Chelsea Manning attacks Glenn Greenwald

The WikiLeaks source who was unjustly imprisoned by the U.S. government for leaking evidence of their crimes turns against one of her biggest allies

Chelsea E. Manning at Union Square Park on 2 May 2021. This file is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. | Source

It’s not entirely clear what precipitated Chelsea Manning’s Twitter-thread going after independent journalist Glenn Greenwald this afternoon, but she makes some serious, if unspecific, accusations against him.

Chelsea E. Manning @xychelsea

glenn greenwald, i don’t have $10,000 right now but if i get it i want to send it back to you from a donation you once did. i can’t deal with this anymore. im terrified of you and everything you do. you’re greedy, unprincipled, and im embarrassed for ever considering you a friend

Chelsea E. Manning @xychelsea

last night during the floods i decided that im no longer going to be afraid of saying what’s on my mind anymore or taking a stand from the people that i once considered allies but who have chosen to bash, harass, humiliate, intimidate, and lie to get ahead

Chelsea E. Manning @xychelsea

to those he has hurt im sorry i didn’t say anything I was scared and that’s my fault

Who exactly has Greenwald hurt, harassed, humiliated, or intimidated to get ahead, and what has he lied about? Unfortunately for Manning, her flood-inspired epiphany in favor of self-described courage seems to be incomplete, as you can’t “take a stand” by simply making generic, unsubstantiated claims about someone in an attempt to assassinate their character. There’s nothing brave about running your mouth on Twitter.

As for Greenwald, he chalks this attack up to Manning disliking a perceived change, on her part, in his politics, and, presumably, his willingness to appear on Tucker Carlson’s television program on Fox News. It’s not clear exactly what Manning is specifically objecting to regarding Tucker Carlson in the screenshot of their conversation shared by Greenwald, but “nazbol demagogue” is probably an attempt to call Carlson a Nazi if I had to guess.

Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald

Lots of people on the left -- not all, but many -- mistake friendships for political agreements, such that when the political agreement erodes, for them the "friendship" does, too. Friendships that don't transcend politics or require political agreement have no value.

Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald

Anyway, as I've long said, this is what left-liberal spaces have become. They all turn on each other, denounce each other, repudiate one another. Their currency is this form of self-victimizing grievance. So grateful I'm not captive to or dependent on it:

Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald

Over and over, left-wing spaces destroy themselves. They're impotent, can't achieve anything, so turn on each other to feel strong and meaningful. But they can only raise their fist over cheap, performative theater. The puritanical rules they've imposed ensure self-destruction.

Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald

The entirety of the grievance:

Whatever the source of her displeasure, it’s clear that Manning decided to handle it in the worst possible way, and, unless she actually can back up her claims, should probably apologize and own up to her mistake like an adult. Otherwise it’s clear that Greenwald is right and she’s cynically trying to raise her own stock by trying to tear him down.