Cenk: Why Not Treat Leaker Bradley Manning Like 'Hero'?

April 14th, 2011 9:03 PM

Cenk Uygur can't figure out why accused Army leaker Bradley Manning isn't being treated like a "hero".  Seriously.

Uygur's guest on his MSNBC show this evening was P.J. Crowley, the former State Department spokesman who was forced out of his post for publicly criticizing the treatment of Manning while in detention awaiting trial.

Cenk whined as to why Manning isn't being accorded the "hero" treatment that Daniel Ellsberg received from some for his leak of the Pentagon Papers back in the Vietnam day.  But P.J. presumably surprised Cenk, strongly supporting the prosecution of Manning, saying he "caused damage to the United States and our interests around that world," and that his "prosecution is quite necessary."

View video after the jump.


Watch a clueless Uygur wonder why Manning, accused of violating his soldier's oath and harming the interests of our country, isn't being treated like a "hero."

CENK UYGUR: P.J., talk to me about this. When Ellsberg did the leaks, by a lot of the country he was seen as a hero, because he let us know what was going on, and it was important in figuing out, democracy, which way we should go. And he didn't have any of this. Now, you have a leak, and, my God, the reaction is like he's the Unabomber.  What's changed in this country that there's such a stark difference in that period of time?

P.J. CROWLEY: Well, I want to be clear: I believe in this prosecution. I believe it's important that we protect our secrets.  I believe that the leak of these documents to WikiLeaks has in fact caused damage to the United States and our interests around the world.