Bradley Manning: Rally at Fort Meade

It was good to see what I'd guess were more than 1200 people outside the main gate of Fort George G. Meade, U.S. Army base, where Bradley Manning's court martial is being held, but the disproportionate number of older people--with almost half in their 50's or more, was perplexing. Where are those of Manning's own generation?

I was also a bit troubled--and this was likely my private feeling, and not a reflection on how seriously others took this rally--but I wasn't able to get into anything like a festive mood. When asked if I'd enjoyed the rally, I didn't know what to say. We marched in the heat, listened to speeches (none of which my ears were able to grasp), there was music. But there on the other side of that chainlink, barbed wire topped fence, with its WARNING signs and security guards kicking up dust as they sped past on their absurd, 4 wheel military golf carts--was a man in a cell. Three years with no trial. The decision--however many years are handed down, a fait accompli from the top echelons of our Empire of Money & Death. All those chants about 'freeing' him, so much rhetorical bluster. It was important to be there. Bradey Manning must not be forgetten, and those he threatens by the force of his naked conscience, have to know this, and be reminded again and again.

But I felt neither joy nor hope, and the opposite of powerful or effective. This might not be such a bad thing... that our actions should not require 'belief' in some all but supernatural efficacy of our success. We act because it is right. Because we must. Even when we aren't able to imagine anything close to success...