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Among President North Star's highest priorities for the new year? Using the Justice Department to intimidate WikiLeaks sympathizers not accused of any crime. Unconscionable and futile---a waste of resources and good will.I intend to write a bit about the new era of whistleblowing the world entered last year, but there are reasons why I must select my words carefully. It's probably legal for me to say that I think this has been the most fascinating and asymmetric application of political expression I've ever been aware of. Kind of like that guy in Tienanmen Square standing in front of a column of tanks in 1989, except packing a coupla Romulan disruptors and a Jem H'Dar cloaking device.
As nearsighted, misguided security apparatchiks busily labor to make a martyr of Julian Assange, they may discover that he has something in common with the mythical hydra. Some people may still think the President really can play 10-dimensional chess, I'm pretty sure he's no Hercules. Even if he were, why not labor to decapitate the criminal Wall Street hydra, for example? (Oh wait, I already know why: because we must not hold banking racketeers accountable for their crimes, but we must instead "reach out" to them and give them high-level policy positions in our administration.)
Editor's note: my intent for the new year is to write less about topical issues like this, because it feels pointless. RubberCrutch has bigger fish to fry.
either he'll pursue this ridiculous direction and turn the internets here into something as useless as China's or Burma's or he'll find out the powers of govt. he controls are no match for it, and look foolish.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime Wikileaks need to just put their shit out there without the melodrama and pumping up anticipation, like they were promoting some new teevee show. Don't give the govt, whatever it can do, and worse, big business, time to coverup or hide their wrongdoing.
But you better be careful...
The deliberate maneuvers appear to be "it's the economy stupid"-esque in order to get reelected. If we have a beginning recovery happening even now, then he could catch a wave, claim credit, and sweep right in. The "third way" of triangulation for a second (third?) time. Of course a run/devaluation of the U.S.$ or a big and protracted Isreali vs. et al. war could have an effect. Mochtar al Saadr (sp?) is back in Iraq after 3 years of turtoring in Iran. An Iraq-Iran melded nation could be counterposed to S.Arabia as we have a nice little superpower "proxy" situation -- right over the oil. We'll have geigher counters at the gas pumps yet...and they'll probably read low. Also, look for the PRC to have a military skirmish here or there close to home...mainly to show some "stick" cred while gauging capabilities.
ReplyDeleteBlackjack P.
BO: remember that most of what you're reading about Assange is specially prepared for you by our friendly neighborhood conglomerate media. JA may be an asshole, and he may even be a sexual assailant. But none of that has anything to do with what he's up to. I'm certain that he's not dragging anything out for dramatic effect. Many reports indicate that all leaks are carefully curated before release to redact identifying information about the whistleblowers and others. I'm sure there are legal considerations the group is trying to make to defend against espionage charges (which isn't to say that they'll succeed, necessarily).
ReplyDeleteBlackjack: politicians always take the actions that they calculate will help win them re-election. If Obama is doing that, he's not trying to ingratiate himself with voters, but with someone else. Look at his cabinet and his council of economic advisers to figure out who. From a president's point of view, I can understand why he would conspire with the intelligence, law enforcement, and especially Big Media and the telecom communities to turn the net into an all-pervasive spying technology. And even granting that JA is now their Public Enemy No. 1 (much more dangerous to the power elites than OBM ever was), why fuck around with individuals who have twittered support for WL? Why spread your resources so thin when they're practically vapor already? Why start "martyring" ordinary, harmless people? President Hercules must be itching for a fight with the hydra. The North Star doesn't seem to shine too bright these days.
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