Why Is Assange Still Alive?

JPMorgan's Losses a Canary in a Coal Mine?

FOCUS: Apocalypse Fairly Soon

FOCUS: Five Facts That Put America to Shame

The NDAA's Coup d'Etat Foiled

FOCUS: The Commencement Address That Won't Be Given

Glenn Greenwald begins: "Decadent governments often spawn a decadent citizenry. A 22-year-old Nebraska resident was arrested yesterday for waterboarding his girlfriend as she was tied to a couch, because he wanted to know if she was cheating on him with another man; I wonder where he learned that?"

Newspaper clipping proclaiming Julian Assange an, "International man of mystery", 06/15/08. (photo: Public Domain)

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+6 # Yakpsyche 2010-10-31 20:05

So, we should start fiddling, while "Rome" burns.

+32 # FAN 2010-10-31 20:38

I don't understand. Why are these right wing idiots so scared about calling for murder when they actually do and then say they don't really mean it?
What kind of cowards are these folks?

+4 # DaveW. 2010-11-01 15:35

Fan, They are your "garden variety" type of coward that has existed from time immemorial. They have mouths large enough to place their feet in, which they frequently do, and little balled up fists with blades of tender young grass clenched between rapacious, pernicious fingers. They're the first ones to call for war and the last ones willing to actually fight in one. They claim to "have religion" but only use their "playbook" for nefarious purposes designed to further their own warped and perverted view of the world. They're the type of cowards who feel compassion is best left for preachers on the pulpit and that once they've got they're weekly "hand washing/sin cleansing ritual out of the way they can go back to turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the screams of the victimized of this sordid, morally corrupt world of ours. Their bravery resides in numbers, their mentality is of the bumper sticker variety and when and if the end does come, they will be the first ones groveling on soft knees and hardened souls preying that their "God" forgive them for they knew not what they do. They are the epitome of the modern bully, always yearning for a fight, always walking backwards.

+28 # Texas Aggie 2010-10-31 20:38

There is an excellent recent column in the regressiveantid ote(dot)com addressing just this type of attitude. First it bemoans the cheapening of the concept of "Nazi" because of what the right wing has done to cheapen and destroy its meaning, and then goes on to bemoan the fact that the right wing has become what the real Nazis once were.

If you have any knowledge about what Nazis really were, you recognize it in the behavior and mindset of the people mentioned in Mr. Greenwald's article. It doesn't bode well for our once great country.

+19 # DaveW. 2010-11-01 07:20

Texas, Our "period of greatness" was brief. We've denied rights and equality to women and minorities since our inception. We've stolen lands through war, both in Mexican War of 1846-48 and Spanish-American war 1898-'02. We slaughtered Native Americans and designated them to worthless chunks of geography. We enslaved Blacks for centuries before embarking on Jim Crow hayride that still hasn't really ended. I could go on for ten posts. We "did" defeat Fascism ( now we're doing our damndest to reincarnate it) and work diligently to rebuild Europe. Not trying to start an argument. But our "greatness" could be disputed by millions upon millions of gravestones around the world and within our own country. Our "great country" would depend entirely on perspective. At the massacre at Sand Creek in 1860's U.S. soldiers "cut out" the genitals of men, women and children. One example of greatness.

+11 # genierae 2010-11-01 09:48

DaveW.- When we destroyed the Native American way of life, we destroyed a culture that was superior to our own. They were spiritual, the white man was, and still is, a materialist. They lived in harmony with nature, the white man is bringing it to ruin. They shared equally in the good things that they had, the white man keeps his good things to himself. Women were valued in their culture and held positions of importance. Here's one interesting fact: Not one white man, who "went Indian", ever repented, and not one Indian ever voluntarily "went white". What does that tell you? I am of course, well aware that there were many white people who were horrified at the treatment of Native Americans, and they tried to help, but it was too little to do much good. Instead of learning from these wise people, we exterminated them, while at the same time, we strutted about, pretending to be great.

