Updated to add this link, in which Chelsea Manning spoke more clearly about her case than she felt able to do at Penn. (Forgive the deadname in Atlantic’s title; it was before she came out to the world as the assured young woman you see above. The photo above was taken on November 29, 2017,Continue reading “The day I finally met Chelsea Manning”
Category Archives: whistleblowers
Happy 45th Anniversary, Daniel Ellsberg — or why he belongs in my book
today, almost exactly 45 years after a Marine Corps vet finally rocked the world, here it is. Now you know why I tried, and why my fantastic ex-colleague Judith Ehrlich followed her landmark CO movie with one about Ellsberg.
a 1968 whistleblower, for whom “official channels” didn’t work
Not that often I’m caught out by an obituary. And I can’t believe I never heard of Colonel Anthony B. Herbert: In August 1968, he joined the 173rd Airborne Brigade stationed in the central highlands of South Vietnam. It was there as commander of the Second Battalion of the 503rd Infantry, he said, that heContinue reading “a 1968 whistleblower, for whom “official channels” didn’t work”
Saving Breanna Elizabeth Manning
From last week’s reporting Manning comes off as bright, funny, and clear about what he’s done. And his jailers come off as, at the very least a little dim — naive in that sense that actually means cruel. And this particular drama is a crazy-quilt mirror on the current state of American democracy.
“the poor and Midling will bear the burden”
How early whistleblowers, “white Indians,” and those darn Quakers showed that the newest soldiers weren’t about to lose their rights. Excerpts of my upcoming book.
mark benjamin blows the whistle
Again, this time at TIME Magazine. I count Benjamin as one of our era’s Ernie Pyles, from his Salon series on suicides at Camp Lejeune to his unflinching coverage of torture. And he’s kept on the Arlington Cemetery scandal with persistence and grace. Ernie Pyle crossed with Seymour Hersh: because when he sniff something wrong,Continue reading “mark benjamin blows the whistle”
it sounds so much simpler when he says it
I know this blog has been silent for so many m0nths: more than six! How can it be? But I didn’t feel like I could keep writing here until I had the book actually delivered to the publisher. That has now happened, and I’ll say more about it later. But right now, I wanted toContinue reading “it sounds so much simpler when he says it”
People who Died: Now Murtha, too (UPDATE Two)
Three obituaries inside a week or so: first the World War II-vet peers Howard Zinn and J.D. Salinger, only one of whom became a dissenter. Now Murtha, of the Vietnam generation but only a dissenter much later, who I sort of pre-eulogized last week when he went into hospital. Respect to CBS News for notContinue reading “People who Died: Now Murtha, too (UPDATE Two)”
get well soon, Rep. Murtha.
Slightly buried yesterday under the DADT news was this: “Murtha hospitalized after gallbladder surgery complications.” The news about the 77-year-old chairman of the Armed Services Committee, whose spokespeople were by this morning refusing to give updates, was regarded mostly as (sigh) political news, exemplified by the head given by Chris Cilizza at The Fix: JohnContinue reading “get well soon, Rep. Murtha.”
Two medical whistleblower stories today
Newest first: Mark Benjamin’s story about a Camp Lejeune psychiatrist who was booted after going public with concerns about PTSD treatment practices. In one instance last April, for example, Manion warned Cmdr. Robert O’Byrne, head of mental health at the Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital, of “immediate concerns of physical safety” due to mistreated Marines teeteringContinue reading “Two medical whistleblower stories today”
I Ain't Marching Anymore 