We’re on a bad path

This nation is moving toward fascism. Part One: a U.S. president orders the killing of four American citizens (insiders have leaked that the killing of the 16-yearold American boy was a mistake.) Part Two: the electorate yawns. Sound familiar? This has happened before. Things could much get worse, as they have done in the past. Wake up, folks. Time to demand congressional hearings. An impeachment of one of the higher-ups would do wonders.

Fascism is a pandemic like the Spanish flu of 1918. It’s apt to spread when the world economy tanks and people stop caring.

Columnist Eugene Robinson recently suggested that whistleblower Bradley Manning be sentenced to 20 years. He compared Manning’s crime to that of Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago. Robinson opines Manning’s crime is worse because he endangered American lives. What Robinson fails to point out is that the government can’t identify the endangered, by name or otherwise.

Robinson also leaves out the fact that none of Manning’s leaked documents carried the Top Secret classification level. Ellsberg’s Pentagon Papers were all Top Secret. Ellsberg was exonerated in court and today his heroism is applauded.

The fact that the treatment of Bradley Manning is far more severe than what Ellsberg was given — especially when we need more, not less, transparency — is another grisly indicator of where we’re headed.