Comments on: UPDATE VIII: Lessons About Wicked TSA Appied To WikiLeaks (Patriotism Or Statism?)

By: Myron Pauli

Myron Pauli — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 15:56:57 +0000

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!

By: Myron Pauli

Myron Pauli — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 15:43:24 +0000

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!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 01:20:47 +0000

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.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:52:46 +0000

“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.

By: greenhell

greenhell — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 23:36:22 +0000

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.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:39:36 +0000

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”.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 20:38:24 +0000

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.

By: Thomas L. Knapp

Thomas L. Knapp — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 19:25:00 +0000

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).

By: Contemplationist

Contemplationist — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:57:32 +0000

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

By: Shane

Shane — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:52:32 +0000

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.