I am not in favor of folk willy-nilly spilling confidential / secret / classified material. But as the article here notes, the classification system is regularly abused by those in power (of all parties), the material Manning whistleblew was important for the American public to know, and spending several years in the clink is hardly "getting away with it" or creating a moral hazard (especially given the hypocrisy of some of Manning's greatest critics over other analogous offenses).
(Also, anyone who thinks Manning's transgenderism hasn't had an effect on both sides of this debate hasn't been paying attention.)
I have no problem with this commutation.
In Defense of the Chelsea Manning Commutation – The Atlantic
Those who worry that it undermines state secrets would do better to start addressing the core reasons that the classification system is losing legitimacy.
There's definitely a substantial difference between willy-nilly spilling of secrets and revealing evidence of crimes that would, by definition, otherwise go unnoticed. This seems to be lost on the press and an apparent majority of the populace.
+Michael Verona I believe part of that is a "shooting the messenger" impulse. A lot of the populace (and the media that sell to them) aren't comfortable with facing the sorts of things Manning revealed.