PRISONS

Chelsea Manning, formerly Bradley Manning, has embarked on a campaign for the United States Senate as a Democrat in Maryland. Brava, I say. What other country on the planet would even tolerate a former federal convict, found guilty of espionage-related offenses, to run for its congress? That's the good news. The bad news is that Chelsea, who assumed the name of the daughter of another foreign relations nightmare, is running as a Democrat  in lieu of a do-nothing incumbent who could be walking away with a $2-million campaign fund.

But would I vote for Ms. Manning? My answer is a definite "No".

I was a Bradley Manning supporter at the time of his arrest, torture, solitary confinement and harsh sentencing. As a human being, I saw what he did as admirable, despite its technical illegality. It was certainly more admirable than mass-killing Iraqi and Afghani civilians. I applauded the Obama clemency which released Ms. Manning from a potential lifetime in prison, which had come down upon Ms. Manning under Obama's own Democrat administration. So, basically, Obama's clemency was cleaning up his own mess as Commander-In-Chief. That was then and this is now.

Bradley Manning was courageous as a gay man in the military. Chelsea Manning is a transgender celebrity with a gimmick. #WeGotThis is her campaign hash tag. I ask, "Got what?" She may see herself as freeing herself from the prison of that gay soldier's body. If that is true, I respect that, but feel she has lost a lot of credibility in the metamorphosis. Perhaps the hash tag #WeGotRidOfThat would be more appropriate. 

Reading Chelsea's  tweets rivals reading Donald Trump's. While President (The) Donald barks nonsense assertively, Ms. Manning pours her heart out at will and then spouts positivism of the most vapid nature. The common use of the collective pronoun, "we", in self-reference is never a good sign. I say this as a former psychiatric nurse. And, believe me when I say that I am amazed by this person's stamina despite her apparent instability.

I would speculate that Ms. Manning has been chosen and groomed by movers of The New Left. What better candidate for Victim-In-Chief? Ms. Manning will be the perfect standard-bearer for the blue-haired, negligee-wearing, vagina-hatted, man-hating, Caucasian-hating, pro-Sharia, LGBTQI+, neo-feminista crowd. No? Granted she is White, but bearing a Clinton-esque first name may work. Bill Clinton, father of that other Chelsea, had been referred to by some Black activists as America's First Black President.

Chelsea Manning, if elected, may find herself in another prison: The prison of identity politics. There is no reprieve from that restrictive place. She may find that her own life has become a shadow play for her audience. Those audiences are fickle at best and vicious at their worst. There is little room for independent vision or action in that prison. While Ms. Manning may attempt to blow the cover of a crooked Congress as she attempted to do in the military, she may simply find herself in exile with Senator Al Franken (a comic turned Senator) when the mob she gathers to sweep her into office finds out something they do not like about her.