My response to Firedoglake's action alert about Pfc Bradley Manning being held in solitary confinement

(Note to readers: I received this action alert on 24 January 2011 from Firedoglake about Pfc Bradley Manning being held in solitary confinement. I sent a quite strongly worded response back to them, which they did not reply to. I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts about their action alert and my response - whether critical or positive. Clearly, I have a strong opinion about their action plan.)

Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2011 17:13:23 -0500

From: "Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake" <act@firedoglake.com>

Subject: Unable to deliver

Stand Up for Bradley Manning:

Donate $15 to the Bradley Manning Advocacy Fund

Watch the video <http://firedoglake.com/bradley-manning-coverage/>and make a tax-deductible contribution

Paul -

Bradley Manning’s friend David House and I were detained at Quantico Marine base for two hours yesterday while David attempted to visit Bradley. David was not allowed to visit Bradley, nor was he able to deliver our petition signed by 42,000 people.

David has visited Bradley for more than five months at Quantico, and I drove him there once before. But this time, we were detained for more than two hours as Marines prevented David and I from entering or leaving the base. The Marines who detained us said their orders came “from the top.”

Our detention at Quantico was part of the government’s goal of abusing Bradley Manning and keeping him in complete isolation. But we won’t back down.

Bradley’s friend David is leading the Bradley Manning Advocacy Fund - a new, independent public advocacy effort that will aid Bradley’s case by funding media advocates, legal researchers, expert witnesses, psychiatrists, and more. It’s an independent effort we think is worthy of your support.

Can you please make a tax-deductible donation of $15 to the Bradley Manning Advocacy Fund? Click here to donate now, and to watch a video from David House explaining his detention yesterday.

There is no doubt in my mind that the primary objective of everything that happened yesterday was to keep Bradley Manning from having the company of his only remaining visitor: Bradley’s friend David House.

David House -- a 23-year-old who just graduated from college -- has been traveling from Boston to Quantico for five months to visit Bradley on his own. Everyone but David has stopped visiting Bradley; only once has a member of Bradley’s family seen him in Quantico.

Just last month, David broke the news that Bradley’s physical and mental well-being were deteriorating in solitary confinement, and he was the first to challenge the Pentagon’s version of Bradley’s treatment. Because of his work for Bradley, David has been harassed by the FBI, and has had his computers and phones confiscated for several months without explanation. He recently returned from overseas, where he was raising funds for Bradley’s defense in the interim.

David is leading the Bradley Manning Advocacy Fund in order to give Bradley’s supporters a way to contribute to Bradley’s public defense. 100% of contributions to this fund will be used to pay expenses related to the advocacy and defense of Bradley Manning.

Without these efforts, Bradley will be tried and convicted long before he ever gets his day in court. That’s why we think this advocacy fund deserves your support.

Please watch David House’s video about being detained at Quantico, then donate $15 or more to the Bradley Manning Advocacy Fund.

This advocacy fund is critical for Bradley. There's an aggressive and active disinformation campaign that is going to try and convict Bradley in the court of public opinion, and the government has made people terrified to help him. The lies and disinformation out there about what Bradley allegedly did and didn't do is positively malignant in the media.

Already, people with the Bradley Manning Advocacy Fund are working to re-educate journalists who have had their heads filled with misinformation by various arms of the intelligence-industrial complex. Through David’s tireless work for the last five months, more people are becoming aware and outraged at the government’s abuse of Bradley Manning. And Amnesty International and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture have called for investigations of Bradley Manning’s conditions.

But Bradley himself cannot advocate for himself from solitary confinement. As David and others continue their campaign to speak out for Bradley, they need support to travel, organize events, issue press releases, recruit spokespeople to speak out on Bradley’s behalf, and assemble researchers and witnesses to help with Bradley’s case.

The government’s goal is to break down Bradley through a campaign of complete isolation. Bradley needs strong advocates to stand up on his behalf. Bradley needs loud voices telling the truth about the conditions of his detention. Bradley Manning needs you.

Please make a tax-deductible contribution to the Bradley Manning Advocacy Fund to help the few people brave enough to fight for Bradley in public. 100% of the money they receive will go toward paying expenses related to Bradley Manning’s advocacy and defense.

Thank you for standing up for humane treatment of Bradley Manning.

Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake.com

Firedoglake's community of 350,000 activists is supported by small donations from people like you. Can you chip in to keep us strong? Click here to contribute:

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(And this is the note I emailed back to them...)

To: act@firedoglake.com

From: Paul Cienfuegos <paul@100fires.com>

Subject: URGENT re: Unable to deliver

You are reporting here on an absolutely horrific story, and i very much appreciate that.

But then you ask us to do absolutely nothing more than sending you $15 and signing an online petition.

Are you kidding???????

This is a democracy emergency in this country. Can you not urge all your followers to do more than this? You're asking us to "Stand Up". But you don't really mean that, do you!  Has it ever occurred to you that one big reason that the Tea Party is making real political waves, and your 350,000 supporters are not, is that they are mobilizing themselves PHYSICALLY while you are asking us only to send money, watch a video, and sign an online petition!  Surely, you could come up with a more dramatic and effective strategy than this for 350,000 of us!?!?!

Either start actually mobilizing us in REALITY or take me off your list.

best,

Paul Cienfuegos

long-time community organizer in northern CA

(What do YOU think about their action alert and my response? Are their suggested actions likely to succeed? Please post your thoughts/feelings here on my website for others to see and respond to.