But is Assange a hero or a criminal? That's the kind of question our media tend to ask - making everything black or white, good or bad. While in truth there are few saints and few totally evil people.
During his campaign for the presidency, Trump repeatedly lauded Assange and Wikileaks for getting the Clinton campaign emails. But then for Trump, the actual action doesn't matter, it's how the outcome affects Trump that makes something or someone good or bad. And, besides, today he says he knows nothing about Wikileaks.
I think that Assange is, like many people who do important things, a mix of positive and negative. When you take on those in authority, you need a fair amount of self confidence to stand up to the inevitable pressures against you. And self-confidence can easily morph into arrogance. And dealing with serious power often takes one to the fringes of ethical and the legal practices.
Wikileaks took documents from whistleblowers and published them. That's what the New York Times and Washington Post did with the Pentagon Papers in the Nixon era.
Did Assange try to steal documents himself, rather than rely on sources? I'm not sure. Did he use documents to favor or harm one politician over another? It appears he did. But with his arrest, I'm starting to rethink what I know about Assange and to fill in the gaps.
Was he a journalist? Wikileaks is a digital publisher specializing exposing what governments want secret. It's a new format of journalism, but we've seen a lot of new formats since the internet became mainstream. So yes, he's a journalist.
Is he a good journalist? I'm reading some journalists saying his stories were the biggest in their lifetime.
Has he violated journalist ethics and standards? I guess that depends on which standards you use as your guide.
More important, has he broken laws that would cause the arrest of any journalist? Or is he being singled out because he's embarrassed those whose job it is to keep their electronic systems secure? Or because he published embarrassing diplomatic gossip?
Is he working for the Russians? It seems possible.
Or is his arrest a gross violation of freedom of the press which threatens journalists everywhere? Are his peccadilloes being used as excuses to arrest him. Has the American public been conned into thinking he's done great wrong or has he gone too far in pursuit of his his mission to unmask all secrets? If so, why hasn't he published Trump's tax returns? Or is he still working on that? Or is it because he's working for the Russians? Or he just hates Hillary Clinton?
Here are some things journalists and others are saying on Twitter. You should be able to read the comments as well which include lots of anti-Assange charges.
Julian #Assange has been charged with conspiracy to commit journalism. The free press has not ducked a bullet here; it’s taken one to the chest. 1/7— Dan Froomkin (@froomkin) April 11, 2019
Much of this indictment appears to cover ordinary journalistic activity, like protecting sources. The indictment even casts the use of common free software tools like Linux and Jabber as evidence of a criminal conspiracy.— EFF (@EFF) April 11, 2019
This is an alarming day for friends of press freedom.
I think this is like asking a journalist who has just written extensively about corporate crime, why they haven't written about union corruption. But if Assange had Russian secret documents , or Trump's tax returns and didn't release them, it's reasonable to ask why. But it's not a crime. Perhaps he didn't want to jeopardize Edward Snowden by exposing Russian secrets.A serious question for supporters of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks: Why have they NEVER released any secret government or military documents that were harmful to Putin or Russia?— Jon Cooper (@joncoopertweets) April 11, 2019
"Beginning in 2010, Assange established a clear pattern with Wikileaks: He would target America and its allies. He would ignore or defend any abuses by Russia.— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) April 12, 2019
At this point, anyone who denies or ignores this pattern is being intentionally obtuse."https://t.co/lpIxEzwVKH
Fellow Americans, this is what a REAL leader sounds like. On the other hand, it's been about 10 hours since Assange's arrest and still awaiting word, any kind of word, from Comrade Sanders. https://t.co/SScOwTjMym— Jeffrey St. Clair (@JSCCounterPunch) April 11, 2019
I'm trying to find some more credible tweets (ones that do more than simply vilify Assange) that argue against him. I found this National Review article, but it is reporting facts more than voicing opinion.
And here's one more, well, it does make accusations without much evidence.
Dumbest of the dumb takes.— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) April 11, 2019
Assange isn't a "publisher."
He's a fence who traffics in stolen goods and a front for Russian Intelligence active measures. He's a fucking criminal and nothing more. https://t.co/8BlZTrGMsE
The world is this incredible reality show with so many different threads and characters. This character has been holed up for seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, but now he's back in a leading role.
All your musings aside, likely what most of we Londoners are feeling about this thread spinning into feeds: 'At last, a big story that isn't Brexit.'
ReplyDeleteCarry on.
I think it is incredibly convenient (and planned) for Assange to let himself be arrested. Another distraction for puppet Trump and a tool for his handlers to use against journalists in this faster-and faster-moving coup to supplant democracy in America.
ReplyDeleteThat Trump is denying he knows anything about WIKI is just T being T
-- lie, deny lying, deny it matters, obfuscate, blame Obama, play the victim, move on to the next shiny bobble he throws to the Press who snatch it every time, like Pavlov's dog.