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Bradley Manning Special: Kevin Gosztola’s Week 1 Report

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Journalist Kevin Gosztola is live-blogging the Manning court martial at FireDogLake, and joins us for a detailed report on the first week.  Will Durst comments on gay marriage in France.Read Gosztola’s excellent coverage from Fort Meade here.  He has agreed to join us every Friday for a recap for the duration of the proceedings.

We open with a review of this week’s major developments and pre-trial protests, including access to the courtroom and T-shirt message control.  He describes the tone in the courtroom and the attitudes of the judge, Col. Denise Lind.  Reporters for major media have pushed the court to provide advance lists of witnesses, and donations from the public are paying for a private stenographer, since the military won’t provide transcripts.

Gosztola recaps the opening statements of prosecutors and defense, and the testimony of Adrian Lamo, the friend who turned Manning in to authorities.   The parade of witnesses went faster than the judge had expected, so recess was called for Thursday and Friday.  Gosztola says the trial is about the charge of  “aiding the enemy” and how long of a sentence Manning will draw.

At 52:38,  San Francisco comic Will Durst is shocked that the French are shocked by same sex marriage.