"I was so brainwashed that I forgot, as many people do, that secrets do not belong to governments. That information belongs to us. Governments rule by our consent. If they want to keep secrets, they must have our permission to do so. And they never have the right to keep crimes secret."
It is definitionally a political prosecution to charge someone with violating the Espionage act, a statute created in WWI to criminalize political activity disfavored by the state in the name of protecting national security, a fraudulent pretextual conceit. And due to its infinitely vague, politically manipulable nature, anyone charged under the Espionage Act is sullied by connotations of disloyalty or betrayal to the country.
Matt, thanks for stepping up. I know the Plasketts and Wasserman Schultzs of the world will hate you even more for this. I hope you wear that as a badge of honor! As an old "lefty" I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your great work.
I hope he makes it out alive... and I used to not be a huge fan of him either. It would be nice if we had something else happening like wikileaks again. God knows we need it.
imo, everyone is pretending not to see the elephant in the room, which is the 2016 DNC thumbdrive that Assange published and which greatly helped Trump to get elected. He's not being prosecuted for any other reason. The reason given on the Complaint is just lowest hanging BS that they can charge him with.
I too went 180 on Assange. Truth be told, I did the same on Matt. I was pretty sure he had horns when he wrote for RS. Talk about strange bedfellows, it was actually Tucker who turned me around in Assange (or the gamer kid) with the simple “why so many secrets”? Matt said it better though, reminding me these are “our secrets”. Keep it up. Great piece.
Thanks Matt! I've been saying for a very long time that all you need to know about western societies is two words Julian Assange. Like Harari says, the constitution is Bullshit, rule of law Bullshit the educational industrial complexes are creators of the Overton Window that prevents you from critical thinking and they're Bullshit democracy, really, more like engineering consent form Bernays or manufactured consent form Chomsky, ALL Bullshit. Last year and likely this year, the biggest construction projects in the US were "data centers"; what does that Tell you? They own you and you don't even know it, have a nice day Winston and learn to love big brother!
Assange must be freed. Yes, his truths will shed greater light on the nefarious actions of some prominent political leaders... and that’s just too effing bad. Their bad, not sad. Hillary Clinton continues her harangues of “ no one is above the law” and that should include her lying, guilty ass.
But with respect to "If Assange is successfully extradited and convicted, it will take about ten minutes for it to happen again." I fear that the punishment of Assange so far has already done all it needs to do. Journalists are too scared to tell the truth. That was the plan. It already worked.
Free Assange for justice. Journalism already licks the boot that kicks it.
Well said, Matt.
Assange must be freed because journalism is not a crime.
Kudos for your honesty about your prior position.
I think that your recent experience with the Twitter files, and in front of the House Committee, probably gave you new perspective.
"I was so brainwashed that I forgot, as many people do, that secrets do not belong to governments. That information belongs to us. Governments rule by our consent. If they want to keep secrets, they must have our permission to do so. And they never have the right to keep crimes secret."
Right on, Matt!
It is definitionally a political prosecution to charge someone with violating the Espionage act, a statute created in WWI to criminalize political activity disfavored by the state in the name of protecting national security, a fraudulent pretextual conceit. And due to its infinitely vague, politically manipulable nature, anyone charged under the Espionage Act is sullied by connotations of disloyalty or betrayal to the country.
Matt, thanks for stepping up. I know the Plasketts and Wasserman Schultzs of the world will hate you even more for this. I hope you wear that as a badge of honor! As an old "lefty" I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your great work.
I can’t smash that Like button hard or often enough, Matt. THANK YOU.
Bravo, Matt. Thank you for your courage in speaking out on Assange's behalf.
I hope he makes it out alive... and I used to not be a huge fan of him either. It would be nice if we had something else happening like wikileaks again. God knows we need it.
Whom do we vote for to dismantle this burgeoning police state here in the US? I honestly don’t know at this point.
"If you’re okay with this happening to one Julian Assange, you’d better be okay with it happening to many others."
Your own self, as well, dear readers.
imo, everyone is pretending not to see the elephant in the room, which is the 2016 DNC thumbdrive that Assange published and which greatly helped Trump to get elected. He's not being prosecuted for any other reason. The reason given on the Complaint is just lowest hanging BS that they can charge him with.
I too went 180 on Assange. Truth be told, I did the same on Matt. I was pretty sure he had horns when he wrote for RS. Talk about strange bedfellows, it was actually Tucker who turned me around in Assange (or the gamer kid) with the simple “why so many secrets”? Matt said it better though, reminding me these are “our secrets”. Keep it up. Great piece.
Let Assange out and lock up all the Neocons that accelerated the surveillance state!
Thanks Matt! I've been saying for a very long time that all you need to know about western societies is two words Julian Assange. Like Harari says, the constitution is Bullshit, rule of law Bullshit the educational industrial complexes are creators of the Overton Window that prevents you from critical thinking and they're Bullshit democracy, really, more like engineering consent form Bernays or manufactured consent form Chomsky, ALL Bullshit. Last year and likely this year, the biggest construction projects in the US were "data centers"; what does that Tell you? They own you and you don't even know it, have a nice day Winston and learn to love big brother!
Assange must be freed. Yes, his truths will shed greater light on the nefarious actions of some prominent political leaders... and that’s just too effing bad. Their bad, not sad. Hillary Clinton continues her harangues of “ no one is above the law” and that should include her lying, guilty ass.
Spot on, Matt.
But with respect to "If Assange is successfully extradited and convicted, it will take about ten minutes for it to happen again." I fear that the punishment of Assange so far has already done all it needs to do. Journalists are too scared to tell the truth. That was the plan. It already worked.
Free Assange for justice. Journalism already licks the boot that kicks it.