printYou’ve already been designated a terrorist at the nation’s federally controlled airports. As you go about your business, trying to make a living, and pursuing familial and professional contacts around the world—you ought to have an inkling, by now, of what being at the mercy of this accreting evil is all about. I hope you are able to extend these lessons and sensibilities to the persecution of an admittedly far more courageous opponent of the Federal Frankenstein than you and I: Julian Assange, proprietor of WikiLeaks.
First up, here are my reservations about hailing Assange as a folk hero: I suspect that Assange’s opposition to the oppressive impetus of the American state is reserved for causes dear to the Left. Witness the posting by Assange’s WikiLeaks, on 18 November of 2008, the name, address, age and occupation of many of the 13,500 members of the rightist British National Party. This is a wee bit of a give-away. Does he not respect this small group’s rights to live unmolested? Apparently not.
UPDATE II: WikiLeaks was, likewise, nowhere to be found when the Climagedon emails were exposed.
The fascist Fox News is leading its reports on the latest leaks with headlines calling to “designate WikiLeaks a ‘foreign terrorist organization.'”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton seconded the sentiment: “Leaks ‘tear at fabric’ of government,'” she lamented. Good.
Let me focus the story for you. Far more serious than the gossipy prattle among diplomats about Iran, revealed in the 250,000 classified State Department documents, leaked on Monday, are the exhortations issued at Foggy Bottom to SPY ON THE WORLD:
The leaks cited American memos encouraging U.S. diplomats at the United Nations to collect detailed data about the U.N. secretary-general, his team and foreign diplomats — going beyond what is considered the normal run of information-gathering expected in diplomatic circles.
Le Monde said a memo asked U.S. diplomats to collect basic contact information about U.N. officials that included Internet passwords, credit card numbers and frequent flyer numbers. They were also asked to obtain fingerprints, ID photos, DNA and iris scans of people of interest to the United States, Le Monde said.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley played down the diplomatic spying allegations. “Our diplomats are just that, diplomats,” he said. “They collect information that shapes our policies and actions. This is what diplomats, from our country and other countries, have done for hundreds of years.”
The fabric of such a government must be torn and shorn; it’s the stuff of society that needs rebuilding.
UPDATE I: I repeat the observation made in “Warbot Wants to Kill WikiLeaker” (08.07.10):
“The politicos, and now even the generals, preach the practice of left-liberalism at its most extreme in every structure of the military and the government. And then, when it appears that their affirmative recruits are crappy—they can’t abide by a code of secrecy (or by a contract); or are unable to refrain from killing their colleagues—then their bosses suddenly turn bigoted and want to kill them.
“These are the same generals and politicians who campaign for free and open sex for hets and homos in the military. What do they expect? Disciplined buttoned-up soldiers?!”
“You can’t run a liberal organization—structurally and philosophically—and expect your members to behave themselves. Left-liberalism is about license and lenience.”
UPDATE III: TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN. Julian Assange’s, that is. The Australian who heads the secret-sharing Web site” said that “the documents will skewer ‘lying, corrupt and murderous leadership from Bahrain to Brazil.'”
UPDATE IV (Nov. 30): CLIMAGEDON. Although WikiLeaks’ proprietor did not break the climagedon story, he did “host the full 120MB archive.” I’m not quite sure what this cryptic, Wikipedia statement means. Is Assange committed to exposing power irrespective of ideology? I still don’t know. There is no doubt that he has done liberty a tremendous service so far by pulling back the curtain to reveal the affairs of state we fund.
UPDATE V: Via Fjordman, of the Brussels Journal: “… in 2001, … two out of Norway’s three largest newspapers, Aftenposten and Dagbladet, reported that most … rape charges involve an immigrant perp, which again mostly means Muslims. Both newspapers have since then conveniently ‘forgotten’ about this, and have never connected the issue to Muslim immigration although the number of rape charges has continued to rise to historic levels. They are thus at best guilty of extreme incompetence, since their former articles about this issue are still available online. Norway’s Minister of Justice from 2001 to 2005, Odd Einar Dørum, mentioned the problem in 2001 but has later gone quiet about the issue. The reported number of rapes in Oslo is now six – 6! – times as high per capita as in New York City, yet the media keeps warning against Islamophobia.”
