Nicholson: You want answers?
Cruise: I think I'm entitled to them.
Nicholson: You want ANSWERS?
Cruise: I want the TRUTH!
Nicholson: YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!
...
Nicholson: I have neither the time, nor the inclination to explain myself to someone who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the 'freedom' I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it... Either way I don't give a DAMN about what YOU think you are entitled to!
That was directly from memory folks! Thank you very much.
Ah the movies... If only things were really like they are in the movies. In "A Few Good Men" Jack Nicholson's character, Colonel Nathan R. Jessep, goes to jail for ordering a "code red" on a soldier, private Santiago, who turned out to be sub-standard because of heart problems. These heart problems, which the military medics showed some negligence in diagnosing, eventually lead to his death while receiving the "code red" binding, gagging and beating by his peers. Two soldiers who participated in the code red, Dawson and Downey, were cleared of murder charges, but dishonourably discharged for NOT helping Santiago, i.e. not disobeying orders and reporting, thus exposing this dirty military secret. This is called "conduct unbecoming a United States Marine." So the point is that NOT reporting military misconduct is conduct unbecoming a US soldier and people can get punished for it.
"In no case shall information be classified... in order to: conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error; prevent embarrassment of a person, organization or agency... or prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of the national security."
This is executive order 13526 made by Barack Obama on Dec. 29, 2009 and seems to support the same point. However, before you start waving your "Yes We Can" flags, there were a stack of documents scheduled to be automatically declassified on Dec. 31, 2009 that were suddenly in need of review after the order, which effectively re-classified the soon-to-be de-classified documents for another couple years thereby BREAKING the e.o. by its issuance. Don't ya just LOVE politics?
Have you heard of Julian Assange or Bradley Manning?
If not it's pretty surprising. I'm not saying come out from under your rock because I hadn't really heard much about them either. What's surprising is the fairly successful sweeping under the carpet they are receiving when their story is WAY better than the above movie, which was nominated for 4 Oscars. I liked Unforgiven and LOVE Gene Hackman but come on! Jack shoulda won. Hackman shoulda won the evil lawman Oscar for The Quick and the Dead. It was the same character only a better performance of it I think. If not for that scene in Unforgiven where he hands that reporter the gun and tells him to shoot him, I'd say it was no contest. "Pretty HOT idn't it?" ha ha ha. Come to think of it, Gene Hackman as Colonel Nathan Jessep! Could that have even been BETTER? Ah the movies...
Anyhoo, here is a pbs vid. about the supposedly "troubled" life of Bradley Manning including the 911 phone call made while he allegedly assaulted his stepmother with a knife. He aparently STRUCK a fellow soldier and threw some chairs. Even YELLED at superiors while in the military. Gasp! Back to Colonel Nathan R. Jessep, "My existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives!" Soldiers are BETTER if they're violent. Don't forget, their job is to shoot people.
Why does the reporter keep asking questions to Brian Manning inviting him to embellish how "troubled" and "erratic" Bradley Manning's upbringing was? Why is his sexual status important? Why does the music in the video portend something ominous? The cops didn't even charge Bradley after the 911 call, why is it getting publicized now? I think people in high places want very badly for Bradley to be thought of as a bit unstable. Now, immediately I'm gonna take a hit for this but some people believe that being gay is a choice made by mentally unstable people. His father says in the video that his reaction to finding out Bradley was gay was, "That's YOUR decision." I'm gonna take the military position on this one: Don't ask/don't tell. Boy does the military wish Bradley Manning hadn't asked and hadn't told!
You see, he is responsible for leaking over half a million classified government documents to Assange's organization, Wikileaks. Now maybe the military members who are party to this classified information, like Colonel Jessep, "...have a greater responsibility than we can possibly fathom." But it's pretty hard to imagine what kind of "responsibilities" require the ignorant and innocent public to be kept from fathoming stuff like why it's necessary to ignore torture in Iraq; cover up child trafficking in Afghanistan; throw people in Guantanamo prison for fashion or fashion accessory choices; classify the killing of journalists and the rate of innocents killed to combatants in Iraq, (2 non-combatants for every combatant btw); keep the huge 3rd world slave labour market desperately poor for our corporations' picking, (like 5 bucks a day was TOO MUCH money for financially strapped American corporations to pay their Haitian workers!); the list goes on. For the complete list and a well organized and researched site about all this, (better than mine), go to the "Free Bradley Manning" site here.
It would appear that like the doctored log books, phony transfer order, and coerced doctors of "A Few Good Men", there is some character assassination and covering up going on here. And it isn't limited to Bradley Manning. Julian Assange is now fighting a rape charge made by some women in Sweden. Now, I am not going to say it's impossible that he committed this crime, but if he's extradited to Sweden, it would make his extradition to America possible where he could be tried and found guilty of conduct that SHOULD be considered becoming. He COULD end up in that place that links all three of these stories together: Guantanamo prison. As I type Bradley Manning is in the brig where I'm sure he isn't being treated very nicely and he may soon be joined by Assange. All the while, BOTH are up for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. And maybe for good measure sombody'll throw Lady Gaga in there with them for suspected complicity in the events arising from the fact that the data was transfered to Wikileaks via a Lady Gaga CD.
Ever hear about something that made you say, "They oughta make a movie!"? Folks there is GONNA be a movie made! Directed by Steven Spielberg. I'm guessing Leo as Bradley Manning though he could play Assange. Daniel Craig looks like the best Assange although I'd like to see Sting given some consideration. Or as a long shot Jason Isaacs, (Malfoy's Dad).
And Steve, Mr. Speilberg, if you're reading, please give Gene Hackman a part. He's probably my favourite actor.
Ahh the movies...
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