Chelsea Manning’s platform for Senate run includes closing prisons, opening borders

[OneHungLo]

WOW you Democrats are really fucked up. Who in their right mind would support this shit? We seriously dodged a bullet with Trump winning.

Chelsea Manning is no longer living as a transgender woman in a male military prison, serving the lengthiest sentence ever for revealing U.S. government secrets. She’s free to grow out her hair, travel the world, and spend time with whomever she likes.

But a year since former President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence, America’s most famous convicted leaker isn’t taking an extended vacation. Far from it: The Oklahoma native has decided to make an unlikely bid for the U.S. Senate in her adopted state of Maryland.

Manning, 30, filed to run in January and has been registered to vote in Maryland since August. She lives in North Bethesda, not far from where she stayed with an aunt while awaiting trial. Her aim is to unseat Sen. Ben Cardin, a 74-year-old Maryland Democrat who is seeking his third Senate term and previously served 10 terms in the U.S. House.

Manning, who also has become an internationally recognized transgender activist, said she’s motivated by a desire to fight what she sees as a shadowy surveillance state and a rising tide of nightmarish repression.

“The rise of authoritarianism is encroaching in every aspect of life, whether it’s government or corporate or technological,” Manning told The Associated Press during an interview at her home in an upscale apartment tower. On the walls of her barely furnished living room hang Obama’s commutation order, and photos of U.S. anarchist Emma Goldman and British playwright Oscar Wilde.

Manning’s longshot campaign for the June 26 primary would appear to be one of the more unorthodox U.S. Senate bids in recent memory, and the candidate is operating well outside the party’s playbook. She says she doesn’t, in fact, even consider herself a Democrat, but is motivated by a desire to shake up establishment Democrats who are “caving in” to President Donald Trump’s administration. She vows she won’t run as an independent if her primary bid fails.

She’s certainly got an eye-catching platform: Close prisons and free inmates; eliminate national borders; restructure the criminal justice system; provide universal health care and basic income. The top of her agenda? Abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency created in 2003 that Manning asserts is preparing for an “ethnic cleansing.”

Manning ticks off life experiences she believes would make her an effective senator: a stint being homeless in Chicago, her wartime experiences as a U.S. Army intelligence analyst in Iraq — even her seven years in prison. She asserts she’s got a “bigger vision” than establishment politicians.

But political analysts suspect the convicted felon is not running to win.

“Manning is running as a protest candidate, which has a long lineage in American history, to shine light on American empire,” said Daniel Schlozman, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University. “That’s a very different goal, with a very different campaign, than if she wanted to beat Ben Cardin.”

Manning’s insurgent candidacy thus far has been a decidedly stripped-down affair, with few appearances and a campaign website that just went up. In recent days, she approached an anti-fracking rally in Baltimore almost furtively, keeping to herself for much of the demonstration. But when it was her turn to address the small group, her celebrity status was evident. People who never met her called her by her first name and eagerly took photos.

Manning has acknowledged leaking more than 700,000 military and State Department documents to anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks in 2010. She said her motivation was a desire to spark debate about U.S. foreign policy, and she has been portrayed as both a hero and a traitor.

Known as Bradley Manning at the time of her arrest, she came out as transgender after her 2013 court-martial. She was barred from growing her hair long in prison, and was approved for hormone therapy only after litigation. She spent long stints in solitary confinement, and twice tried to kill herself.

The Pentagon, which has repeatedly declined to discuss Manning’s treatment in military prison, is also staying mum about her political ambitions. Democratic Party officials say they have no comment, citing a policy not to weigh in on primaries. Republican operatives are quiet.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4192517/c...nate-platform/

[Bladewire]

Um... She's not a Democrat and she's a traitor to the country.

[OneHungLo]

Originally Posted by Bladewire

Um... She's not a Democrat and she's a traitor to the country.

Correct, but she's a Democrat and many other Democrats support this shit. Again, you should reevaluate your political affiliations

[TrafficTitan]

"Eliminate National Borders"

She/it must be semi retarded. Let's welcome people from El Salvador, seems like a good idea. If you don't have borders are you even a country?

[CaptainHowdy]

Shemales aren't the best at mental health ...

[OneHungLo]

Originally Posted by CaptainHowdy

Shemales aren't the best at mental health ...

lol......

[RandyRandy]

Originally Posted by CaptainHowdy

Shemales aren't the best at mental health ...

"Shemales" is offensive.

Please use the more progressive "chicks with dicks".

[dyna mo]

Originally Posted by CaptainHowdy

Shemales aren't the best at mental health ...

add in years of solitary confinement & being treated like shit for betraying your country. He's certified mental.

nevertheless, there are no barriers to anyone throwing their hat in the ring. take trump for instance.

[InfoGuy]

Traitors should be executed.

[Bladewire]

Originally Posted by InfoGuy

Traitors should be executed.

[Look Chang]

Originally Posted by CaptainHowdy

Shemales aren't the best at mental health ...

Whatever, dicks have no brain ...

[crockett]

Originally Posted by CaptainHowdy

Shemales aren't the best at mental health ...

I'm pretty sure they fucked this kids head up mentally when he was in prison. He was in solitary confinement for a very long time. It's pretty clear they fucked him up pretty bad..