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While I also agree Manning deserves a pardon, to be fair, he was significantly more careless than Snowden.

Basically all the arguments (lies) they use to damn Snowden can be fairly applied to Manning.



I disagree that Manning deserves a pardon, because she was significantly more (read completely) careless. Not only about the content of what was released, but the manner in which it was released. Comparing Manning's actions to Snowden's is naive at best.


I don't think carelessness is the difference between 35 years in prison and a pardon.

Yes, she was less careful and less precise and made more mistakes. She was younger than Snowden, more scared than Snowden, not thinking as straight as Snowden, perhaps even not as smart as Snowden (who appears to really be a genius of some kind). Snowden also had the benefit of learning from and being inspired by her mistakes. But her motivation was the same and 'crime' was more or less the same. And she's stuck in prison being denied medical care she needs, while Snowden is living a more or less free (compared to military prison!) life in exile.

Manning needs a pardon or commutation, she did what she did for us, same as Snowden.


Manning is a woman. She uses the pronoun "she".


I was using the past tense and am unaware of her preferences for previous gender identification.


Your downvote was not deserved. This is a complicated, new and so far un-absorbed issue. We all struggle a bit with it, in different ways and with different parts of it.


Carelessness should have nothing to do with it. It's even more urgent to pardon her because she is already incarcerated.


Carelessness matters a great deal! The risks/damage to the security of the country are tied to the care of what and to whom things are revealed. Its the same reason Hillary should be tried, she was ignorant and careless w/ secure information.


Would you like to be specific about the damage?


for example blindly releasing/disclosing/leaking documents to the public can endanger in field operatives.

Vs a reporter should be smart enough to redact the sensitive bits and report in a general enough way as to not endanger any specific person (in the field).


I know it could. Can you come up with one single instance of that? Can you compare that instance with the Valery Plame leak and the leniency afforded to Scooter Libby? Any evidence Manning had control (and, therefore, responsibility) over the release?




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