The Chelsea Manning issue needs to be kept in perspective.

Today President Obama issued a pardon to former US Army Private Bradley Manning, who identifies as a female named Chelsea and will be undergoing sexual reassignment surgery sometime in the future.  Last year Manning was convicted by a Military Tribunal of violating the Espionage Act by passing hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group Wikileaks.  For reasons which are still a mystery to me, then-Private Manning was given access to countless Top Secret documents and US government communications while serving in Iraq in 2009/10.  Manning claims that his decision to share classified information was greatly influenced by his discovery of war crimes committed by the US military.  Manning also claims to be suffering from a gender identity disorder, which has caused long bouts of depression and suicidal thoughts.  From the beginning, the liberal and leftist elements in our society have been openly supportive of Manning.  The left strongly opposed the Iraq war, and by extension, see Manning as a hero for exposing part of the corrupt system which created false justification for going to war.  A substantial number of political groups and well-known activists opposed Manning's Court Martial and subsequent trial, and after the verdict, put pressure on the Obama Administration to issue a pardon.

Manning has been on the winning side of a number of decisions since his conviction.  Last April, the military announced that the US government would pay for Manning to undergo sexual reassignment surgery.  So what exactly has happened since Private Bradley Manning chose to commit treason in 2009?  Manning was Court-Martialed and given a 35-year sentence.  Then the military announced that Manning would be undergoing a sex change procedure, paid for by the US taxpayer.  Fast-forward a few months to January 2017, and today Manning is pardoned by President Obama.  I assume that Manning will be released almost immediately, and the offers for a book deal will start piling up.  So the lesson here is, if you are in the military and you want the government to pay for your sex-change operation, just commit treason and become a hero to the liberal media and left-wing political movement.  At the end of the day, a multi-million dollar book deal will be waiting.  I wish I had an opportunity to ask President Obama if he has spent much time thinking about the persons whose lives were ruined by Manning.  The CIA cadre of reporting contacts includes many foreign nationals who are "assets of conscience".  They decide to clandestinely provide the US government with valuable information because they believe in the American system and the freedoms we enjoy, and hope to encourage change in their own countries.  We could be referring to citizens of nations like Iran, Russia, and China, for example.  These brave people take the chance that their secret relationship with the US is not revealed to their own government.  That being said, I can't fathom the number of foreign assets who may have been exposed within the seven-hundred thousand pages of documents that Manning passed to Wikileaks.  No doubt the imtellignce community conducted numerous damage assessments, imformation which hopefully will never been known to us.  I don't need to know the names and nationalities of persons who may have paid a heavy price for Manning's actions.  I understand the environment enough to realize how much more difficult it will be for our Intelligence Officers to find willing reporters on the issues that keep Americans safe day-in and day-out.

At times I have found myself feeling very sympathetic to Chelsea Manning.  Obviously she has struggled for years trying to find a place in the world.  I cannot imagine any sane person knowingly choosing the path that Manning has followed.  At the time, I doubt that Manning comprehended the ramifications of his actions, but every adult in our society has to be held responsible for their decisions.  I would not have opposed a commuted sentence of some sort, maybe a five-year sentence, with an agreement that Manning be prohibited from writing a book or benefiting financially from his actions.  Instead, Manning has been pardoned, and is about to hit the jackpot as far as money is concerned.  Seven years after breaking the oath that he took to serve his country, seven years after committing treason and very likely putting a number of very brave people and their unknowing families in harm's way, Chelsea Manning will be a free and very rich young woman.  The revisionist media in our country are jumping through hopes to create a legacy for Barack Obama that deos not include twenty trillion in debt, race relations at their lowest since the Civil Right's era, a flag that is disrespected at home almost as much as it is by the international community, an economy that is bleeding jobs because of over-regulation, and a precedence-setting willingness to abuse Executive Action to avoid working with Congress.  Will the Manning pardon be mentioned by the press as part of Obama's legacy?  Don't hold your breath.

Should persons identified as Transgender be allowed to use the public restroom of their choosing?

A few years ago I wouldn't have believed that this issue would ever become part of our nation's social conversation, but here we are.  The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer lobby (LGBTQ) has had amazing success in promoting certain issues and forcing conversation on subjects which probably have been ignored for too long.  Simply put, people should not be ill-treated or discriminated against because of their sexual identity or preference.  I grew up in an era where the words fag, dyke, gay and queer were commonly used as insults by young people.  No doubt, persons were harrassed because of perceived differences relating to sexual preference.  I can recall particular kids in Junior High and High School who were teased mercilessly; I'm a bit surprised that my graduating class didn't have any suicides because of this issue.  It's encouraging to see real changes taking place, especially in grade school.  All Americans, and Conservatives in particular, value privacy and believe that matters relating to sex should be discreet and between consenting adults.  Hopefully we are reaching the point at which young people respect the right to privacy, and to live our lives not being singled out or discriminated against because of some perceived personal characteristic.  I don't want to know what you are up to behind closed doors, and I would hope you would afford me the same privilege.  Adopting this example of mutual self-respect will discourage name-calling and harrassment in Junior and Senior High School, and hopefully make those all-important years a positive experience for everyone.

