John Chuckman
COMMENT POSTED IN THE GUARDIAN
Chelsea Manning is one of the few genuine heroes of our
time.
She risked everything and did so out of a profound sense of
human decency.
The truly brave always in history are abused by authorities.
The ones who get medals are not so much the brave but the
compliant.
Most of the vast stores of secrets the United States has
hidden away are not in any way threats to national security.
They are mostly threats to the security of authorities who
are afraid of public reaction to their lying, incompetence, and poor judgment.
We cannot have
democracy unless the people understand better what their government is doing
and why.
And today I think it fair to say America is no democracy but
a collection of elites using the immense powers of that government to do as
they wish.
Killing, destroying, and overthrowing on a vast scale - all
while supporting brutal and tyrannical governments such as Saudia Arabia or
Israel who serve its purposes abroad.