+7 # DaveW. 2010-11-01 10:34

genierae, I agree with your post. I'm a white guy and sometimes feel like I'm a "carrier" of virulent disease that is destroying mankind. I've done a lot to educate myself, my wife and my daughters about the destructiveness of Western Imperialism for the last 500 years. I often fantasize I am a Native American, circa 1000 A.D., living in the Bay Area of Northern California, long before the arrival of the white man. Despite all our technological advancements, we, as a nation, are morally and spiritually bankrupt and I believe the way of life practiced by Native Americans was superior then. I think it was Red Cloud, correct me if I'm wrong, who said, "The white man made many promises to us. They only kept one. They promised to take our land. They took it." I wrote a long poem on the subject. If you have time please look at it and give me some feedback. My site is madlibpoet.com. Empire, American Empire is built upon the blood and bones of many innocent people. I often have a hard time reconciling that with "greatness." Let's both of us, you and I and anybody else with a conscious, keep telling people the real price of "greatness." Maybe some day we'll find the real thing.

+5 # DaveW. 2010-11-01 10:40

"YOU CAN"T HANDLE THE TRUTH!" Evidently many Americans can't. If "lies" are the foundation for our continued existence we truly are living on a house of cards. Red, White and Blue packaging on a neo-conservative reality. "Buyer's remorse" is right around the corner.

+42 # Texan 4 Peace 2010-10-31 20:59

Does no one on the right find it ironic that releasing information about illegal war crimes is seen as a greater threat to our "national security" than the actual COMMISSION of the crimes?

+14 # flitedocnm 2010-11-01 08:07

Irony on the right? No.

The capacity to recognize irony requires the ability to understand paradox, a knowledge of history and an appreciation of historical perspective, introspection, an openness to multiple points of view, the willingness to see contradiction, and most of all, a sense of humor. Those on the right possess none of these qualities.

+18 # aburgin4peace 2010-11-01 08:38

And while we're at it, with all the talk of judicial or extra-judicial action on Assange, why are we not measuring the gallows, figuratively speaking, for Bush-Cheney and their cohorts? Why? Why? How can we ever hold our heads up in this world again if we don't take action against them?

+4 # bjw 2010-11-01 14:47

There are those that try to take action against them and they are ridiculed and marginalized.

+2 # Ellis D. Tripp 2010-11-03 10:35

Quoting

And while we're at it, with all the talk of judicial or extra-judicial action on Assange, why are we not measuring the gallows, figuratively speaking, for Bush-Cheney and their cohorts? Why? Why? How can we ever hold our heads up in this world again if we don't take action against them?

Yes! These people are guilty of war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan as swell as treason stemming from having U.S. forces stand down and thereby letting Bin Laden escape from Tora Bora.

-2 # donna P 2010-11-05 21:38

If he was ever there!

+6 # Paul 2010-11-01 09:09

You're right-on the mark - it is the commission of the crimes, not the exposure that could 'inflame the enemy' - although they seemed to be inflamed plenty already - Abu Gharib, Bagram, Guantanamo, et. al..

+4 # bjw 2010-11-01 14:42

I have been asking that question from the beginning. War crimes is what other people do. It was never a secret that we were engaged in them. The release of the documents just confirmed what we already knew and ignored. Unfortunately, a great many people voice support doing more of the same on a larger scale and we seem unable to stop them. Once again, our media is complicit by making that attitude seem normal. That is what scares me.

+13 # S. Wolf Britain 2010-11-01 00:20

Good article. You fleetingly mention "free speech", but what about LIBERTY AND FREEDOM? The right, and in fact the DUTY, to blow the whistle, to report crimes, especially war crimes and crimes against the peace and humanity, and to stand up against and blow the whistle on those criminal threats against freedom and liberty themselves? And the threat of the militarized police state, Nazi-Germany-like (Stasi- and/or Russian-KGB- like) repression that the U.S. and world government are coming to more and more represent? So much for the "human rights" laws of the U.N., etc.

