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WikiLeaker should be hailed as hero for defending freedom

    The name Julian Assange has been plastered on headlines across the globe recently. Some people view him as a hero, others as a terrorist. The WikiLeaks founder has polarized an already unstable global diplomatic situation and the future certainly seems uncertain.
    Assange, however, is merely the fi gurehead of a pseudo-journalistic organization. The real hero in this saga, or villain depending on your perspective, is Pfc. Bradley Manning.
    Born in Oklahoma in 1987, Manning is most likely going to spend the rest of his life in a military prison if he is fortunate enough to not be executed for treason. This is a tragedy, and I am reminded of another young patriot who died in the name of liberty. On Sept. 22, 1776, Nathan Hale was 21 years old. On that day he was hanged by the British as an “illegal combatant” while trying to deliver sensitive information to rebel leaders. His fi nal words reportedly being, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”
    At this time the American government is engaged in two illegal wars, has authorized the execution of American citizens without a trial, and has debased our currency through infl ationary measures and bailouts that are designed to impoverish the American people for the benefit of bankers and politicians. The TSA [Transportation Security Administration] has deemed that our humiliation is a small price to play for the illusion of safety, and that the infi nitesimal threat of a man with exploding underwear is worth the sacrifice of our liberty.
Nathan Hale died 234 years ago for the cause of preserving that liberty and we choose to demonize the few today who are trying to do the same.
I, for one, am proud of Pfc. Bradley Manning and am ashamed that more Americans refuse to defend their liberty from those who seek to destroy it.

ADAM MAGOON
Schenectady