Swedish women, at least, can at last feel safe. The Swedish government is finally getting serious about their rape problem.?!!
“Interpol, at the request of a Swedish court looking into alleged sex crimes from earlier this year, has put WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on its most-wanted list.
The Stockholm Criminal Court two weeks ago issued an international arrest warrant for Assange on probable cause, saying he is suspected of rape, sexual molestation and illegal use of force in August incidents.”
Now what a coincidence this trumped up charge is, don’t you think?
UPDATE VI (Dec. 1): It is interesting how the collectivist impulse has kicked in among so many so-called defenders of freedom. A single man exposes the wicked workings of the US empire—an arm of which is the terrorist TSA—and that individual has become the enemy of the good.
The use of the term “anti-American,” vis-a-vis Assange, moreover, is so childish and utterly inaccurate. Assange is anti-American only if one equates America with her government. Proceeding from this error, the people who can-can for the criminalization of Assange’s speech draw the conclusion that by opposing state criminality, Assange is anti-American. So far, the one Assange action to qualify as unpatriotic and awful is his exposing of the home addresses of members of the rightist British National Party. That was a bully-boy tactic; it certainly qualifies as an ideological stand; a show of hatred to rordinary, peaceful citizens.
This is not a neoconservative site. Yes, we despise the Obama regime, but we despised the rule of Genghis Bush just as much—and almost from its inception.
People confuse statism with patriotism. This is how this classical liberal writer has defined patriotism (which is why Bad Eagle is wrong: American Indians can be patriotic):
“Patriotism in my view is a very modest thing. I feel patriotism when I encounter many people in my immediate community, or among my readers. The arborist who came to trim my trees the other day told me he was not a Republican or a Democrat. He said he hated the war in Iraq and loved his guns as well as keeping what he earned. This independence of mind is quintessentially American. I feel patriotic when I encounter such an American. Ditto the gentleman who installed my alarm system recently. He too expressed his disdain for politics, and moved on to discuss his gun collection. The sight of the Jeffersonian arborist swinging heroically at the top of my giant cedars, giving them a trim, and the cowboy-clad alarm installer makes me patriotic. People like Dr. Yeagley make me patriotic. There are quite a few Americans such as these around. Not enough, but enough to make me want to fight the good fight for them. …”
“So what is patriotism? Here’s what it’s not: It’s not an allegiance to the government of the day, or to its invariably wicked, un-American policies. It’s an affinity for your community; it’s an understanding of the great principles upon which this country was founded—which have been excised by successive governments, Republican and Democratic alike. And it’s a commitment to restoring the republic of private-property rights, individual freedoms, and radical decentralization.”
UPDATE VII:
“I miss the old WND,” writes Clay Smith, at the Letters section on WND:
I was sadden to read Mr. Farah’s article, “Nobody asked, nobody told.” I remember under President Clinton, WND would be a beacon of liberty, questioning government on everything. Back then WND even honored the “informer” by naming its magazine “Whistleblower.” I really miss that old WND.
Who cares if Pfc. Bradley Manning is a deviant, godless homosexual? The message is what I’m looking at, not the messenger. An individual tells me my house is on fire … I don’t stop and ask him whether he is a godless homosexual. I check his sincerity and validity of the information. In the case of WikiLeaks, the information has showed us numerous forms of government abuse.
There are no secrets in a free and open society – only with governments that keep their citizens in the dark, dictatorships, empires and those who engage in black ops. This is the root cause of terrorism in the first place. Ron Paul was right when he said, “Truth is treason in the empire of lies.”
I read Joseph’s column. I did not take away that he opposed whistle-blowing. What I deduce is that he thought the military appointed the wrong people, a point I made earlier in this post: “You can’t run a liberal organization—structurally and philosophically—and expect your members to behave themselves. Left-liberalism is about license and lenience.”
UPDATE VIII: Vox day writes this on On the heroics of WikiLeaks:
“If WikiLeaks meets the legal criteria of a “U.S.-designated terrorist organization” then so does Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica. Governments always want to operate in the dark and keep their subjects in ignorance, which is why Julian Assange should not be assailed by the American people, he should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, regardless of whatever his motivations in making all of this information available to the public might be.
