{Dat foo loogs lig DJ Qualls from “The New Guy” maing!}
The ‘Hero Worship’ frenzy over Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is crystallizing in many ways including becoming the top vote getter in “Time’s 2010 Person of the Year” poll. ( The Editors have the ultimate pick in this charade of illusory participation) Who doesn’t appreciate the information dispersed by the website? If we’ve taken in all the commotion of the past couple of days, the answer is obvious: credit card companies, paypal, amazon, and politicians who liken the work of Assange to that of a “terrorist.”
The message is essential, but is the messenger beyond taking a step back and taking a second look? One person who isn’t in the top 5 votes for Time’s “Person of the Year” is Private Bradley Manning — the guy who actually risked everything and made Wikileaks famous by providing damning information on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It seems like only the city of Berkeley hasn’t forgotten the man whose actions more closely parallel the former ‘most dangerous man in America’ Daniel Ellsberg than Assange’s. The city council is expected to vote on Tuesday on a resolution declaring its support for Manning. Fox Nation has the news headlined as “Berkeley Gives America the Middle Finger!” (Everyone together now — America….Fuck Yeah!)
In the world of writing, one person stepping back from Assange-mania is investigative reporter Greg Palast. The fedora wearing industry onto himself has called readers back to Manning’s misery writing, “NO ONE gives a fruit fly’s rectum about this heroic man now rotting in Obama’s prison cell, facing a 52-year sentence. That includes Mr. Assange, who did nothing to protect Bradley and doing nothing now.” Sometimes when egos clash like rams butting heads, a little truth seeps out every now and then.
And last but certainly not least, there are the four sexual assault charges levied against Assange by two different women. It’s been astonishing to see how quickly those are swept under the rug of consideration. Sure, the timing seems all too convenient and yes General Motors did once send a woman to seduce consumer advocate Ralph Nader, but dismissing serious charges of sexual assault is all too convenient for far too many as well it seems. It is possible, after all, for Assange to release information that throws governments into frenzied states and be a rapist.
And then there was a “Raw Story” that alleged one of the two women was CIA connected. I read it and I shouldn’t know that woman’s name nor see a published photo of her regardless. If it is true, there is, please remember, another woman! What’s the theory for her? One of the charges, remember, is the creepy act of having sex with one woman without a condom while she was asleep (read: rape)
Assange will have his day in court. I won’t jump on his hype wagon if his name is cleared, just I didn’t beforehand. Wikileaks is important – it is the message. Assange is the messenger and if he is guilty of sexual assault and rape, fuck him. All I know is that Private Manning, the leaker of information, is in custody and reportedly despondent. His psychological suffering and his facing down of what amounts to a virtual life sentence calls out for our solidarity. But we are forgetting him in the rising cult of Julian Assange.
Support Bradley Manning on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Private-Bradley-Manning/106521729403241?v=info
and here is the actual Bradley Manning website:
http://www.bradleymanning.org/
From the site:
On December 17, in a prison cell in Quantico, Virginia, Bradley Manning will be celebrating his 23rd birthday alone. Manning stands accused of releasing classified documents about America’s wars and foreign policies, including the Collateral Murder video showing American troops killing two Reuters employees and civilians who offered humanitarian aid to the wounded. Many speculate that Bradley Manning may be responsible for the Afghan War Diary and the Iraq War Logs, which show in frightful detail the scores of civilians being killed by America’s ongoing foreign wars and the inhumane tactics employed by our troops overseas. And last week, the biggest leak of all: the first wave of over 250,000 secret diplomatic cables that have brought to light America’s bullying imperialism and backroom deals.
Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and ex-Pentagon official KT McFarland are calling for Manning’s execution, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is vowing “aggressive steps” will be taken against those responsible for the leaks. As WikiLeaks scrounges to find a way to keep their site alive after being shut out by PayPal, Amazon and EveryDNS, Manning is held in prison, unable to meet with his family and prevented from getting the vast majority of his mail.
Reviewing the still-unverified chat logs between Manning and unscrupulous journalist Adrian Lamo prior to Manning’s arrest sheds light on the motivation and goals of the alleged whistle-blower. Manning stated that he hoped the publication of the diplomatic cables would spur “worldwide discussion, debates, and reform.”
Manning stated: “I want people to see the truth… regardless of who they are… because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public.”
This speaks to the real purpose of the leaks and the reason every citizen in America should care deeply about the fate of Bradley Manning.
America is a democracy. We take pride in the fact that all citizens have the right to participate in our government. Based on the promises, history, and positions of our politicians, we citizens make decisions about who we will elect to represent us.
But democracy is destined to fail if voters don’t know the truth about their government.
