Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley): As the 17th anniversary of the creation of WikiLeaks passes us by, it’s probably worth taking a moment to reflect on Julian Assange and what his persecution means for us and our society. Because in a very real sense, it’s not just a man locked up in Belmarsh Prison for the crime of good journalism — it’s journalism itself. It’s the idea that anyone should be permitted to expose the criminality of the world’s most powerful and tyrannical people. It’s the idea that the public should be allowed to know what abuses the US empire is committing around the world.
"To accept the persecution of Julian Assange is to accept the idea that all media everywhere must function as propaganda organs of the US government."
Money quote. And that is why the MSM maintain at most a sheepish silence. Because they know where they stand, and they know that, like smirking hand puppets, they will never utter so much as a syllable that their corporate imperialist masters would not approve of.
Julian is unjustly imprisoned. Good investigative journalists are getting killed all over the world. To be an investigative journalist in Mexico is practically suicide.
The interesting thing about this case is that there is a prosecution and a defense, and one of them has committed an enormous number of serious crimes. And it's not the defendant.
“,…. Your position on the Assange case is therefore your position on what kind of society we should hope to live in, and what kind of future we should hope to have. In a very real way, it’s your position on humanity itself.…,”
Well there is the problem though: the vast majority of people take the same position as the sheep in Animal Farm.
So actually they are NOT going to save democracy. Quite the opposite: they will gladly help undermine it. As long as it takes.
Probably no point in waiting for them to magically wake up and save their own fate.
Great piece of writing. So true! I love that Julian's wife, Stella, is now publishing what Wikileaks revealed on twitter (still using that name). Maybe the world will be embarrassed into letting Julian Assange go free. What's being done to him is criminal.
“…. The basic strategy is to redefine “disinformation” to include even factual criticism of the U.S. military or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and then to exert “coordinated action to pressure social media and digital market actors” to “moderate” such speech.…”
and then the likes of online censorship bills to throttle dissent from all quarters is the progression from that horrendous prosecution of a NON-U.S. citizen! it CAN HAPPEN HERE. IT IS HAPPENING HERE!
I totally agree about Assange, I liked Trump until his first day in office he did not pardon Assange or Snowden. I don't know whether he is too stupid or pretending he is an outsider but I support JFKjr or Vivek, I think they are the real deal.
Does the MSM still matter? This is not a rhetorical question, or an effort at a humorous quip. If the MSM does not contain interesting material, people will stop reading or looking at it. Besides the punishment of whistleblowers, the fact that the government has been involved in attempts to censor social media in the absence of any real danger to anyone seems to indicate some kind of reasonable fear of an economic and political threat, in this case a decline in public interest and influence, which I believe is now widely recognized not only by people in the business but the general public.
It's not just the US empire - the US and her obedient vassal states are pimping their defense forces for the benefit of empire - in the end it's the combined total of all the vassal states and their spineless wimpish politico in high office who've sold out.
All our supposedly democratic institutions have been compromised.
Same goes for [un]intelligence agencies and offense urm defense forces.
The MSM is owned and controlled by a handful of transnational corporations.
All wars are bankers wars however I get into trouble exposing them just like I do when I criticize a well known middle Eastern sadistic apartheid state.
The ICC remains a toothless tiger which only ever goes after third world despots - even though the last chief prosecutor was considering investigating US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan until they were threatened by John Bolton - who was President Trump’s National Security Advisor at the time - threatened the ICC to the extend that a judge at the ICC resigned and ms Fatou Bensouda was forced to drop her investigation into US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq which was made possible due to the Wikileaks revelations.
The new chief prosecutor at the ICC has dropped the investigation started by his predecessor.
Consider the possibility that when the likes of John Bolton are able to get away with threatening the ICC then it's not a giant leap to do the same to the British judicial system.
It wasn't the first time either that John Bolton has threatened someone in high office - so now there's a pattern which is suggesting that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
We have to call the bluf of these fascist bastard and push back like never before.
Agreed whole heartedly as this is an important case. But we need to remember that journalists, such as Shireen Abu Akleh, are often extra-judicially killed for reporting inconvenient truths as well as to intimidate and frighten other journalists not adhering to 'official' narratives.
The persecution of Julian Assange is the persecution of truth, of integrity, of honesty – and ultimately of freedom – all the values that the "West" supposedly holds dear. It is a crime against humanity. And those who do not speak out against it are complicit – criminals themselves.
A well written article Caitlin. But it is not government that is responsible. Nor the media. Nor the deep state. It is all those who support them with silence. Ordinary people.
"To accept the persecution of Julian Assange is to accept the idea that all media everywhere must function as propaganda organs of the US government."
