Our Chosen One has indeed brought change to America, change in our system of justice that surpasses even that envisioned in Alice in Wonderland or under Richard Nixon.
In the fanciful novel the Queen of Hearts screeches [s]entence first - verdict afterward to Alice and the disgraced and disgraceful former president publicly declared Charles Manson guilty before the then accused mass murderer
had been convicted.
had been convicted.
Obama has done even more in the case of Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of having leaked embarrassing classified cable to WikiLeaks. Obama has completely reversed the order of things. He has Manning punished first, then declared his guilt, and finally, at some point, presumably, the chief magistrate will have the young soldier tried.
As is set forth in the April 14 and 15 posts hereinbelow and the reports linked there, Manning has been tortured and imprisoned under harshly inhumane conditions for more than ten months.
Second, when confronted during the past week with protests over the young soldier's treatment in detention, Obama proclaimed Manning guilty of having broken the law. Details of this are set forth here and here.
Third and finally, we will perhaps have the still-to-come trial. Unlike Danial Ellsberg, who was proclaimed a noble hero for leaking the Pentagon Papers, Manning presumably will be brought to trial at some point. The proceeding has every prospect of being a show trial that would make Stalin proud. It will feature a defendant who in all likelihood will have been rendered compliant and submissive by his pretrial treatment whose fate will be determined by military officers subordinate to the commander in chief who already has proclaimed the defendant guilty.
One can only hope to avoid becoming a target of Mr. Obama's system of justice . . . that of course is unless one is a threatening truncheon-wielding New Black Panther Party thug engaged in the intimidation of voters.
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