. Obama may have a rather Macchiavellian motive with this. By releasing a “trans” person, he gets the accolades of LGBT advocates. However, at the same time, he cannot be unaware of the fact that Mr. Manning has attempted suicide twice in the past year, that he will not be eligible for VA health benefits with a dishonorable discharge, that he will not be likely to get a good job with good medical/mental health benefits with that felony record/dishonorable discharge, and that outside of Leavenworth, he will no longer be on suicide watch.

For Mr. Manning’s sake, I hope that my appraisal here is pessimistic, but the fact of the matter is that by “commuting” Manning’s sentence, Obama may very well have sentenced him to death.

OK, count me horrified even more.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.

Thu, 01/19/17

Mr. Manning is a traitor and I object to his sentence being cut short.

Tyler is a pastor in Olympia, WA and works in State government.

Thu, 01/19/17

[Jim]

Will “Chelsea” have to pay for his own … “transition”?

I sincerely hope for his own sake that he never goes to a bar frequented by veterans /

Because these guys have a very low view of him/her (also Bowe Bergdahl)

I believe the answer is yes, he will be on the hook for his own gender reassignment—VA benefits generally do not accrue to those dishonorably discharged, which requires a serious felony (like Treason, H/T. Tyler). Given that most employers with benefits won’t touch a guy with a dishonorable discharge, the means that unless friends pony up for it, he’s probably out of luck in a LOT of ways.

And if we think he’d catch Hell in a bar with veterans, imagine him meeting a Gold Star Mom or dad whose child was killed as a result of the intelligence he released.

Again, hope I’m wrong, but my gut feeling is that Obama has commuted a 35 year sentence to the death penalty.

Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.