Terrorist, Spy, Rapist, Criminal !!!
The mob screams as they chase this evil Witch across the world hounding for his blood and for him to be bought to justice.
Whatever his label is, Julian Assange is a wanted man, by 'free' nations as well as those nations which are less known for their liberal society. The real thing that WikiLeaks founder has done is given the world an inside look into the dark and shadowy workings of supposed 'good guy' countries like the United States, but was any of that a real secret anyhow?
Now most people are aware that behind the flag waving, apple pies and consumerism that helps to sell the American Dream, a very real and deadly power play goes on hourly to keep certain powers that be, in positions of dominance as well as to secure the American 'way of life'. The fact that this information comes as a shock to many people is in itself disturbing, anyone with a minor sense of real history should be aware of how the world works. Whether for a 'good guy' super power like the United States or for a 'bad guy' Empire like the Russian Federation. Bad things are done to justify the greater good. And it has been with Wikileaks that a great many people are starting to come to this realisation...again.
Whenever you illuminate something with some light you will get to see what lurks within the darkness. Now it seems that we are getting ourselves quite the shadow dance, we can not quite see whose shadow it is, but we can see them chasing after Assange and anyone else who could potentially illuminate their secret little power plays that make this world spin the way it does.
We are told that leaking any or some of this information is a national security risk, that 'lives will be lost' and that 'our enemies' will use this information against us. Those people in power do not like anyone knowing any dirty little secrets which do not serve their agenda, these politicians who crave positive media attention blush awkwardly when the pie is on their face, and our enemies tend to know what we are really like, because for the most part this has helped to ferment their hate for 'us'.
The idea that we are good guys in a perpetual struggle with evil is something most people should have shedded from their mindsets when they stopped believing in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, but it is with beliefs like this that many people sleep so well at night. To do most of the things that we do Internationally and even domestically, you will find that someone in our name will get their hands either very bloody or very dirty. Whether this can be morally justified is another issue, but the fact that it gets done, is not a matter for general ignorance.
Ignorance is in many ways a poor form of arrogance, arrogance is what those who hound Wikileaks possess and ignorance is for the most part what we dearly cling to as we watch the dance go on before us. The real issue is that all of this is about us. We are the ones that pay those, whose secrets are being shared, to work, protect and to serve us. Now...how do we know what we are honestly paying for unless we get some disclosure. And by disclosure I do not mean official press releases and giggling sound bytes as one politician kisses another baby while holding hands with his 'political rival', what I mean is honest and embarrassing transparency that we deserve to see.
Paparazzi and tabloids thrive with weekly updates on celebrities giving us uncompromising photos, very personal ordeals and embarrassing hiccups at the expense of these modern day jesters and performers. Yet we accept this as part of the trade off for their celebrity. We assume because we buy their albums, watch their movies or listen to their opinions that we can pry into their lives via some media proxy. Yet when the same prying or slips happen within the institutions of Government, we are told that this is an act of espionage. Even if the information happens to be almost as tabloid or gossip worthy as that shared about on celebrities. Do you not sense a double standard here?
Claiming some one is a terrorist because they have published sensitive information, detracts away from the very horrors of real Terror. How can you accuse a man, who for whatever reason, has uploaded information shared with him from whatever source as being as bad as some one that would strap high explosives to a school bus in order to get a political or theological point across. I think to use the term terrorist in order to condemned such a man, is disgusting and disrespects the victims of terrorist acts and those who have lost their lives in fighting such a thing. But to most politicians and spin doctors loss and sacrifice is something suffered by others and not themselves.
The secrets leaked are far from being any real key national security issues contray to the hype and banter thrown around in condemnation of Assange. No Manhattan Project like secrets will or have been leaked. Everything has been more or less
an embarrassment to to political elites that seem more interested in how well their token sound bytes come out and what is the best spin to deliver to the majority.
Do nations like Australia or the United States not claim to be champions of liberty? Do we not hold dear the notion that people have the right to say what they wish free of censorship? I suppose when you are forever fighting a war on 'Terror' and you maintain a higher sense of civil command, that you can disband such notions of liberty and claim that it is for our common security.
What Wikileaks has done in its releasing of this information is shown us, just some of what is said and done in our names, with our tax dollars. What also has been done, is illustrate to us what could or would happen should we step of the tracks and upset the political power base that controls our nation.
In a liberal democracy the power is supposed to be with the people, the more information we as an individual and a community have on all things, then the better we can make judgement calls on those that apparently serve us and on greater issues however relevant or irrelevant that they may be for us. The word terrorist is over used and dangerously over played by members of the media and politics. It is a word that should be reserved for an actual act of terror against the innocent. It is not a label that should be thrown at some one, or something because it goes against the grain of the conventions of the times.
Perhaps Assange will be tried as a spy and he will be condemned to this by our Governments. Would he be no different to some one that criticised the nations conduct of war under the Wilsonian espionage act of 1917, where simply by disagreeing with the Government could land you in prison ! Certainly the conduct of a free nation. I suppose with a 'war' going on, that our lips should be sealed so as to stop 'our enemies' from taking advantage of any and all information. And seeing as this war is against a concept and notion it is an indefinite and unwinnable war. So in the mean time we shall have to mind our words, and continue to lose freedom and liberty so as to make sure we fight, the good fight against our 'enemies'.
I do not claim Assange belongs in the halls of liberal martyrdom but I do not cling to the idea that he is a terrorist for founding WikiLeaks and should be bought to justice for sharing information gained through whatever means.
Though I ask, in the end, when liberty and freedom has been stripped down to the bones...what makes us any different to our enemies? When we have become much like them in order to defeat them. Has the terrorists not won, when our freedom no longer exists?
If you think you have the right to say and think what you please. If you think you have the right to know what is done in your name with your money. Then why would you pick up a torch and chase after this witch? Because some day soon you too could be burnt at the stake alongside some one like Assange.
In this witch hunt we must ask...how can a non US citizen be charged with espionage for information published, that he received from various sources. Perhaps because Australia is apart of the 'Coalition of the Willing' in this 'war' that our alliance sees all citizens subject to US law...when it suits them.
I suppose when Australia has no bill of right, or protection of the individual against the state or other states, that our own Australian Government will find Assange and Wikileaks guilty of treason or espionage. Though wasn't our PM guilty of such an act of 'treason' not that long ago?
Do not become part of the mob, be an individual and look into every source with your own eyes and mind and listen to your own reason and compassion on ALL matters free of the official spin.
And we shall see just how important information is should the tyrannies of this World lose grip of the speaker phone, when the people are exposed to all of their evils, then we shall see revolution in the streets. If you have nothing to hide, then why fear transparency ?
No Information is evil. Acts are evil.
9 Dec 2010
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