I don’t blame Assange one bit for leaking the info provided to him. He’s not an American citizen and has every right to publish the leaks. Who we should be concerned with are the source(s)of the leaks. They should be tried, convicted, and executed.
Dalrymple is right on the target as usual.
In my opinion, this is where democracy tends to fail. The idea we have to have a secretive government in order to function in the world. Yet such a small percentage of the voting population has any clue what is going on. How can an average voter make an informed decision on candidates or the issues when they don’t know how China and Russia operate behind the scenes?
There is also the fact that democracy is simply mob-rule. There is nothing to prevent 51% of the population from trampling the rights of the other 49%. Which is why there are certain protections in the constitution (ie: super-majorities needed to change the document). Our founding fathers were very concerned over this if you read their writings and speeches. We did not want to trade one tyrant 5,000 miles away for 500 tyrants 5 miles away. How can we prevent the American government from turning into tyranny unless there is transparency? Unless we are able to watch what they are doing?
Im not saying the Pentagon should release it’s war plans. Im not saying the CIA needs to tell everybody everything. But why not tell the truth about China and their human rights abuses in Tibet, and their suppression of democracy and free speech? Why not tell the people that Russia truly is a mafia state? Why are we forced to accept trade agreements with China? Why are we told we have to “reset” relations with Russia? Why do we have to make secret deals with the Saudis? Why are we still fighting wars that should have been over with years ago? Why can’t we audit the Fed and find out who our own government is handing out OUR MONEY to?
Politicians and elitists think they know what’s best for us. They think they know how to spend our money better than we do. They think they know what’s in the world’s best interests. I beg to differ. Their opinion carries no more weight than the average voter.
Feel free to disagree. But that’s my opinion on it. As George Orwell said, “In a time of universal deciet, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”
Wikileaks goes far beyond the need to expose wrongdoing, or supposed wrongdoing of transparency: it is unwittingly doing the work of totalitarianism.
I agree and it is a timely post. Now the leftist bunch usually love to use an analogy as a rebuttal. If someone who opposes them uses this means, they are quick to stomp on that usage. I will use this means to indicated what Assange has been doing.
Let us suppose that a vital exchange of information and impending cooperation took place between to entities. It could be a banking system or a nation wide commercial business. Everything seems to be going according to plan.
Later, at a sort of get together of the one side, an executive, is into the sauce. He says of the other counterpart in the other organization that:
"He is the biggest fool, I have met. I would not trust him further than I could throw him".
Panic stations! Someone says to him "you are going to foul up the whole merger/plan if this gets out. You may be looking for another job. that man has more qualifications in his little finger than in your whole body".
All it would need is for some spiteful minor employee to leak that statement as it stands. Sure some things are said and best not repeated. People are human. Give them a chance to "bite their tongue" as the saying goes.