With regards to today's blog posting, one of the more important issues raised in the previous paragraph is the subject of privacy.  Actually, its much more important to identify privacy as not just a "subject", but as one of our most valuable Civil Rights.  I support the right of every U.S. Citizen to seek redress for any infringment of rights.  But we must be careful not to step on someone else's protections, as we act to defend our own.  I do want want to share a restroom with a woman.  I consider it to be a violation of my privacy and Civil Rights, to be obliged to partially undress and go about my PRIVATE business, in the presence of a woman.  The LGBTQ lobby and its liberal Special Interest Group allies are determined to turn all public restrooms in the United States into unisex facilities.  The argument being made is that a certain percentage of Americans are born trapped in the body of the wrong sex, therefore these folks should be allowed to use the restroom of their choice.  I will not debate the issue of Transgenderism.  I have met enough self-identified Trans persons to believe that the great majority of these unfortunate folks are suffering terribly.  I won't begin to try and figure out the emotional and medical issues involved with this condition.  I don't have to, because I have enough common deceny to recognize when another person is in sincere pain, caused by something over which they feel no control.  Thank goodness the medical community has made tremendous advances in the field of sexual reassignment surgery.  No doubt things aren't yet where they need to be, but Medicine seems to be on the right path.

My issue isn't complicated and it has nothing to do with bigotry, although after reading the next few paragraphs, I will undoubtedly be called a racist and a homophobe.  What I am doing is nothing more and nothing less than any average American should do to protect their right to privacy.  The LGBTQ lobby wants to give Trans individuals the right to use the bathroom which corresponds to the sexual identity that they have chosen.  Until the medical community can find a universal method to certify someone as Transgender, I am expected to just "assume" that the genetic female standing in the men's restroom is truly a Trans person.  I don't want to use the restroom alongside a woman, regardless of what identity issues he/she faces.  I should have the RIGHT to decide who sees me in a state of partial undress, shouldn't I?  I asked a few parents I know how they would feel knowing that a genetic male was in the ladies restroom at the same time as their eleven and twelve year old daughters; you can guess the response.  If we decide to use the honor principle, and keep our fingers crossed, how long do you think it will be before some pedophile follows a young girl into the restroom for unthinkable purposes?  If the police are fortunate enough to intervene, wouldn't this pedophile be able to identify himself as a Trans person named Mabel?  I realize that some folks are going to accuse me of equating the Transgender issue with pedophilia, which is absurd.  I am referring to sick people who will take advantage of any and every opportunity to access their target of interest.  In fact, this nightmare scenario has already occurred, or at least something very similar.

The medical community hypothesizes that the Trans community in the United States makes up less than one percent of the population.  Some special interest groups are willing to flip the table upside down for everyone, just to pursue "equal rights" for a miniscule number of people.  Another very aggravating fact is that the LGBTQ lobby isn't interested in just adding another restroom with a unisex logo.  They strongly believe that every person should have the right to chose which restroom most appropriately suits their sexual identity, and sharing a "unisex" facility with persons who are self-identified as the opposite sex would be humiliating.  Actually, I respect that concern because, as I stated earlier, I accept that the Transgender issue is real, and must cause confusion, pain and depression, especially to young sufferers of this condition.  I don't think I could function if I woke up tomorrow in a woman's body.  But this conversation isn't about access to reassignment surgery, something I support.  Our discourse today is about violating one person's Civil Right to privacy in an effort to accomodate another.  Is it that difficult, to wait until after reassignment surgery to resolve the issue?  But wait, I'm assuming that all Trans persons want reassignment surgery, when some have no intention of going under the knife, ever.  This subject has so many confusing angles.

I'm certainly not a bigot or racist, but on this issue, I'm willing to be tagged as such in defense of my right to privacy.  I should not be forced to use the restroom in front of a woman.  True, no one is "forcing" me to use the facility, but the last time I checked, peeing in a public parking lot in broad daylight is still against the law.  I respect the LBGTQ lobby and appreciate some of the problems they continue to address.  But ts time to let up on this one, folks.  This is the issue that just might provoke a backlash and jeopardize other, more reasonable goals.