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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
I’d hazard that a lot of internal whistblower also don’t get their names out because they want to remain anonymous. Some because they need to be anonymous for their job, some because they just don’t want fame and a number because they fear retaliation internally if their name does get out.
Nobody wants the story of “hero officer [name] go to sec of defence over corruption scandal” to be followed by “[name] found dead on Do D base after what’s been ruled a “freak accident”.
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranManning has been fairly open about her reasons.
https://www.amnestyusa.org/chelsea-manning-why-speaking-out-is-worth-the-risk/
Why did you decide to leak documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?
These documents were important because they relate to two connected counter-insurgency conflicts in real-time from the ground. Humanity has never had this complete and detailed a record of what modern warfare actually looks like. Once you realize that the co-ordinates represent a real place where people live; that the dates happened in our recent history; that the numbers are actually human lives – with all the love, hope, dreams, hatred, fear, and nightmares that come with them – then it’s difficult to ever forget how important these documents are.
What did you think the consequences might be for you personally?
In 2010, I was a lot younger. The consequences felt very vague. I expected the worst possible outcome, but I didn’t have a strong sense of what that might entail. But I expected to be demonized and have every moment of my life examined and analyzed for every single possible screw-up that I’ve ever made – every flaw and blemish – and to have them used against me in the court of public opinion. I was especially afraid that my gender identity would be used against me.
What was it like to feel the full force of the US justice system and be presented as a traitor?
It was particularly interesting to see the logistics involved in the prosecution: the stacks of money spent; the gallons of fuel burned; the reams of paper printed; the lengthy rolls of security personnel, lawyers, and experts – it felt silly at times. It felt especially silly being presented as a traitor by the officers who prosecuted my case. I saw them out of court for at least 100 days before and during the trial and developed a very good sense of who they were as people. I’m fairly certain that they got a good sense of who I am as a person too. I remain convinced that even the advocates that presented the treason arguments did not believe their own words as they spoke them.
Many people think of you as a whistleblower. Why are whistleblowers important?
In an ideal world, governments, corporations, and other large institutions would be transparent by default. Unfortunately, the world is not ideal. Many institutions begin a slow creep toward being opaque and we need people who recognize that. I think the term “whistleblowers” has an overwhelmingly negative connotation in government and business, akin to a “tattle-tale” or “snitch”. This needs to be addressed somehow. Very often policies that supposedly protect such people are actually used to discredit them.
What would you say to somebody who is afraid to speak out against injustice?
First, I would point out that life is precious. In Iraq in 2009-10, life felt very cheap. It became overwhelming to see the sheer number of people suffering and dying, and the learned indifference to it by everybody around me, including the Iraqis themselves. That really changed my perspective on my life, and made me realize that speaking out about injustices is worth the risk. Second, in your life, you are rarely given the chance to really make a difference. Every now and then you do come across a significant choice. Do you really want to find yourself asking whether you could have done more, 10-20 years later? These are the kinds of questions I didn’t want to haunt me.
Why did you choose this particular artwork to represent you?
It’s the closest representation of what I might look like if I was allowed to present and express myself the way I see fit. Even after I came out as a trans woman in 2013, I have not been able to express myself as a woman in public. So I worked with Alicia Neal, an artist in California, to sketch a realistic portrait that more accurately represents who I am. Unfortunately, with the current rules at military confinement facilities, it is very unlikely that I will have any photos taken until I am released – which, parole and clemency notwithstanding, might not be for another two decades.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.God it’s satisfying to see a bunch of Putin Cronies get slapped with Sanctions.
As a result of today’s actions, any property or interests in property of those designated within or that come within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and transactions by U.S. persons involving the designated persons are generally prohibited. Today’s action brings the total number of individuals or entities designated by OFAC pursuant to the Magnitsky Act to 55.
OFAC also designated Gennady Vyacheslavovich Karlov (Karlov) for having participated in efforts to conceal the legal liability for the detention, abuse, or death of Sergei Magnitsky. As the Deputy Section Chief of the Investigative Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Karlov made false or misleading claims about Magnitsky’s detention and abuse, which in turn provided a justification for Magnitsky’s detention. Karlov also oversaw aspects of Magnitsky’s detention, including a decision not to respond to complaints made by Magnitsky about his deteriorating health, a decision to transfer Magnitsky to a different prison facility one week prior to a scheduled surgery, and the denial of Magnitsky’s requests to allow a visit by his relatives.
