64 Comments

You are being very generous in just saying that the alleged Russian hack remains unproven. It has been disproved, as well as any negative can be disproven. Why does no one in the US know this? Because no one aside from the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, who self published their extensive research and finding with Consortium News will touch it. Besides, IIRC, Aaron Mate’ and a couple of others. You are 100% correct. And, you said it with clarity. What separates Julian from a great journalist like Sy Hersh? The invention of the new way of communicating and protecting sources you spoke of, and that Julian is the most fearless publisher in history, while Sy is a great reporter. It’s a close call, but I agree. Would that they had each other to count on.

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IF Stone ...... George Orwell ..... John Reed .....Jack London .... Mark Twain......

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When I see Assange, I'm always reminded of Henry Thoreau's words:

"UNDER A GOVERNMENT WHICH IMPRISONS UNJUSTLY, THE TRUE PLACE FOR A JUST MAN IS ALSO A PRISON."

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“When exposing a crime is treated as committing a crime, you are being ruled by criminals!” - Edward Snowden.

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"It is my contention that breaking the law and committing a crime are not identical. Indeed, I would go further. I would claim that under certain circumstances not to break the law is a crime—a crime against justice."

-- John Raines

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/what-i-learned-breaking-law/

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I would not be the first cat to point out that everything the Nazis did was entirely legal under German law, and resisting Nazi persecution was a crime under those same laws.

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Hitler came to power democratically. The conditions for the "democratic" process to work out right were created by means of...

well, as most among the evolved species called humans are fucking intellectually lazy bordering on brain-deadness then they can look at the current Ukraine to fully understand.

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Since I started the reductio ad Hitleram, I suppose I should note that Hitler also is reported to have said "what a blessing it is for rulers that people are sheep."

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He's definitely worth studying. Making a caricature of him starts looking like a plan to not take him seriously by the masses, while the rulers take full advantage of his legacy.

John Toland's "Adolf Hitler" is a good one.

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Brilliant analysis and commentary as usual Caitlin. Clearly your perspective and mine are very much in sync. I'm always grateful for your insights and try to get my comments published on Consortium News where I follow you the most. Best wishes from Las Vegas NV USA & Halifax NS Canada

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Hard to argue with the importance of the contribution from Julian Assange. At the time of one of the Wikileaks disclosures, I was in a close contact, business wise with some people from the USA. They were so embarrassed, a clear indication to me that the decent Americans also saw these disclosures as embarrassing. Clinton’s description of the death of Gaddafi and her other crimes also incurred their wrath. I can remember that very clearly.

So the work he did to make the world aware of the crimes of the USA over the period he was active and not in prison were most illuminating for all and frightening for most people in the world. Therefore of value……as a warning. However, there are those in his country, Australia, who considered that he contributed little and saw themselves as being much more of value than Julian Assange. Their contribution was and still is daily waffle on the ABC, the National Broadcaster, with pumped up egos in their nice, easy, highly paid, safe positions adding noting to the education of wars crimes, bully-boy tactics and criminal behaviour by a so called friendly country, now being seen for what it is. Since those days and the things the word has learnt about them, the US has dragged this naive country into a war environment and economic debt from which they will ever recover.

Save us from corrupted politicians

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Spot on! The Australians' politicians are utter imbeciles and boot licking Anglo a$$holes. I day this being someone of English, Scottish and Irish heritage, unreservedly, as it's the truth. The Anglo Saxons have wreaked so much damage on our planet it's amazing to see the nations of their descendants are still at it. Australia is extraordinarily stupid to anger their largest trading partner and take on a massive $400B spending programs to become a submarine garage for the USA. My hope is that de-dollarization will implode the US economy to the point that it will have to abandon much of its military adventures/ illegal wars of conquest. Canada can't get away from the US due to geography but Australia is physically separated by the oceans and has no need to be dominated by the US war machine. It's just a stupid and destructive act for Australians to pursue. As far as doing nothing to help Julian Assange it just shows how badly the Australians are that they won't stand up for their own citizen who is the greatest journalist of all time.

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"Fucking idiot." - these are not idiots, Caitlin. They're worse - they're operatives. The idiots are those who listen to and believe them.

And those are many - that's why these types are flourishing. And that's what's truly amazing and revealing about this "evolved" species called humans.

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My greatest disappointment with Assange was his failure to cover his ass with releases of information that would've truly rocked the global empire. The WikiLeaks trove that came out was mostly picked over rubbish. How has the regime been able to squash the most damning info? How has that not made it to the light of day? Wasn't it supposed to be his Get-out-of-jail-free card? His insurance to stay alive? He knew they wanted him eliminated. Surely he was smarter than that, than to get caught with nothing to bargain with? To say the hell with it and flood the zone with his most incriminating evidence?

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I've never seen any evidence for the claim that Assange had a bunch of damning secrets that he was holding onto for personal leverage; as far as I know that's just a belief that took hold in right wing Qanon-type circles with no actual substantiation. The claim that WikiLeaks publications have been "mostly picked over rubbish" is just silly nonsense and objectively false.

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Maybe so. But if he didn't have any insurance policies he was damn foolish.

As to the picked over rubbish, that was reference to the final big dump that came out as they took him in. Maybe I didn't pick the right site to poke around and open all of the files that it contained, but most all of it was mostly picked over rubbish. Not discrediting his prior work and releases, just that big one that many hoped held much more of consequence than it did.