WikiLeaks is nothing more or less than a technological blow for American freedom. Assange is no traitor; the accusation doesn’t even make sense considering that he has absolutely no connection with the United States. But it should come as no surprise to the readers of this blog that the verbal attack against the organization is being led by one of those freedom-loving Republicans.”
In a sane world, we would wake up this morning to hear of criminal investigations of Dear Hillary for her outright criminal behavior. It’s all in black and white for the world to see. And further notice that Hillary has not claimed these State Dept. communications to be fraudulent.
Sadly, we don’t live in a sane world, or a fair one, for that matter. After all, a common citizen seeking other people’s credit card numbers and DNA would be prosecuted for identity theft. As it is our top diplomat caught with her hand in the cookie jar, nary a word will be uttered by our crack squad at the US (In)Justice Department.
Sure enough, Attorney General Eric Holder has announced investigations…into the leaks. Hey, Eric, don’t mind that elephant in the room. Sic the dogs on some low level whistleblower instead.
How can this man not be considered an accomplice to the crimes? How can anyone look upon what our government is doing every single day and not conclude that it is the world’s largest criminal syndicate?
When are Americans going to turn off “Dancing with the Stars” and start demanding some accountability?
There are far better ways to fight against government.
“I hope you are able to extend these lessons and sensibilities to the persecution of an admittedly far more courageous opponent of the Federal Frankenstein than you and I”
Please, word warriors like you and other such writers are more courageous and practice discretion, something vitally needed in such endeavors. I agree with your assertion that Assange is probably biased for uber-leftist causes. But I will say, that last paragraph of this article was a revelation indeed. Perhaps the opening of this Pandora’s box will hand us studded gems of knowledge as well as any trouble it affords. Thanks Ilana, once again you’ve given us big food for thought.
“These are the same generals and politicians who campaign for free and open sex for hets and homos in the military. What do they expect? Disciplined buttoned-up soldiers?!”
“You can’t run a liberal organization—structurally and philosophically—and expect your members to behave themselves. Left-liberalism is about license and lenience.”
Perfectly said.
Good Lord!! The People finally stand up to TSA & they back down!! There was once something called the Intolerable Acts (5 of them in 1774) where Americans stood up against govt. tyranny.
Now many Americans are on no-fly lists or domestic terrorist lists. All of us are being turned into common criminals by our own govt. This is just wrong!!
Do read a new thriller out about Americans in modern times that stand up to federal tyranny. It’s a must read cause it could be that history is now calling on us to fulfill our true destiny.
http://www.booksbyoliver.com
Maybe, we now have our own Intolerable Acts that will get Americans to take a stand.
Always good insights on issues, not recognized or deliberatley left uncovered by the MSM. Thanks.
“WikiLeaks was, likewise, nowhere to be found when the Climagedon emails were exposed.”
Actually, Wikileaks was the most prominent web host for the full 120MB “Climategate” email archive.
Julian Assange is a modern-day hero.
These Wikileaks revelations were so shocking! Some American diplomats think that President Zadari of Pakistan may have an unstable grip on power – WOW!!! Some think Hamid Karzai might be untrustworthy or corrupt – HOLY COW!!!
These are amazing revelations – I wonder what the next bunch of Super-Duper-Hyper-Secret Leaks will have:
EXTRA: Bears defecate in forested areas!
SURPRISE: Pope is Catholic!!!
Leave it to the Paranoid Statist Government to get all worked up over the Top-Secret-Obvious. Great secrets from our $ 80,000,000,000.00 annual intelligence budget.
So far, one of the most pertinent things I’ve gotten from the documents was the fact Saudi Arabia is behind the scenes beating the war drum for U.S. to attack Iran, all the while acting to their own citizenry that they have nothing to do with what the “Great Satan” does. Tell me where again did the 911 hijackers come from? Once again, this just proves how we are ruled by men and women who are utterly fools. Power hungry and ruthless perhaps but utterly contemptible fools none the less.
Dan
No, Assange is not a hero at all.
