Tag Archives: Julian Assange

Wikileak Freedom Fallout

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The Real Assange...

Given that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange previously threatened to release everything if he’s arrested, it’s no surprise that the leaks keep trickling along even though he’s been arrested and denied bail. After all, this is a man of influence and infamy: since having his funding cut and Swiss bank account frozen, hackers have started attacking his enemies on his behalf.

And this ugly mess is just getting started. Before the dust settles, there’s going to be a lot more diplomatic embarrassment, suspects arrested, charges laid, and new “terrorists” and “terrorist organizations” added to our watch lists. When it’s all said and done, these Wikileaks can play out in a lot of different ways.

They can end up selling a war with Iran and/or North Korea to the Western citizens and their governments. After all, the former makes the Saudis nervous, and the Chinese is fed up with the latter — so there’s really nothing left standing in our way. Here’s to another decade with no exit strategy.

Then there are all the overarching threats to our security and prosperity. If we’re going to start sharing hit-lists of sites vital to US interests online, the police are going to need more powers to protect “vital interests,” keep tabs on everyone who hates freedom, and suppress those leaky media outlets that keep dripping fuel on the fire.

Make no mistake about it. The political fallout from these Wikileaks are going to be short-term. After all, in politics, terms are often short and everyone’s expendable. It’s the rest of us who might have the most to worry about. If we’re not really careful lucky, this whole thing can end up costing us everything that it was suppose to protect.

The Leaky Axis

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Click, click, boom, boom...

There are a lot of things that we know and don’t know about Cablegate. We know that’s what been leaked so far is just the tip of the iceberg. We know that a lot of leaders and diplomats have already been put in a really tight spot. We know that Julian Assange has pissed a lot of people off. We know that a 23 year old kid is the prime “leaker” suspect. And we know that even though Assange hasn’t yet released stuff on UFOs, the conspiracy theories are already flying.

We don’t know what’s going to be in those remaining documents, but what we know from the ones that have already been published is that international stereotypes exist for a reason: diplomats are spies, Russia is corrupt, Afghanistan is worse, the German leader lacks creativity, and the French leader is vain.

What we didn’t expect was that, apparently, the Saudi’s don’t like Iran and China is fed up with North Korea. How’s that for a revelation, Mac? Rogue states make their rich and greedy neighbors feel uneasy.

And that’s the beautiful thing about democracy: no two market-democracies have ever gone to war with one another. Democracies are governed by peace-niks who worship the rule of law and an invisible hand. And what we’ve learned from Cablegate is that there’s not much left standing between our previous free-market and the millions of consumers being held hostage by an Axis of Evil.

A Week in WikiLeaks

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Julian Assange doesn't like plumbers...

It’s been a bad week for Wikileaks found, Julian Assange. First, last Sunday, Republican Congressman, Pete King, started pushing for Wikileaks to be classified as a terrorist organization. Then, on Monday, Sarah Palin called for Assange to be hunted down as an “anti-American operative.”

But what Tuesday held in store made The Maverick look more like The Moderate. First, an established Canadian politico outright said he should be assassinated, while a Canadian newspaper wondered why he wasn’t already dead. Meanwhile, back in the US, authorities started looking into charging Assange under the Espionage Act.

Then, Late Thursday night, Wikileaks was dropped by their domain name provider and is now fighting to stay online (on a Swiss domain at Wikileaks.ch). Finally, on Friday, just as Ron Paul, a Republican, came to Assange’s defense today, arguing that he deserves the same protections as the mainstream media, Swedish authorities got a bit closer to getting him extradited from the UK to Sweden where he’s “wanted on suspicion of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion.”

Timely Accusations

Rape is one of those things where the mere accusation can ruin you. No matter how you’re cleared in a court of law, the allegation will always hang over like the rancid musk of leprosy and rotting flesh. No one will ever want to get too close to you ever again. You’ll be untouchable.

Which isn’t to say that Assange did or didn’t do those things he’s suspected of having done by Swedish authorities. We weren’t there, so as far as we’re concerned, it’s just one big game of Swedish he-said-she-said, and we don’t speak the language, so I guess we’ll just have to sit this one out. But hard to ignore the timing of both the allegations and renewed pressure to bring him back to Sweden.

Back on the Ranch

But this whole mess is a lot bigger than Assange and his allegedly unruly member. The move to classify Wikileaks as a terrorist organization is Machiavellian maneuver that’ll extend well beyond silencing some perverted dissident.

First, it would prohibit US banks, and companies like PayPal, Visa and MasterCard, from processing payments to the group. More importantly, it would also make it a federal  felony to provide WikiLeaks with “material support or resources”.

If the GOP can push this one through, what we’ll be looking at, here, is the criminalization of information. Anyone who has it is a terrorist, and anyone who consumes it becomes one.

In a world like that, everyone with a mobile phone and a data plan is at risk — is a risk. One wrong “Like” or search query and you’re a freedom-hating enemy of the state to be neutralized in a swift and exacting manner.