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There was no final big dump that came out as they took him in.

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You know, Caitlin, it's possible that a bunch of people, including myself, were duped by the *supposed* big dump that came out as they took him in? Designed to discredit him and get a bunch of people to quit looking where they don't want us to look? I'm open to all the possibilities. Late to the party types, if that's the case, could use a little patience, you know. And helpful suggestions on how to "bone up."

That said, wouldn't it have been prudent for a man taking on the Empire to have an "insurance policy" somewhere? Why not Assange? Had he no forethought to such matters? Foolish for such daring against known murderous, evil regimes to not. Maybe you have a theory as to such things?

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I don't think many people believe there was any kind of dump when Assange was arrested; this conversation is the first time anyone's ever shared that belief with me. From a journalistic ethics perspective it would have been wrong for Assange to hold onto damning information about very powerful people in order to blackmail them; the ethical thing to do would be to publish those materials if they were in the public interest.

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Many rubes are currently waking up to the degrees of evil the supposed enlightened west is capable of. Back then they were completely impervious. People like Assange might have had more belief in the system too. How wrong they all turned out.

Maybe you could throw yourself back there and recall what you were like.

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That's true. But most of us weren't poking the bear like Assange. Or Snowden...if he's as he's been portrayed and not a switchhitter. Snowden *supposedly* had insurance. Wouldn't have Assange? He was free for a long time after he knew the US government's intention to silence, kill him. Sorry, but taking point on any attack against the regime is going to carry a lot more risk than a catatonic populace.

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If Assange has an insurance policy, i don't blame him.

Lord knows he's already risked enough.

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How do you think he's been able to stay alive for the past 10 years or so?

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If that's living...a fate worse than death.

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So many good truths contained within this piece. It's an explosion of clear-thinking and anti-propaganda! (We need more of it, much, much more.)

This is perhaps the saddest line (next to how gullible the China-haters are and how the world's greatest journalist is still in prison): "The media could have seized on the corruption exposed in the WikiLeaks documents to spark an invigorated charge to investigate US government malfeasance. Instead it was used to hide, forgive, and facilitate US government malfeasance."

Now more than ever, we need to shut down the Western/pro-war mainstream media machine completely. COMPLETELY. It's time to start a vocal boycott of the MSM. Who's with me? #BoycottMSM

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My boycott started November 2017. Five years MSM-free!

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Keep fighting the good fight!

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As you can count on Consortium News to publish your materiel, so as to reach a wider audience. So, many kudos and great respect to the great Joe Lauria as well, who has done more reportage in the US on the Assange persecution than everyone else put together.

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The empire of lies is the undisputed masters of propaganda. In this and this alone is the United States exceptional. It has successfully gaslighted, brainwashed generations of people ever since WWII. You and I are living in historic times as we personally witness the last dying days of a hegemony.

Xi Jinping said it correctly this is the most significant event in the past 100 years; referring to the Western countries collapse and the birth of a new world structure.

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The primary effect of the Internet is clearing-cutting the spirit

Followed by mono-cropping the mind.

(repeat after me, repeat after me, repeat me after . . . . . . . . . .

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I remember when the Internet was about freedom. Seems like a hundred years ago.

When AOL hit the scene it become a cesspit of vileness. They had to give up on unmoderated groups.

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That is something very interesting from a human psychology perspective - how people behave when there are practically no consequences.

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The advent of Covid drove bridge online. The platform allowed players to cheat very easily by looking at opponents hands. About 10% of the players did that, including some very famous ones.

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I'm so glad to hear the truth about Assange spoken so clearly. It puts the injustice in true perspective.

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He changed the course of history at least twice, and I know of no journalist who has paid a heavier price.

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What we are prepared to believe without evidence has a lot to do with infantile dependency on delusions of superiority and privilege. It isn't sign of strength.

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Julian Assange, must be Free!, Julian Assange can be Free! and we must fight in this historic battle to

Win! or our children will be next!

We can not leave a world to our children where governments can violate the rule of law with impunity

and where telling the truth has become a crime.

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I hope the next president pardons Assange and Snowden since both their stories were truthful in retrospect. A strange is only “other” when you refuse to see them as loving and needing just like you. Wars can be circumvented when others are respected as equal to oneself. Toppling other governments should be off limits as well as orchestrating who leads and doesn’t lead. This is not democracy but tyrant tactics. Hands off america. We have too much to straighten out here.

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Thank you !!

IMPORTANT -- Decisive proof that J6 riot was FBI-DNC choreographed – Ray Epps now defended by Democrat machine and key Dem and FBI lawyers

March 31, 2023 -- https://www.revolver.news/2023/03/desperate-ray-epps-enlists-notorious-dem-clinton-operatives-to-threaten-tucker-and-revolver-news-for-j6-reporting/

April 6, 2023 -- https://rumble.com/v2gm06s-equal-justice-is-dead-live-with-revolver-news-founder-darren-beattie-trigge.html

Seeing now everything about US “Empire of Lies”, including thanks to courageous Elon Musk and Twitter Files, it is beyond doubt that 2020 and 2022 elections were stolen..

US State press is paid to lie and must lick asses of their advertisers/controllers -- US arms industry and US fascist bipartisan War party.

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