Make no mistake, we ARE under grave threat of this kind of repression from the U.S. and world government. Look, it's already begun; what, with the U.S. President ordering assassinations of "innocent until PROVEN guilty" American citizens abroad (and probably "at home" too already, or there soon will be?---that's the next step if this tyranny, despotism and true treason is allowed to continue; and continuing, it is, because it is just increasing and getting worse and worse; and, if it keeps up as it is, very soon we won't live in a free U.S. or world any longer)... (continued)

+13 # S. Wolf Britain 2010-11-01 00:24

(Continued:) ...These people who call for such repression and "rights-free", "due-process-free", "Constitution-free" extermination, and/or rendition (kidnapping), indefinite detention, torture and murder, of whistleblowers, are an extreme threat to liberty and freedom themselves, are traitors and criminals against same, the U.S. Constitution and international law(s), and are hugely helping to bring about a totalitarian militarized police state in the U.S. and world. Therefore, THEY are MUCH GREATER criminals, and a much larger threat, against humanity than ANY of the whistleblowers will ever be!... (continued)

+4 # S. Wolf Britain 2010-11-01 16:02

Well, my third part to my comment got deleted (because I edited it?), so here it is attached as a comment to "part two":

(Continued:) ...As the founder of the ACLU so rightly said, "No fight for civil liberties ever stays won" (Roger Baldwin). So, more power to those who are standing up for the preservation of freedom and liberty, and against the rapidly rising tide of totalitarianism that is taking over the U.S. and the world! They are the true heroes of liberty and freedom, the True Patriots for world freedom, and the truly courageous against the corporate-fascism that is quickly taking over the world! Long may they run! Long may they continue to seek to preserve what is of left of our rapidly diminishing freedoms and liberties!

+12 # Karl Drumm 2010-11-01 00:41

These guys are worst than the Nazis for they use all the tools they had and perfected them.Hitler only had 4 fronts to fight.With their shitty foreign policy they have troops in over 150 countries with over 850 bases and climbing.NO wonder this country is bankrupt because the only business they are really good at is "WAR"!

+10 # Ralph Averill 2010-11-01 04:36

Assange isn't the issue, anymore than the NY Times was the issue with the Pentagon Papers. The problem for the military is who is feeding Wikileaks the documents and how to prevent that. The military can take out Assange, and take down Wikileaks, and a clone will be on the web that day with yet more leaked documents.
You can't have war, especially illegal immoral wars, without secrets, propaganda, and misinformation. Control of the flow of information is essential. Perhaps the greatest contribution of the internet to humanity will be to make wars impossible.

+2 # bjw 2010-11-01 14:51

I really can't see how the internet will make wars impossible. It seems to me that it has made them more likely and endless. The internet depends on a few companies and they can shut it down in a flash. The same is true with all the forms of communication on which we now depend.

+2 # Ralph Averill 2010-11-01 17:00

Sure they could shut it down, but they can't control it. And they won't shut it down. For one thing, it would stop 90% of commerce,
Assange gets his information, the leaks, on the net, and publishes it on the net. The Pentagon caught the first leaker because he bragged about it, on the net. The second leaker(s) has not been so foolish. As far as I know, nobody knows who he/she is. The Pentagon, with all its technical experts, can't find out who it is. (You can bet if they knew, we
would hear about it. They would love to make an example of whoever it is.)
QED. I stand by my post.

+11 # JawboneGrouch 2010-11-01 05:03

As well educated as this country is {supposedly} there is a mnassive amount of ignorance preached by the industrial rightwing complex; ignorance allows all kinds of mis/dis/information to be sold wholesale and bought by the results of the i/rwc.

We reap what other people/groups sow.
And 60% of registered voters DON'T vote.

Hows that for ignorance?

+1 # Burkey 2010-11-01 18:52

Do our votes count?

Dan Rather has a great report here
http://www.hd.net/danrather.html

On exactly how not-secure our electronic voting systems are.
Pretty disturbing stuff.

+21 # maxima 2010-11-01 05:13

Curious how Goldberg, Whiton et al, who love to tout their patriotism, are so ignorant of their own actions that it is astonishing. Aside from the points so well exposed in this article, they seem to have forgotten that in order for a democracy to function there needs to be transparency and accountablility to the people. They get worked up about Assange, instead of concentrating on that which we as Americans should be responsible for: what is revealed in the documents he has released. It is obvious that the Bush administration had no particular regard for human rights or even human life, and the Obama administration is following suit. Who then is left to correct whatever wrongs have been committed, if not an informed public? This has nothing to do with coddling terrorists, but rather maintaining our own level of decency and morality, so we do not become the very terrorists we so despise.