As the ACLU has pointed out, it is because of conscientious whistle-blowers that we now know about secret CIA prisons overseas, the level of civilian casualties in the Iraq War and the NSA’s warrantless wiretap program. This is information that can and should impact how the public feels about our government. It’s information that belongs in the public domain, even if it makes Washington politicians uncomfortable. Because when Americans become frustrated or disenchanted with their elected representatives, we have the right to replace them.
This is why transparency is vital to a democracy. Whether or not you agree with America’s wars, you must know the truth to form an educated opinion about them.
Informed citizens are the foundation of our society. In the last year, WikiLeaks has provided damning evidence detailing how the United States government has obfuscated, down-played and misrepresented the reality of our foreign policy. This is the unique, powerful, and necessary role of whistle-blowers: to shine a light in the darkness of corruption, secrets and falsehood.
If Bradley Manning is, in fact, the WikiLeaks whistle-blower, then we owe him our gratitude. He embodies the principles of democracy that would make our founding fathers proud.
For Bradley Manning’s birthday, to be celebrated in solitude in a military prison cell, we’re calling on all citizens who believe in democracy to sign a petition for Manning’s freedom and make a donation to our defense fund. Manning will be facing the full force of the United States’ wrath over the leaked documents. You can save him.
Sign the petition: http://www.standwithbrad.org
Donate to the defense fund: http://tinyurl.com/savebradley
Now is the time, for those who believe that transparency is central to democracy, to stand with Bradley Manning. Join us!
Really Vern? Bradley Manning?? Neither Assange nor Bradley Manning are subject to “hero worship” anywhere but the darkest corners of the lunatic fringe. Manning is currently, and rightly, sitting in an isolated cell in Quantico Virginia waiting for a trial for treason against his country. Assange is currently, and rightly, sitting in a jail cell in England waiting for extradition to Sweden where rape charges await. These gentlemen are heros?
This is NOT Watergate. This is about national security. In Watergate laws were violated, process subverted and there were attempts to thwart justice. In this case, convict Manning took matters into his own hands, violated policy, did not even attempt to correct what were, in his perception, variance from the rule of law. He acted knowing that his actions were treasonous and that they were to the detriment of his country notwithstanding the oath that he had taken.
I believe in Democracy. I believe that our laws were put in place for a reason. If actions in the leaked documents are shown to be in violation of American or International law, then those breaking those laws should be held accountable. WE KNOW that Manning violated the law he he should be treated like the criminal that he is – he certainly should not be treated as a hero.
Bush, Cheney and company should be sitting in a cell, not Manning. Get your lunatic fringes right! (Even if their evil is normalized through a complacent mainstream media, etc)
While Mr. San Roman’s story was an indication that he is far out of touch with most of America, his claim that the MSM somehow aided Bush and his administration is so ludicrous I don’t think any other comment is needed.
See New York Times, Judith Miller, and her totally false gov’t-stenography anthrax and WMD stories.
See MSNBC firing Phil Donahue (their only liberal & anti-war Bush critic at the time) during the run-up to Iraq
See Washington Post editorial page during the entire period.
See the firing of many print and TV journalists that questioned pro-war wisdom.
See the unquestioning deification and credulity toward Colin Powell’s craven Feb. 5 2003 performance.
COuld go on…
Everything Vern said plus please present me with a statistical analysis that shows the MSM to have invited an abundance of anti-war guests in the lead up to the invasion and occupation of Iraq.
You can’t because it doesn’t exist. In fact, when this very question was investigated, the balance towards pro-war guests illustrated how very much we are, in the words of Sheldon Wolin, an ‘inverted totalitarian’ society.
If these two broke the law, then they will have to be punished. They still could be heroes. Even if their motivations turn out to have been cheap or petty or crazy.
The biggest laws were broken, the biggest crimes were committed, the vast number of murders and other human rights abuses were committed, hands down, by our own government – especially under Bush but also in the last two years. These two are heroes to me for helping Americans know and face up to what’s been done in our name.
So, in your view, the ends justifies the means? Very Machiavellian and very sad viewpoint. They are not heroes but crooks and should be punished and not worshipped.
Read closer. I did say that they need to be prosecuted and face justice if they broke any laws. This doesn’t mean they didn’t also achieve a higher good. Like civil disobedience heros throughout history.
Nuance, Geoff, nuance.
Good follow up information Vern! A suicide rumor floated over twitter but proved to be false.
Whoever made those documents accessible to Pfc Manning should be sharing his cell. Based on the “need to know” criteria the Pfc should not have been allowed access to hardly any of them. Also, putting names of intelligence sources in writing is indefensible as eventually they’ll all be made public.