Frontline: Bradley Manning is gay

[Renew Deal]

I'm watching the Frontline special on Bradley Manning. He told his friend and family that he is gay. Is this news? I didn't know that.

[Hissyspit]

1. Nothing new.

There was an Australian documentary that was better and more thorough than the Frontline, from what I understand, by the way.

[Renew Deal]

5. Frontline said they will have an hour long special in May.

So I suspect this story isn't over.

[marmar]

2. Not news.

nt

[RKP5637]

3. It's been known a long time. n/t

[Wilms]

4. I knew it. But is it "news"?

:shrug:

[Renew Deal]

6. Good question

I don't know, but I didn't know that. That's a good thing I suppose.

[Wilms]

8. Try this.

How often do you read an article that says something like, "So and so, who is heterosexual, is blah, blah, blah"?

It has nothing to do with the story.

[Biker13]

23. Excellent Point! n/t

[I Drink Water]

7. Is it news? It is completely irrelevant.

[EFerrari]

9. Frontline's piece is a personal attack, not actual reporting. n/t

[Renew Deal]

11. How so?

[EFerrari]

17. Because they raise issues like Brad being gay

as if that has anything to do with leaking. They point to tensions in his family as if that's somehow a reason for anything that followed. It's just an attack on his character, aka, a smear job.

At the end, as Greg Mitchell pointed out, they say he's in custody but don't say a word about the conditions of his custody or that every credible human rights org on the planet has protested them.

Smear.

[Renew Deal]

20. The story is called "The Private Life of Bradley Manning"

It's a short biographical piece on Manning. They did say that they were going to do an hour long special on Manning in May, so this is a bit of a teaser. But I think his struggle with his sexuality is part of his story, especially considering that he knowingly broke the law by joining the army.

The other thing I thought was interesting was the 911 call from his stepmom. It shows that Manning did not have an easy home life and that's part of the reason why he joined the military. They didn't get into the leak, the aftermath, or his issues in the military at all. I don't consider it a smear.

[FreeState]

22. How did he break the law by joining the Army? N/T

[Renew Deal]

24. DADT

[FreeState]

25. How so? DADT didn't bar GLB citizens from serving n/t

[Renew Deal]

26. That's true

But it sure didn't welcome them in.

[CreekDog]

43. so you'll apologize for saying that gay people who joined the military "broke the law"

fair is fair since you were wrong --and offensive.

[EFerrari]

27. I couldn't disagree more.

They frame him as some kind of bad seed which is bullshit.

[Renew Deal]

28. Is it?

Why did he join the army?

[EFerrari]

38. Maybe you should ask him.

:)

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[freeplessinseattle]

39. "knowingly broke the law"

Your words or Frontline's? Either way inaccurate and meant to imply that he has a history of breaking the law. Lame.

[peekaloo]

40. I got that impression as well.

Made me uncomfortable. He's presented as an aimless, somewhat unstable, violence-prone loner . Perfect "patsy" for that Assange fellow , I'm guessing, in their May Wikileaks feature.

[TxVietVet]

10. So what!

That has absolutely nothing to do with the issue. It was probably put out there to attack his character and paint all gays as traitors.

[Renew Deal]

12. It's an interesting fact considering the military's previous position on the issue.

[TxVietVet]

41. It has to deflect the damage the case has caused them.

Blame it on a god-forsaken gay man. Makes the Army look like the innocent victim.
Still, I don't see how a PFC can have access to the classified diplomatic files that supposedly he copied. I believe the guy is just a scapegoat.

[jmowreader]

47. Thank Shrub for that

After 9/11, the idiot son of an asshole decided the reason America had been attacked is the intel agencies' propensity to keep their raw information to themselves--which they did to keep it from being misused. (Besides, someone from Agency A wouldn't necessarily know what to do with raw data from Agency B.) So he ordered the creation of what is called SIPRnet, which has the State Department as one of its subscribers.

