Sick of Julian Assange? Fine. Just Don't Miss The Message.

[cbabe]

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/julian-assange

Sick of Julian Assange? Fine. Just Don't Miss The Message.

The end of the legal saga for the Wikileaks' founder should not be seen as the end. It should be seen as a warning.

CHRISTIAN CHRISTENSEN
Jun 26, 2024
…

And yet.

All of the distaste for Assange the person, and for what WikiLeaks had become in the years after the Manning leaks, overshadowed a fundamental yet powerful truth. The Assange case was, and is, absolutely fundamental to the working of critical investigative journalism in the U.S. and globally. Whatever dislike one may have for Assange or WikiLeaks, the fact remains that his pleading guilty to one felony count of "conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disseminate classified information relating to the national defense of the U.S." might enable Assange to leave prison, but is nevertheless a victory for the United States government and military, and a loss for freedom of information and the critical examination of power.

The conclusion to the Assange case sends a clear and chilling message to journalists around the world—Assange isn’t American, remember—that you challenge U.S. power at your own peril. This, in turn, sends a message to citizens that they are not worthy of knowing what the state does in their name. Which is pretty ironic, given that democracy is supposed to be about the rule of the people.

So, the end of the Assange case has given us one final twist, namely that the end is not the end.

It’s a warning.

//

[WA-03 Democrat]

1. Aweful source

The number 2 article is "Why won't the US negotiate with Putin in the War that bastard started"
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/role-of-us-in-russia-ukraine-war

Julian Assange was a hacker for Russian and Putin's puppy. He should go to Russia right now.

[cbabe]

2. These points are discussed in the article. Also

don’t judge an opinion piece by its title (Biden/Putin reference)

Titles are written by editors for clicks and may not reflect the piece’s content.

[WA-03 Democrat]

7. Fair on the writting of headlines but all of

There articles have a pro Soviet slant and are pushing Russian propaganda.
No Gracias.
I knew Julian when we were both living in Taipei late 90s. He's a punk and that's about the nicest thing I can say. I am glad he has got this behind him but he's not a role model for anything. My direct experience is he's a BS artist and this was before he became famous.

[gab13by13]

3. Julian Assange hated Hillary Clinton,

He was a big reason that she was defeated. They still post videos of TSF saying, " I love Wiki-leaks.

[cbabe]

5. Yes. That's not the point of the article.

[hueymahl]

4. This is a key point that should not be ignored

Wikileaks disclosed evil doings by our military, lies by our leaders, violations of the Geneva Convention, murdre of civilians, corruption and other illegalities. Many of the disclosures were done in connection with the NY Times and other traditional journalism platforms. It was not until the Trump administration that we reclassified what was being done as a violation of national security.

Biden did the right thing letting him plea, finally. He should have done more by either pardoning him or ordering the justice department to stand down. But I will take this over nothing.

[elias7]

6. Weren't Wikileaks servers in Russia? Didn't they publish stolen DNC files?

I do not agree that this sends a chilling message to journalists, unless they support publishing classified or private non-whistleblower type information or support a foreign country's agenda to influence our elections.

[cbabe]

9. Like Ellsberg/Pentagon Papers?

[marble falls]

8. My problem with assange is he didn't stand up for what he was trying to accomplish. He ditched and hid.