Today, OFAC also designated Abuzayed Vismuradov (Vismuradov) for being responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation, or to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections, in Russia. As the commander of the Terek Special Rapid Response Team in the Chechen Republic, Vismuradov was in charge of an operation that illegally detained and tortured individuals on the basis of their actual or perceived LGBTI status.
OFAC also designated the Terek Special Rapid Response Team for being responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to expose illegal activity carried out by officials of the Government of the Russian Federation, or to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections, in Russia. Fighters of the Terek Special Response Team detained and tortured persons they believed to be LGBTI, sometimes after the individuals were lured to meetings using social media.
Sergey Leonidovich Kossiev (Kossiev) is also being designated by OFAC for being responsible for extrajudicial killing, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic elections, in Russia. As the head of the Corrective Colony 7 (IK-7) penal colony in the Republic of Karelia, Kossiev oversaw and participated in the beatings and abuse of prisoners. Kossiev oversaw and participated in the beatings and abuse of prisoners, and attempted to conceal the evidence of such abuse.
Finally, OFAC is designating Ruslan Geremeyev (Geremeyev) for acting as an agent of or on behalf of Head of Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov in a matter relating to extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights committed against individuals seeking to obtain, exercise, defend, or promote internationally recognized human rights and freedoms, such as the freedoms of religion, expression, association, and assembly, and the rights to a fair trial and democratic election in Russia. OFAC designated Ramzan Kadyrov pursuant to the Magnitsky Act on December 20, 2017. Geremeyev is a former deputy commander of the Sever Battalion in Chechnya, which is considered part of Kadyrov’s personal guard. Russian investigators twice tried to bring charges against Geremeyev as the possible organizer of Boris Nemtsov’s murder, but were blocked by the head of the Investigations Committee.
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No, no, no. That's the wrong way of looking at it. Democrats have no reason to care about the opinions of people who were never going to vote Blue. It's about the people in the middle, who might vote either way. And it's about the Democrat base.
You give the former clear evidence for just how bad the GOP is, and give the latter evidence that you're trying to improve things.
Edited by Gilphon on May 16th 2019 at 2:17:11 PM
I've seen mentioned a lot that if Congress won't take Barr's crap, it shouldn't take Manning's either. But there's a crucial difference between the two: Barr is pushing for less transparency, Manning for more.
And given the State's track record, she's right to fear the worst if she testifies behind closed doors; it's basic pattern recognition.
All the more reason.
Edited by Medinoc on May 17th 2019 at 9:19:13 PM
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."Yeah, I feel like a lot of people are not realizing that two different bodies are attempting to get testimony from two different people for very different reasons. If we're going to compare these things, we need to be aware of the functional differences here.
Like, I'm pretty sure that Nadler isn't all that concerned at the moment with Manning when he's got this presidential stuff on his plate.
I point out there's a bit more Dramatic Irony here that Barr is the one (ultimately) prosecuting Manning for Contempt of Court and ignoring a subpoena.
So yes, one should be doubly angry.
Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.Speaking of Barr, I don't know if anybody mentioned this in this thread, but he and Nancy Pelosi ran into each other this week. Barr asked Pelosi if she had handcuffs for him. This is exactly why he should've been arrested last week. He's flaunting their authority.
And on a not-so-unrelated note, Trump just said that those in the Russian probe should be arrested for treason. He's ramping up the dictator rhetoric to eleven and I feel like nobody is trying to stop him.
Edited by speedyboris on May 17th 2019 at 9:13:07 AM
That, right there, is precisely what I've been talking about. Barr thinks he's untouchable. He's mocking Pelosi for House Dems' failure to push back against him.
A message was sent to the Trump Administration when Pelosi refused to bring the contempt charges to the floor for a full vote. That message was that they've won: House Democrats will do nothing to preserve the investigation, they will do nothing to push back against Trump and his cronies, and there are no longer any checks and balances.
