The uproar over Mr. Assange and his Wikileaks continues, and I for one think it’s fantastic for a number of important reasons.
First of all, I have yet to read any reports related to any of the recent Wikileaks that demonstrate the leaks cost lives. At most, it would seem, the Wikileaks have been an public embarrassment for US diplomats – embarrassing because it reveals not only some weak links in America’s security armor, but also because it lays bare the private thoughts of select diplomats. Sometimes, though, public embarrassment is good – like when you get called out for farting on your first date with a long-time crush. Chances are, you’ll be more discreet in the future. In any event, it would seem at this point that the Wikidamage has been minimal. And like the saying goes, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger (except HIV).
Secondly, the latest Wikileaks has renewed my hope that there is, in fact, a group of vigilante hackers out there that are sick of governmental and corporate bullshit. I am not an anarchist, but I do sympathize with Thomas Jefferson’s view that:
“God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion.
The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts
they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. …
And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not
warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of
resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as
to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost
in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from
time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
It is its natural manure.”
I believe this country is in dire need of a reboot, and if Wikileaks can serve as a catalyst for change, more power to Assange and company.
Finally, I think Wikileaks is fantastic because it makes Sarah Palin get her panties up in a bunch (which is always fun to watch — in the same way it’s fun to watch a raging toddler completely overwhelm his hapless parents in the toy department). Sarah posted some of her trademark bullshit on her Facebook page, declaring that, “past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?…Assange is not a ‘journalist’ any more than the ‘editor’ of al-Qaeda’s new English-language magazine Inspire is a ‘journalist.’ He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands.”
OK, Sarah. Besides employing a suspiciously vague definition of “journalist,” I think you’ve answered your own question. I believe the US has gone after Assange in very much the same manner as “we pursue al-Qaeda…leaders;” that is, we half-ass it. Sometimes it’s better to have a moving target than no target at all – in so far as maintaining control of a populace through the crafty use of fear-mongering. My guess is that Sarah is less upset about any supposed threat to national security than she is concerned about her access to mounting fortunes and sacred social media outlets.
Again, this is a matter of perspective. What would Sarah’s response have been if Wikileaks disseminated innocuous wires from the Taliban? Dear Sarah: what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Suck it up, keep shit in perspective, and please stop being a fucking reactionary, populist cunt.