In the ass-kissing portion of his speech at the White House Correspondents dinner, the president said:

In the last months we’ve seen journalists threatened, arrested, beaten, attacked and in some cases even killed, simply for attempting to bring us the story. Give people a voice. Hold leaders accountable. And through it all we’ve seen daring men and women risk their lives for the simple idea that no-one should be silenced, and everyone deserved to know the truth.

Bravo Mr. President. I find it excellent that you recognize these vital principles. Now if you would only stop defending our arrest and ongoing torture of Bradley Manning, the informant that provided Wikileaks with documents detailing years of murder, lies, and betrayal by American leadership. You could also come out in defense of the wonderfully brave work being done by Wikileaks, the only journalistic entity brave enough to challenge our lie machine.

I personally think Manning should be released and decorated as a hero fighting for truth and freedom. He certainly deserves a medal more than George Bush does. Barring that, you could at least accord the guy the right to fair treatment, and a fair trial, before condemning him as a criminal.