Trump and his people are now fully convinced that they rule an authoritarian state. That there is no meaningful resistance left in Washington. That the last bastion of defense against them, the House, has raised the white flag in surrender.
They get bolder by the day because why wouldn't they? Who's going to stop them? Not Pelosi. Not the Supreme Court, which now has a conservative majority. Right now, they're totally convinced of their invulnerability.
These people are bullies and they operate on bully logic. Of course William Barr is openly mocking Pelosi to her face about the contempt charges. Why shouldn't he? What's she going to do about it? He knows she doesn't have the spine to actually charge him.
And so far, he's right. As of right now, the House is spending its time on symbolic drafting of bills guaranteed to fail while Republicans eagerly tear down decades' worth of hard-won rights. Who's going to stop them?
Edited by TobiasDrake on May 17th 2019 at 9:19:32 AM
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.Yeah, I feel like a lot of people are not realizing that two different bodies are attempting to get testimony from two different people for very different reasons.
Which is why people calling hypocrisy on Manning and Barr being treated differently on the their contempt charges doesn't make any sense. Congressional Democrats aren't being hypocritical by arresting Manning because they're not the ones dealing with Manning in the first place.
Chelsea Manning is a goddamned idiot. She took the worst possible approach to her leak, tried to combat the alt-Right by hanging out with them,
and is now sitting in jail because she's convinced that if she answers her subpoena to testify in a court case against someone else, that she'll end up... in jail.
The treatment she received in prison for her leaks was inhumane and a disgrace to America, and she may be well-intentioned, but she's still an idiot.
Judge orders public release of what Michael Flynn said in call to Russian ambassador – The order calls for a public transcript of the call by the former national security adviser that was a critical avenue in the Mueller probe.
Treasury, IRS set to miss subpoena deadline on Trump tax returns – The Treasury Department and IRS are set to miss a Friday deadline to comply with subpoenas for Trump's tax returns, setting up a prolonged legal battle.
Edited by sgamer82 on May 17th 2019 at 10:13:19 AM
Assholes are rarely so complicated. There are very few complex Chessmaster plans in the world. Most people who are dicks are doing it to be a dick.
Speaking as an ex-bully: it's only unsustainable if your target is willing to fight back. When your target is too intimidated to act, you have free reign to bully them to your heart's content. You can push someone for years without facing any repercussions if you pick the right target.
Since Pelosi left Barr's contempt hearing to die on her desk, he's classified her as just such a target. She's already signaled him that she won't defend herself, so he feels confident in pushing harder. This is classic grade-school behavior.
In other news, tangentially related to Republican bullying
You know, it's interesting that Trump doesn't actually want to go to war with Iran when he's been so adamant at pushing Iran. But I get it. Trump, as noted before, is a bully. His whole negotiation tactic is built on threats and intimidation. That's what he's been trying to do with Iran: play hard-ball, shove them, punch them, get them to back down and give him what he wants.
Like most bullies, Trump is a paper tiger. It's about images, not toughness. He's trying to sell his agenda in Iran on the idea that he could, at any moment, start throwing punches. But he doesn't actually want to start throwing punches. It's been a Tough Guy bluff. It always is with him.
Problem is, he's surrounded himself with actual military tough guys, and those people are going, "Okay. We're going to pick a fight with Iran. Let's talk about how we beat them into submission."
And now Trump's like, "WHOA, wait a second, hold the phone," 'cause his own people are now trying to put his money where his mouth has been for the last two years. Right now, Trump's bully-bluff has Gone Horribly Right.
Edited by TobiasDrake on May 17th 2019 at 10:19:37 AM
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.

Serpico: Would he really have been better served by going to the public, though? And how many instances of IA or departmental whistleblowers clearing out corruption never go reported for the simple fact that a persecuted whistleblower is a good story?
And I guess the question is really what the public needs to know? It’s not like there’s no reason for secrets to exist, information is concealed for legitimate purposes. Does the public really need to know what a policy guy thinks about our allies? Do they need to know every single detail of every single war crime?
Edited by archonspeaks on May 16th 2019 at 5:42:23 AM
They should have sent a poet.