Money quote. And that is why the MSM maintain at most a sheepish silence. Because they know where they stand, and they know that, like smirking hand puppets, they will never utter so much as a syllable that their corporate imperialist masters would not approve of.
You've written many fine pieces before, Caitlin. Longer and more detailed, too.
But this is one of your finest.
There's no doubt that Julian will read this, and that it will give him hope in these hard times.
We will be lied to with greater and greater lies and with greater and greater frequency if we do not push back.
Julian is unjustly imprisoned. Good investigative journalists are getting killed all over the world. To be an investigative journalist in Mexico is practically suicide.
The interesting thing about this case is that there is a prosecution and a defense, and one of them has committed an enormous number of serious crimes. And it's not the defendant.
“,…. Your position on the Assange case is therefore your position on what kind of society we should hope to live in, and what kind of future we should hope to have. In a very real way, it’s your position on humanity itself.…,”
Well there is the problem though: the vast majority of people take the same position as the sheep in Animal Farm.
So actually they are NOT going to save democracy. Quite the opposite: they will gladly help undermine it. As long as it takes.
Probably no point in waiting for them to magically wake up and save their own fate.
Set him free now! It shows that Britains is just as corrupt! But then we knew that!
Great piece of writing. So true! I love that Julian's wife, Stella, is now publishing what Wikileaks revealed on twitter (still using that name). Maybe the world will be embarrassed into letting Julian Assange go free. What's being done to him is criminal.
While the governments of empire are locking up real journalists…they are busy
- muzzling others, including average citizens who are simply telling the truth
- spreading lies massively in replacement of the truth. See this:
https://mronline.org/2023/10/05/british-government-funded-a-plan-for-international-censorship-of-critiques-of-nato/
“…. The basic strategy is to redefine “disinformation” to include even factual criticism of the U.S. military or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and then to exert “coordinated action to pressure social media and digital market actors” to “moderate” such speech.…”
and then the likes of online censorship bills to throttle dissent from all quarters is the progression from that horrendous prosecution of a NON-U.S. citizen! it CAN HAPPEN HERE. IT IS HAPPENING HERE!
I totally agree about Assange, I liked Trump until his first day in office he did not pardon Assange or Snowden. I don't know whether he is too stupid or pretending he is an outsider but I support JFKjr or Vivek, I think they are the real deal.
Does the MSM still matter? This is not a rhetorical question, or an effort at a humorous quip. If the MSM does not contain interesting material, people will stop reading or looking at it. Besides the punishment of whistleblowers, the fact that the government has been involved in attempts to censor social media in the absence of any real danger to anyone seems to indicate some kind of reasonable fear of an economic and political threat, in this case a decline in public interest and influence, which I believe is now widely recognized not only by people in the business but the general public.
It's not just the US empire - the US and her obedient vassal states are pimping their defense forces for the benefit of empire - in the end it's the combined total of all the vassal states and their spineless wimpish politico in high office who've sold out.
All our supposedly democratic institutions have been compromised.
Same goes for [un]intelligence agencies and offense urm defense forces.
The MSM is owned and controlled by a handful of transnational corporations.
All wars are bankers wars however I get into trouble exposing them just like I do when I criticize a well known middle Eastern sadistic apartheid state.
The ICC remains a toothless tiger which only ever goes after third world despots - even though the last chief prosecutor was considering investigating US war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan until they were threatened by John Bolton - who was President Trump’s National Security Advisor at the time - threatened the ICC to the extend that a judge at the ICC resigned and ms Fatou Bensouda was forced to drop her investigation into US war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq which was made possible due to the Wikileaks revelations.
The new chief prosecutor at the ICC has dropped the investigation started by his predecessor.
Consider the possibility that when the likes of John Bolton are able to get away with threatening the ICC then it's not a giant leap to do the same to the British judicial system.
It wasn't the first time either that John Bolton has threatened someone in high office - so now there's a pattern which is suggesting that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
We have to call the bluf of these fascist bastard and push back like never before.
Free Julian Assange !!!!
Agreed whole heartedly as this is an important case. But we need to remember that journalists, such as Shireen Abu Akleh, are often extra-judicially killed for reporting inconvenient truths as well as to intimidate and frighten other journalists not adhering to 'official' narratives.
Yes, free Julian Assange, because it's the right thing to do. Anyone with nothing to hide knows this. Secrets are only valuable to liars.
The persecution of Julian Assange is the persecution of truth, of integrity, of honesty – and ultimately of freedom – all the values that the "West" supposedly holds dear. It is a crime against humanity. And those who do not speak out against it are complicit – criminals themselves.
A well written article Caitlin. But it is not government that is responsible. Nor the media. Nor the deep state. It is all those who support them with silence. Ordinary people.