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The Forum > Article Comments > Not all leaks are created equal > Comments

Not all leaks are created equal : Comments

By Antony Loewenstein, published 11/2/2011

When it comes to unknown unknowns, Wikileaks is head and shoulders the best source.

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That would be the dynamic indeed Loudmouth- old dictatorships getting pro-democracy uprisings, to existing sort-of-democracies suddenly finding itself with authoritarians coming out of the woodwork in places the rest of us never really expected (The US Democrats party, the Swedish Center-right coalition, the Australian Labor Party) and are getting a very strong taste now of how little "democracy" actually means to some people, with Sweden trying to frame someone for made-up charges, senior commentators in the USA (including government) calling for illegal assassinations, and Australian politicians jumping way ahead of themselves- or remaining eerily silent over Assange's treatment, all short of cheering support for his enemies (adding an interesting angle to their internet censorship policy).

Which is another reason why these leaks have been such a great thing, as the reactions by the different governments have probably taught us just as much as the leaks themselves.

Even so in the USA, Pelican- although huge swarms of the Tea Partiers now find themselves beating their chests for their enemies, the Democrats- everyone else is getting a good idea of how not-liberal that party truly is.
Hopefully someone over there will start making some noise and shining the light on some better politicians come next election, instead of the country falling into the trap "If we don't support THIS party anyway, the opposition will get through"- and to be fair, the Republicans are downright terrifying. I guess the ideal would be for that Ron Paul guy (who, at the very least, supports freedom of speech enough to support the leaks), to climb to the top of the democrats and get elected.
Posted by King Hazza, Thursday, 17 February 2011 9:30:20 AM
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Hi Hazza,

You know for sure, do you that 'Sweden [is] trying to frame someone for made-up charges ... ' ? Why not wait until he is found guilty before you proclaim his innocence ?

No, you're right, why wait ?

I'm not sure what the crackpots and fruit-cakes in the various Tea Party fragments have to do with Wikileaks. You might be barking up the wrong tree there, Hazza :)

Joe
Posted by Loudmouth, Thursday, 17 February 2011 11:46:27 AM
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This is one of the many articles about it
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/the-truth-lies-trapped-in-a-web-of-intrigue-20101223-196mv.html

My suspicions that the charges are false are based on the following (making me about as batty as the Sydney Morning Herald).

-That the charge is actually 'Sex without permission to not use a condom', known as "Sex by Surprise"- which was only made up recently by a member of the political party running at the moment. It has been applied to absolutely nobody else.

-One of the victims is actually a member of that party, and was reported (by the Herald) to have been hosting a Crayfish party during the time the offense allegedly took place, had breakfast with Mr Assange afterwards, and never made any attempt to evict him from her house. Also, (a claim supported by the Herald), she had deleted from her Twitter page, entries referring to the Crayfish party and how amazing it was, and an entry about how to punish ex-lovers
Similarly, the other victim made suspiciously little attempt to press these charges, continuing relations with Mr Assange long after the offense.

-The case was only started after the two got together, and was dropped by the then presiding judge because not a shred of evidence was presented. It was only recently re-opened by another judge, at request of that politician I mentioned above.

-That the Swedish government is refusing to actually present evidence to the UK government to substantiate their accusations.

As for the USA government- so far, they have acted within their laws, but the commentators I mentioned are quite extensive- Sarah Palin, among quite a few senators have been calling for Assange to be assassinated, "dealt with like a terrorist" and made to disappear.
Generally just sharing their feelings about it (Which happen to be highly disturbing).
Posted by King Hazza, Thursday, 17 February 2011 5:47:48 PM
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Well, the story has proven that he was completely right where not being absolutelu trustful to his "followers".
Posted by Tatiana, Wednesday, 2 March 2011 1:35:06 PM
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