Posted on 12/04/2010 7:07:52 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) is defending WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's release of thousands of classified diplomatic cables.
In an interview with Fox Business Thursday, Paul went against the opinions of many of his Republican colleagues, asserting that Assange should be given the same protections as the media.
"In a free society we're supposed to know the truth," Paul said. "In a society where truth becomes treason, then we're in big trouble. And now, people who are revealing the truth are getting into trouble for it."
“This whole notion that Assange, who's an Australian, that we want to prosecute him for treason. I mean, aren't they jumping to a wild conclusion?” he added. “This is media, isn't it? I mean, why don't we prosecute The New York Times or anybody that releases this?"
Earlier this week, Attorney General Eric Holder said that the Justice Department is investigating Assange's case to determine whether he can be charged with a crime for leaking the secret documents.
Arkansas Goveror Mike Huckabee went so far as to say Tuesday that Assange should be tried for treason and face the death penalty if proven guilty.
Most U.S. politicians claim that the leaked cables will damage relations with U.S. allies.
Sorry, Ron. Your right to the truth does not give you the right to endanger our national security and/or the lives of our troops in the field. You need to step back, homie.
Maybe Huckabee knows more about Treason than I do... How can you prosecute an Australian for “treason” against the United States???
You hit on something profound. The PFC was allowed access. There has to be higher ups who allowed this. Follow the trail. Many on here with security clearances say this is not possible. Hmmm!
I agree with you. Why should Assange be prosecuted if the NYT publishers aren't? It seems a little hypocritical. Assange is taking all the heat but the MSM whores are the ones making the money off of the leaks.
He’s this year’s John McCain for the media!
If you remember . . . the big story behind his exposure of the whole Monica Lewinsky charade wasn't the news story itself, but the fact that Newsweek had done an extensive pile of research on the story and decided to spike it.
Years later, Drudge would laugh as he pointed out that Newsweek reporter Michael Isikoff won a Pulitzer Prize for being something like the sixth person to report his own story. LOL.
If he is posting ANYTHING that endangers the lives of my friends and fellow patriots on the battlefield, he ain’t no Matt Drudge. Try Benedict Arnold.
Ron Paul is confused, freedom of speech does not include trying to divide the country.
WTF? Everyone I know said this guy was a threat to national security, was endangering the lives of diplomatic staff and military personnel, and in a sane world would have been shot by any country that had lives at risk. To try and take this toward Jekyll Island is as fruity as Ron Paul.
I saw part of an Assange interview where he claimed he invited U.S. officials (the State Department) to review the material beforehand. He said they refused.
If that is true, and I tend to believe it, I am 100% for Assange.
You can’t. But you can assassinate him for being a threat to national security. There. Problem solved.
I think folks here need to wake up and pay attention. Government incompetence, national and international cannot be protected through classification. The harm is resulting from the incompetent acts, not their revelation to a free people who are masters of the government that serves them (/s/).
You gotta admit that these cables didn’t actually damage National Security much. Some careers maybe. Make life harder for the State Dept, sure.
Please explain yourself, because on its face, this statement is awfully Orwellian in its logic.
I hate it when politicians presume on our trust and good will, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. We should be ashamed and profoundly angry with our policians - burying us with 13 trillion in debt that they then have the nerve to call the “public” debt. And that’s just one area they’ve absolutely blown trust and good will from the rest of us.
Trust but verify - these leaked documents are about the only way we peons can verify trust for what goes on behind doors normally closed to us.
Ron Paul believes in civil disobedience, which means yes, breaking the law
It's pure cognitive dissonance - "Don't mess with the free market, put Goldman Sachs in charge of us, we love freedom, you don't have rights under a bank owned and run globe - you're free to 'quit'."
Yes, Drudge was the original & a national treasure. But, those days appear to be over.
That makes more sense to me than what Huckabee said.
This is the ultimate in naivete. In a competitive "survival of the fittest" world does it make sense to reveal all of your thoughts and knowledge?
Would you play in a poker game where you are revealing your cards and everybody else is hiding theirs?
I don't see China, Russia, or even the Vatican laying bare all of their information.
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