Julian Assange is no hero – he’s an opportunist who looks to the easiest target to foist his ‘fight for freedom’ banner. If he was heroic he’d be unveiling the secrets of police states like China, North Korea, etc. Releasing the personal musings of our ambassadors is an attack against the state department, and regardless of how much we all despise this Obama regime, Assange has deeply damaged our relationships with other world leaders and likely ensured more war and tyranny instead of less. The damage he does today will have repurcussions that ring long after Obama is gone. The world is no safer with a weakened United States.
In our passions to recognize and defend against our political opponents, we have to restrain ourselves from lionizing anyone who does them damage. It mocks true heroism to crown someone like Julian Assange as heroic. Save that designation for those who take on the truly wicked and are willing to assume the consequences in the name of defending innocent life.
Can we equate the situations in Norway and Sweden though? I have an inkling they are similar but the above seems like bait and switch
I think the difference between Wikileaks circa “Climategate” and Wikileaks now is that they’ve developed more media savvy.
Prior to this year, Wikileaks has received information, posted that information, and commented on its role in doing so when asked.
With the Iraq “murder from helicopters” video, Assange moved to the forefront as spokesperson. With the last “Iraq War Diary” dump, he and Wikileaks actively cultivated media attention and participation in advance of release, and more so with this latest.
I don’t think it’s an ideological thing. They’re just getting smarter over time (and having some rough spots personality-wise as Assange becomes identified as the “proprietor” of Wikileaks, which he isn’t).
Thank you, Shane. There was a news bulletin saying he threatened to release hundreds of bank account numbers, too. Such an action would definitely put him on the same shelf as the information-robbers he revealed.
That’s a great definition of patriotism.
“which is why, Bad Eagle is wrong: American Indians can be patriotic”
I thought he said they could too: “BadEagle.com thanks all American Indians for their faithfulness, for their strength, and for their patriotism”.
Shane, it takes no great courage to confront the likes of North Korea as they are poor and powerless. Assange could publish anything he wanted about them without fear of retribution. Perhaps not a hero, but certainly courageous, Assange has our leaders calling for his murder because he has “deeply damaged relationships with other world leaders”? I would hope our best and brightest have thicker skins. That a President or a Prime Minister is rude or strange or boring is no more a secret than my knowing how my own siblings behave.
The question is not whether the world is safer with a weakened United States, but whether it is freer. Perhaps we no longer have the character to lead a free world? Do not think the truly wicked would not take up positions of leadership in our own country.
“Julian Assange should not be assailed by the American people, he should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, regardless of whatever his motivations in making all of this information available to the public might be”
Absolute idiocy. One fool on that blog said he looked forward to the bank accounts being revealed and hoped Obama’s Social Security numbers were revealed as well. We already know the government sucks; releasing the private and important information of numerous citizens is both unnecessary and cowardly.
I admit I’m tempted to cheer almost anything that shakes the TSA and the bastards who support them. On the other hand, my grandmother and uncle both have accounts in the Bank of America. Wikileaks can be a relatively harmless and even helpful site, depending on what it’s willing to release. The traitor here would obviously not be Assange, but the low-rank soldier who supplied Wikileaks with the material.
Just as 9/11 incompetence begat TSA groping, so Wikileaks incompetence is begatting new “security theater” completely irrelevant to much of the Bradley Manning problem.
Insane directives are now skewing down from the highest levels of Mount Insanity (not to be confused with Mount Sinai).
Ignoring for the time being whether Hillary’s opinion of Putin’s body odor is truly Top Secret and ignoring the religious right’s obsession on whether Manning likes men, women, or gerbils:
WHY did Manning have a “need-to-know” for 250,000 or more documents?
WHY were there 250,000 or more documents available without any certification of need-to-know than any private in the Army can access?
WHEN does downloading 250,000 documents not raise suspicion?
WHY were there not special separate encryptions on individual document files?
HOW do people repeatedly take CD’s in and out of special secure rooms without arousing suspicion?
Now, let’s see –– a guy with no occupation travels from Nigeria to Yemen to London to Detroit with no contacts in the US, no luggage, a suspicious ticket, and his father says he is a terrorist. I guess that means we have to fondle 3 year old kids!
I just had a revelation. The reason that the TSA gets away with its searching and seizures is because no Americans know what is in the Constitution. So here is my suggestion:
Label the Constitution as TOP SECRET and then post it on Wikileaks!