Between everyone having access to everything and flash drives that fit easily in any soldier's boot being sold next to the Carmex at Walmart, you KNEW something like this was eventually going to happen.

[TxVietVet]

49. So, that's what happened. The crackhead bu$h is the blame for this fiasco.

I was wondering how he had access to that information when he really had no need to know. "Need to know" was the gauge used to allow access when I was in. Now I understand. Everyone had access to all that raw data from various agencies and groups. Not good. Too much information. Too many eyes.

[jmowreader]

50. This is one of the biggest problems with the current Fourth Estate

Or should we say "Fifth Column"? All these fuckers are giving the governor a harrumph over Bradley Manning stealing all this shit.

Here's the real problem: The intelligence community we had on 1/19/2001 was PERFECTLY SUITABLE for finding and stopping terrorists. It caught the people who bombed the WTC in 1993. It caught the people who blew up the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. It tracked down the people who blew up the USS Cole, and would have had them if Shrub wouldn't have blown off what Clinton's people told him. And it did it without the need to put national-level information in a brigade S-2 shop, which is where Bradley Manning worked.

Unfortunately, Shrub wanted the intel community to be full of people who'd tell him what he wanted to hear.

The Republicans say they want the government to run like a business. To them I must ask: do you really think Walmart gives its part-time shelf-stockers access to shipping manifests from China?

[freshwest]

13. Agreed. I expected better from Frontline, but they have been taking oil money, too.

[BrendaBrick]

46. Yes, I expected better from Frontline as well n/t

[Puregonzo1188]

14. I've heard this before, but mostly from rightwing websites.

No one I know of who's involved with the Support organization has ever mentioned it.

It may very well be true, but I think it's irrelevant and not really anyone's business.

[Renew Deal]

15. His "closest friend" and dad were on talking about it.

[Puregonzo1188]

18. I'm not doubting it. I just don't think it's relevant and it's mostly something

that righwingers have fixated on, usually as an attempted smear. Not that being gay is a smear...

[Smarmie Doofus]

16. It's well known. Certainly by his detractors. Which accounts for...

... the level of venom directed toward him and the gratuitous pretrial prison abuse.

[Renew Deal]

21. You believe that all of his detractors are homophobes?

And you believe that a "straight" soldier wouldn't be treated the same way?

[Wilms]

29. Lots of Murkins are homophobes. How better to smear, and take the REAL issue off the table? n/t

:shrug:

[Renew Deal]

31. Which is the smear and which is the real issue?

:shrug:

[Wilms]

35. The real issue is that there are allegations that an alleged whistle blower is being tortured.

Don't fall for the distraction/smear.

[Renew Deal]

37. I thought the real issue was the leaks.

Either way, PBS didn't take the story that far yet. They only took it to him joining the military. The torture claim is debatable. Just look around DU.

[Smarmie Doofus]

30. 1. No; 2. Yes. Google "Bradley Manning"+"faggot". Then...

tell me his homosexuality doesn't color the issue for many of the "con" side of the Bradley Manning debate.

[Renew Deal]

32. Sexuality colors most issues for them.

I don't think sexuality has anything to do with the conditions of his confinement.

[fried eggs]

34. Do You realize that by telling him to google those words you are making the search phrase more popul...

[Renew Deal]

36. Don't worry.

I didn't do it.

[CreekDog]

44. you still won't correct or apologize for calling gays that joined the military law-breakers

wondering if you're a stand up person or perhaps a small person.

[CreekDog]

45. when was the last time you started a thread talking about the straightness of a person?

your bias is showing.

[Earth_First]

19. Irrelevant. n/t

[FormerDittoHead]

42. It all makes sense now! You know how they love to gossip!

:sarcasm:

I didn't watch it.

I wonder, in the context of their presentation, what relevance did it have?

(I get that it has nothing to do with it, but I'm asking about Frontline's narrative)

[eShirl]

48. But did they say what his favorite color is???