
Chelsea Manning files to run for U.S. Senate in Maryland - aaronbrethorst
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/chelsea-manning-files-to-run-for-us-senate-in-maryland/2018/01/13/6439f0d0-f88c-11e7-beb6-c8d48830c54d_story.html?utm_term=.13458559e889
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twblalock
She's running in a primary challenge against an established Democrat who has
been active in Maryland politics since the 1960s and has never lost an
election.

On top of that, polling suggests that a majority of Americans, including just
under 50% of Democrats, opposed clemency for Manning.

This is not going to end well. If she's serious about a career as an elected
official, this is not the right way to go about it. I suspect she does not
expect to win and this is really an attempt to gain national recognition as an
activist.

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zitterbewegung
I think that she is running and knows that she will lose but use the
opportunity to push ideas that her opponent will adopt. Sort of like a
sacrifice fly but in politics. The Green party I think has done this in the
past.

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numbsafari
For the duration of the campaign, maybe, and then only if Manning is an actual
electoral threat and people agree with the positions she has on important
issues.

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potluckyears
She has no experience, a felony conviction for violating the Espionage Act,
and a dishonorable discharge.

Maryland is home to a huge number of defense and intelligence workers.
According to Wikipedia, Fort Meade (which is the headquarters of the NSA) is
the state's biggest employer.

I'm not hopeful.

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iamdave
_Maryland is home to a huge number of defense and intelligence workers._

This was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw the headline, it's
like that common line thrown at stand-up comedians (note: This is not me
calling Chelsea Manning a 'joke' or making light of her situation and what she
went through): know your room. That constituency does NOT seem like one that
will vote for this particular candidate.

Nonetheless, I commend her willingness to step up to the plate, I can see a
lot of valuable conversations coming out of the race.

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SteveGregory
This is awesome. Whether or not you believe her actions were good for the
country (I believe they were), this is a good example for all counties about
how committed we are as a nation to democracy.

The framers designed our government to overthrow itself every few years, and I
believe it was intentional that we could elect somebody who has been tried and
convicted of crimes to represent us as citizens, if we wish to do so. I'm not
a resident of Maryland, and will not be in a position to evaluate and vote on
the candidates, but I do think the fact that this race is possible is
something we can take real pride in.

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totalZero
> The framers designed our government to overthrow itself every few years

At the risk of being pedantic...

Peaceful and systematic replacement is not the same phenomenon as overthrow.

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cagenut
Personal/political opinions about this aside (helllll yeaaa!) its odd that
she'd file and then just be silent on social media all day. Did she/her-team
not expect this public record to get noticed till next week? Where is the
website? Was this a very last minute decision?

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bitoneill
Wouldn't she have trouble getting a security clearance? I'm under the
impression that many Senators receive secure briefings.

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olympus
She would have trouble getting one, but she doesn't need one. Only a few
senators are given access to every classified program. Most senators can
request specific accesses if their work/committee requires it, but aren't
given access to everything by default- the DoD would need a good reason to
deny the clearance, and Manning's case probably counts as a good reason. Even
if Manning won she would be a junior senator and not put on any important
defense related committees so she wouldn't have a need for a clearance most of
the time.

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dogma1138
Security clearance doesn’t work that way you still need to be given specific
access to compartmentalized information, pretty much anything that is codeword
or higher has to be individually read into.

Basically you can have 2 people with the same base clearance but they would
have completely different access to information. The security clearance
doesn’t even give you access to information by having it, it simply means that
you have passed the risk assessment which means you can be cleared to handle
classified information and you would handle it in a legal and responsible
manner, which regardless what you think about Manning that is clearly not the
case.

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empath75
I think she’s a good person and the way she was treated by pretty much
everyone from Wikileaks to Adrian lamo to the media and the military and court
system was horrific.

But none of that qualifies her for public office and I think it’s a mistake
for her to run. If she even comes close to winning, she’s going to be raked
over the coals again by her opponents and the media.

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1000units
Has a convicted felon ever been elected as a U.S. senator before?

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exabrial
Tons of congressman have DUI and assault charges, so I assume yes.

I'm more curious do you have to pass a background check to be a
representative?

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kavok
I’ve never heard of a background check for an elected representative.

It is a bit strange that someone who can’t vote (a felon) could be elected and
then vote on our behalf.

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craftyguy
Is someone with a presidential pardon still considered a felon? I know the
pardon does not erase the conviction, but since a pardon seems to erase the
most significant consequences, does it erase all consequences?

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SEJeff
A pardon erases prison time, it does not erase any fines resulting from said
crime, and also is admitting guilt to the crime[1]. One of the biggest things
a pardon does as a result of that (like a guilty plea does as well) is open
you up to civil suits. Also, accepting a pardon prevents you from pleading the
5th on any further or follow up charges related to said crime. It is a pretty
slippery slope actually. Your question is an interesting one, but one better
suited for a Constitutional law scholar such as Professor Lawrence Tribe (runs
the constitutional law program at Harvard).

[1] Burdick vs United States:
[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=392852811788210...](https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3928528117882105076)

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paulddraper
That is the usual interpretation of that case, but not the only one.

[https://medium.com/@brendanlilly/are-presidential-pardons-
an...](https://medium.com/@brendanlilly/are-presidential-pardons-an-admission-
of-guilt-d931ce3223f4)