-9 # rob 2010-11-01 06:05

So, why isn't Assange dead? If he is such a threat to our military establishment, how is it Assange is free to prance all over Europe giving speeches? Don't get me wrong, i am not a fan of our military establishment, but i do wonder, with all the modern technology, etc., why Assange is still alive?

+1 # bjw 2010-11-01 15:03

The main reason he is still alive is that killing him would do no good. He had to have known his life would be in danger and made sure copies were planted in many different places ready to publish should any others be shut down.

Others say he is just a tool to make it easier to get support for attacking Iran. I don't know what to make of that notion. An excuse is no longer needed as shown by the attack on Iraq.

+1 # Ralph Averill 2010-11-01 17:50

Karzai already has acknowledged he gets cash from Iran. He said to the US, in effect, "So what? What can you do about it? Nothing." He's right. If we eliminate Karzai, what little control we have in Afghanistan is gone.
Invade Iran? Not unless they're foolish enough to launch missiles into Israel. They're not that foolish. They know they're holding all the cards. We gave them those cards when we took out their most powerful enemy, Saddam Hussein.

+1 # Ralph Averill 2010-11-01 17:25

Why isn't Osama bin Laden dead? or Ahmadinajad? or Castro? or Chavez? Because they would all, including Assange, be more powerful as martyrs. Also, it wouldn't change anything. (See my post above.)

0 # donna P 2010-11-05 21:43

Because he has an ace in the hole. He has insurance , some very sensitive info that will be released if he is picked off. The world will know it is the US that killed him and why. GO JULIAN

+8 # Interested Observer 2010-11-01 06:51

Leak early, Leak often. The solution is for leaks from everywhere, not just the USA, all the time. Government by consent of the people is not entitled to unlimited secrecy more often used to conceals its crimes and blunders than to protect legitimate interests and operatives or soldiers at risk in the field. Let us level the playing field with an international leak network in place everywhere at once.

Goldberg is stunningly ignorant. The Rosenbergs did not give the USSR the bomb, several scientists inside the Manhattan project did.

+8 # I.M.Agoste 2010-11-01 08:37

I don't believe Mr Goldberg is being entirely ignorant. What I do believe is he is playing down to the lowest common denominator. Ignorance is bliss, and for those in the know, profitable to boot.

+1 # bjw 2010-11-01 15:43

Mr. Goldberg is an operative of long standing. He is anything but ignorant.

+16 # Christian Marks 2010-11-01 07:50

If an Australian puts Afghan operatives at risk in the field by publishing leaked military documents, it's "treason", but if the Bush administration outs an American CIA agent it considers fair game and places Iraqi operatives at risk, it's "patriotism".

+13 # political economist 2010-11-01 08:55

it is always necessary for the mighty sinners to call for the death of those who chronicle their sins.

0 # Foxtrottango 2010-11-02 07:02

One has to understand the conservative right wing mentality to start realizing that fear, hatred, hypocrisy, insanity have become institutionaliz ed and acceptable options in all walks of life in the American society.

The insane is replacing the sane in government.

+2 # Templar 2010-11-06 08:31

You TOTALLY missed the thrust of Goldberg's article. His point was that if the CIA, FBI et al. and the government were truly what conspiracy theorists said they were, he would be dead. Actually read the WHOLE article and PAY ATTENTION as you do.

-1 # RIghtIsRight 2010-11-28 10:52

My Goodness, you Left-Wing Panty Wastes need to get a life! You babble like pseudo-intellectual jerk-off Mamma's Boys I knew during my 8 years at Harvard.

I'm off now spreading the word to browse WikiLeaks and help bring down the servers- still down. I agree with McCain- Cyberattack the site, don't waste lead on that pile of Goat dung.

Bye-

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