Zinnia Jones on Bradley Manning

I had never been to Zinnia Jones' blog at FTB (FreeThoughtBlogs) until yesterday. This woman can write! (FYI, Zinnia Jones seems to be her blogging name. Her posts use the byline Lauren McNamara. Same person.)

Here's the thing: she had to testify at Bradley Manning's trial. Apparently they had several internet conversations before Manning sent the packet to WikiLeaks. By way of background: she's trans, and we've heard that Manning was moving in that direction. I only mention this because it comes up in her long post about the experience of testifying at Manning's trial. It's great. Grab a cup of coffee and read it. Here's an excerpt:

It’s easy to forget that at the center of all this furor is one person – a person like us, who thinks like us and feels like us and hurts like us. Having seen Manning in that room, I can never forget this. Before, he was just a name to me, one of thousands that have crossed my screen. But Bradley Manning is not, and never will be, just a name.

In that room, I saw a person who was in more trouble than I had ever seen another person be in, someone who had suffered and was still suffering the full wrath of an enraged, unforgiving American government. And that scared me, and I wanted to help him, to do anything I could to get him out of there, and I couldn’t. And that hurts beyond any words.

I'm going to put Zinnia Jones' blog on my list of sites to visit daily. Amazing post.