Free Republic

A new teaser video released this afternoon shows a slew of celebrities and activists rallying in support of military whistleblower Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, whose trial for leaking 700,000 secret documents to WikiLeaks began today. “I am Bradley Manning” is the tagline of the PSA created by the eponymous group and featuring supportive celebrities like filmmaker Oliver Stone; actors Russell Brand, Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Wallace Shawn; musicians Tom Morello and Moby; and journalists Phil Donahue, Matt Taibbi, and Chris Hedges. Each speaker takes their turn declaring that they or we “are all Bradley Manning,” imploring viewers to put...

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange feels vindicated at the moment that his source, Bradley Manning, goes on trial for handing over hundreds of thousands of pages of sensitive material. The US government eschewed a plea bargain (and Manning’s guilty plea to lesser charges) in order to try Manning for “aiding the enemy.” The prosecution made its opening argument yesterday: In an hour-long opening statement for the prosecution on Monday, Captain Joe Morrow told the court martial that the US army private had been motivated by a craving for “notoriety” that had led him to disregard his extensive training and to...