Yesterday, Obama gave a “Moment of Opportunity Speech” in which he praised the democratic protests in the Middle East. During the speech, he said:

Through our efforts we must support those basic rights to speak your mind and access information. We will support open access to the Internet, and the right of journalists to be heard – whether it’s a big news organization or a blogger. In the 21st century, information is power; the truth cannot be hidden; and the legitimacy of governments will ultimately depend on active and informed citizens.
Such open discourse is important even if what is said does not square with our worldview.Link.

Wow. So why is the Obama Administration trying so hard to shut down Wikileaks and scare off those who would contribute to it? Maybe these are some of the reasons.

The Bradley Manning Support Network got help from 259 supporters in successfully funding a large billboard that will go up in a prominent location in Washington D.C. It will stay up for a month to correspond with the dates of Bradley’s pretrial hearing. Not only did we succeed in funding a great visibility opportunity, we did it in 3 days. EpicStep gives campaigns up to 30 days, so we think this is a record. Way to go Bradley Manning supporters! Next, we’ll be looking into ads in subway stations. Link.

Our “I am Bradley Manning” photo petition continues to grow, but we still have lots of supporters who haven’t submitted their entry yet! A picture is worth a thousand words, and we want to showcase the diversity of the movement to support PFC Manning as another way to gain media coverage during the pretrial hearing. One supporter has pledged to take pictures of 10 of her friends for the petition this weekend. Who’s ready to join her? Link.