Yours Truly is calling for President Donald J Trump to issue an immediate pardon and amnesty for Julian Assange.
Assange may not be everybody’s cup of tea but he is nevertheless a hero in every sense of the word. Especially for those of us who believe in freedom of speech and individual liberty.
Recently, someone in the Justice Department leaked the contents of a sealed indictment in which Julian Assange is the target. At first, this shocked me. Then I realized that the person who did so is probably a patriot. Follow me here: there are over 60,000 sealed indictments issued by the DoJ (during the tenure of Atty Gen Jeff Sessions). Not one of them has been leaked.
So why was this one leaked? Leaving aside the possibility that this is a part of a disinformation campaign, the leaker probably wanted the information to get out there so that the indictment would be derailed. Perhaps because of popular opinion. Or he could be signaling to another state actor (Putin?) to act expeditiously and either grant Assange asylum or extract him from the Ecuadorian embassy.
In any event, the heat against Assange is being elevated and this should concern every human being on this planet who wishes to live in a free society.
Now I realize that Trump may be boxed into a corner on this matter. I’m thinking primarily upon the intelligence community which has an animus against Assange. (And Edward Snowden, another hero.) Clearly, the intel agencies have the wherewithal and capability to do President Trump in. He has in fact, been fighting a rear-guard action against them since he was elected in 2016. (Soon, I will release a video by Dan Bongino which will spell out in excruciating detail the campaign waged by the Deep State against Trump.) If so, then I call upon any other head of state to do so –immediately.
I’m thinking primarily of President Vladimir V Putin of the Russian Federation. This wouldn’t be unprecedented because he has already granted asylum to the aforementioned Edward Snowden. I would not be averse to a Spetsnaz-style extraction operation in which he’s hustled out of the Ecuadorian embassy and taken to a safe house in Moscow, or wherever. That’s a story for another day.
But that’s how strongly I feel about his personal safety. I can’t stress this enough: free peoples everywhere should be concerned about Assange. As such, I ask that you keep him in your prayers.
Anyway, below is my personal plea recorder on this, first day of December:
Edward Snowden is in great company, along with Kim Philby, Benedict Arnold, Harold Cole, and others of their ilk.
I wonder if Snowden has received his secret decorations yet, a la Philby. I don’t doubt it.
As for Assange: Spetsnaz in London….I’d like to meet their tailor!
Way beyond the little motorcycles and the calliopes here now…..
Philby, the Rosenbergs, et al betrayed their countries during a very Cold War against a truly evil empire. Snowden showed that there was a Deep State that had betrayed the most basic principles of our Constitution and were spying on every American when there was no active war involved.
Let’s not mince words: the Deep State is fundamentally un-American.
I’m kind of surprised George feels this way! He was not fond of what Bradley Manning did. Manning was convicted on five counts of espionage and theft. President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s sentence.
George, how does Assange’s case differ from Manning’s?
For the record, I was a fan of Manning and am a fan Assange and would like to see Assange protected for all the reasons George outlined. Manning is one of the things Obama got right. Plus, I really liked the way Michele rocked out on Carpool Karaoke to “Single Ladies”. I’m easily entertained. So sue me.
If people don’t want their stuff leaked, they should do a better job of protecting it. They worry we’re putting our servicemen in danger. Aren’t THEY putting them in danger by making this stuff so accessible? Do they think our enemies don’t have hackers who are just as talented? If so, they’re deluded.
The other option, of course, is not to do anything others can exploit. Hillary complains that her emails were leaked but if she hadn’t said the things she did, the leak wouldn’t have tanked her.
Just saying. . .
If I don’t lock my car, it’s easier to steal stuff from it than if I lock it. The guy who steals it is still every bit a thief.
As for keeping secrets in cyberspace, I agree.
Most traitors claim some higher purpose.
Guilty as charged! Ok, how’s this for a rationalization: Bradley Manning we regular military and in the chain of command. Betraying secrets put his comrades in danger.
As to whether we should’ve been in Afghanistan is another question altogether
George, did Snowden reveal a great many United States national secrets to foreign powers by his actions or did he not?
From what I understand, e revealed that our govt has every one of us citizens was being illegally surveiled in defiance of our Constitution.
I get that, but it doesn’t answer the question at all.
Sadly I’ve lost a lot of confidence in Trump. He is acting like he’s powerless to do anything about anything. I’m no longer expecting much in the way of big things. The swamp is learning to call his bluffs, and he backs down every time.
He was the best we could get in 2016, but we need someone more extreme, who will actually take action and destroy the swamp paradigm. Putting hundreds of high level people on trial for starters.
The people want it, after all. In 16 we believed he would do everything he said, and he was elected. We need someone who will do it, and more.
AS, both parties feed off the corporations and do their masters bidding. What occurs on the altar every week is far more meaningful than if our elected officials have a “D” or an “R” after their name.
Of course. But never underestimate the cupidity of political parties or their ability to cause schism within the Church. There’s nothing wrong (and everything right) with being politically vigilant.
WikiLeaks put the lives of intelligence operatives and servicemen in danger by indiscriminately publishing classified information without redacting names, sources, and methods.
And that was even before they became the instrument of a foreign power’s interference in our democracy.
Julian Assange is a traitor, and must be made to answer for his crimes.
Julian Assange is an Australian.
Can a non-citizen be a traitor?
On the other hand can a non-citizen who helped defeat Hillary Clinton be consider a patriot?
Deep thoughts. 🙂
Perhaps Assange is the ultimate Wilsonian: open treaties openly arrived at. Full self-determination not only of peoples but each person.
Or he is just an agent of chaos hoping for the disintegration of all government.
A conundrum indeed! Almost Zen-like in its construction.:-)
GM,
FYI … you unfortunately shut down the news thread. Not sure if it was meant intentionally or not.
George Michalopulos
Hi George
Did Ode to Greatly Saddened time out? I know you keep each article post about 30 days
Could you open another one and each one subsequently, please?
Maybe post as Greatly Saddened 2
Next month, Greatly Saddened 3 – etc
Or something to that effect?
It has been a great new addition to Monomakhos
It’s very nice and extremely helpful having a resource like that
Thanks
Hopefully, Greatly Saddened has not taken a “time out”. We’re working behind the scenes to get him back on line.
Glad to se you are back, George!
As to Assange, I hope he is vindicated as he has revealed a lot of stuff that what hidden and should have been made public. To me he is a sort of ‘secular saint’, if you will. I wish that there were more of them.
GS, not intentional. Plz forgive as things have been more than a little hectic around here recently.
George, I most certainly understand and am sorry you have been experiencing these technical difficulties. I hope they are remedied and things get back to normal real soon!
As always, thank you ever so much, Billy Jack Sunday! I can’t thank you enough!