Manning and Snowden; Huxley and Orwell

The Bradley Manning decision got me thinking about the late Neil Postman's conclusion at the end of his introduction to the insightful "Amusing Ourselves to Death."

He argued that Aldous Huxley's entertainment-anesthetized "Brave New World" better describes our plight than does George Orwell's totalitarian "1984."

Until recently, I would have largely agreed. Through our addictions to television, Twitter, Facebook, on-line games, broadcast sports and the internet generally, we have been "amusing ourselves to death." We are willingly living in a fabricated media environment manipulated by corporate interests. We define ourselves through purchases.

We have turned our backs on a world we might otherwise be able to influence.

Its problems are infamously daunting: inequality, poverty, war, global warming, fanaticism, sexual slavery, overpopulation, starvation, ignorance etc.

Now, the revelations of Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden and others prove that Orwell's Big Brother is tracking each and everyone of us as we play in our technological sandboxes.

Moreover, our ersatz democracy is performing crimes against humanity — all in the name of freedom and "The American Way."

Understandably Big Bro (collectively the Obama administration, the military and the "intelligence" community) desperately wants to keep secret both its atrocities and its surveillance.

So Manning and Snowden are vilified. They are tried both in the corporate press and in fact. Manning faces spending the rest of his life in prison; Snowden is being pursued like a traitor on the run.

So there's a meld of Orwell and Huxley in all of this. Informed of our government's Orwellian atrocities, will we simply behave as Huxley predicts — by flipping the channel or clicking to another web site?

Will we be too distracted to care?

Will the government be monitoring our complacency and apathy? If we alter our compliant behavior and become engaged, will Big Brother's computer detect it and take note? (Are the computers reading these words? Has your own readership been noted?)

Will we find ourselves on a "Watch List"? What next?

For a graphic, literally and figuratively, portrayal of the Postman comparisons go HERE. The cartoon strip is by Stuart McMillen. Two panels are shown above.

Speakng the truth takes a hit as Crowley resigns

The State Department's chief spokesman P.J. Crowley has resigned over fall-out from his criticizing the abhorrent military prison treatment of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the accused WikiLeaks leaker.

Can there be any doubt that he was ordered to resign? If Crowley's resignation wasn't invited by the Administration, why didn't Secretary of State Hillary Clinton simply refuse to accept it?

Note that the BBC calls Crowley's remarks a "gaffe" in its headline. Since when is the truth a "gaffe"? Watch how this story is slanted in the media.

What message is the Obama administration sending public servants who want to level with the American people?

Crowley, who served in the Air Force for 26 years, was clearly not willing to accept the Administration's line that Manning's treatment at the Marine brig at Quantico is acceptable. Manning, who has not yet been tried, reportedly has been ordered to sleep naked in his cell, has been shackled and is in virtual solitary confinement.

Our "commander-in-chief" is clearly taking his orders from a military that, astonishingly, hasn't change its inhumane Abu Ghraib ways.

George W. Obama and Abu Quantico

In an earlier post, I commented that how the Obama Administration responds to the harsh and inhumane military incarceration of Pfc. Bradley Manning would speak volumes about this nation's leadership, the state of the presidency and the government.

The New York Times today reported on the President's direct response to a reporter's inquiry about Manning, who is accused (not convicted) of leaking thousands of government documents to WikiLeaks.

Bottomline: The "Commander-in-Chief" takes his orders from the military. Barack Obama is doing nothing to end Manning's abusive retreatment.

Read the story ... and weep.

After you wipe away the tears, write to protest HERE.

Test case for the Truth

Will State Department Spokesman PJ Crowley go defensive and apologetic ("I misspoke etc.") after telling the truth about the treatment of Pvt. Bradley Manning, who is accused of leaking government documents and has been abused and mistreated in a Marine brig in Quantico?

The unfolding of this story will say volumes about our government and the Obama Administration.

I posted about the case earlier comparing it to Abu Ghraib. The humiliating punishment of the still untried Manning seems to be getting worse.

To object to Defense Secretary Robert Gates about Manning's treatment, go HERE.

Abu Ghraib redux at Quantico

The prison treatment of WikiLeaks suspect Pfc. Bradley Manning is an outrage. He is being forced to sleep naked in his cell and to present himself naked at morning check-in at the Quantico brig.

And we thought that the humiliation inflicted on military prisoners ended with Abu Ghraib and the Bush Administration.

Write the White House to demand that our the President (who as Commander-in-Chief is responsible) end the inhumane treatment of Pfc. Manning.

Here is the Manning story as it appeared in today's New York Times.