03 December 2010

Glenn Greenwald's comments re WikiLeaks

Excerpts from a column this week at Salon:
Simply put, there are few countries in the world with citizenries and especially media outlets more devoted to serving, protecting and venerating government authorities than the U.S...

First we have the group [Sarah Palin, among others] demanding that Julian Assange be murdered without any charges, trial or due process... The way in which so many political commentators so routinely and casually call for the eradication of human beings without a shred of due process is nothing short of demented... After a decade's worth of American invasions, bombings, occupations, checkpoint shootings, drone attacks, assassinations and civilian slaughter, the notion that the U.S. Government can and should murder whomever it wants is more frequent and unrestrained than ever...

These are usually the same people, of course, who brand themselves "pro-life" and Crusaders for the Sanctity of Human Life and/or who deride Islamic extremists for their disregard for human life. And the fact that this mindset is so widespread and mainstream is quite a reflection of how degraded America's political culture is...

Then, with some exceptions, we have the group which -- so very revealingly -- is the angriest and most offended about the WikiLeaks disclosures: the American media, Our Watchdogs over the Powerful and Crusaders for Transparency... Then there's the somewhat controversial claim that our major media stars are nothing more than Government spokespeople and major news outlets little more than glorified state-run media... It's just so revealing that the sole criticism of the Government allowed to be heard is that they haven't done enough to keep us all in the dark... As the headline of John Kampfner's column in The Independent put it: "Wikileaks shows up our media for their docility at the feet of authority."

Then we have the Good Citizens who are furious that WikiLeaks has shown them what their Government is doing and, conversely, prevented the Government from keeping things from them... our government and political culture is so far toward the extreme pole of excessive, improper secrecy that that is clearly the far more significant threat. And few organizations besides WikiLeaks are doing anything to subvert that regime of secrecy, and none is close to its efficacy...

The central goal of WikiLeaks is to prevent the world's most powerful factions -- including the sprawling, imperial U.S. Government -- from continuing to operate in the dark and without restraints. Most of the institutions which are supposed to perform that function -- beginning with the U.S. Congress and the American media -- not only fail to do so, but are active participants in maintaining the veil of secrecy. WikiLeaks, whatever its flaws, is one of the very few entities shining a vitally needed light on all of this. It's hardly surprising, then, that those factions -- and their hordes of spokespeople, followers and enablers -- see WikiLeaks as a force for evil. That's evidence of how much good they are doing.
Much more at the link. Highly recommended reading.

11 comments:

  1. Hear hear.

    As "They" are always telling us when trundling in the body scanners, those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear. No wonder the world's establishments are running scared.

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  2. Although it´s long been aparent to me that you are only fooling yourself when you claim to be a centrist by any loose definition of the term, I have continued to frequent your sometimes very entertaining blog. However, and I realize this may seem to the likes of you a somewhat trivial issue to have finally tipped my scales, after this post, in my opinion, you have just crossed over into territory that unequivocally defines you as an unmitigated ass politically, and I can no longer follow you and maintain a clear conscience. Buh-bye. (btw, the word verification word for this post was 'bugger'. My sentiments exactly.

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  3. Anon, I appreciate your candor. I hope you understand that by visiting the blog you don't "support" me in any way. This blog is totally noncommercial; I don't get any pennies for pageviews. You could always visit and then quickly mouse past anything that looks like it disagrees with your worldview.

    BTW, I don't view the WikiLeaks "Cablegate" affair as being a left-vs.-right defining issue. The right denounce Assange, but use the leaked material to attack Obama. The left denounce Assange with equal vehemence for threatening their reputations. Perhaps if I reprint some words supportive of Assange, I may be more "centrist" than what you appreciate.

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  4. Interesting that Anon cannot refute anything in the post, muster the courage to leave a name, or understand that maintaining a clear conscience has nothing to do with reading opinions with which one might differ.

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  5. Outside of all the blow-hard rhetoric about the Wikileaks releases (of which I include Mr. Greenwald's), does anybody else feel totally underwhelmed by what information has been released? Have we really found out anything new or earth shaking? I haven't seen any secret plots to assassinate Putin or invade China, but mostly just petty gossiping.

    My take is that the leaks haven't accomplished anything but embarrassed the US State Department and put US-friendly information sources in foreign governments at risk for being arrested (or worse). Seems like an awfully ineffective way to strike a blow for more openness. Please help me out if I'm missing something.

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  6. @Jake and Andrea: I think you're right about this leak being big-bang, little-heat. There were some interesting things (how subserviently and clear-cutly Spain allowed their intellectual property rights bill to be written by American business interests; insights into a handful of proxy wars we're fighting in the middle east; how much Saudi pressure there is on the US to attack Iran).

    But I don't think all the talk about how big the leak is, is coming from Wikileaks. The mainstream media, and the US Gov't, are the ones inflating it (mainly because previous leaks HAVE been damaging-- Iraqi casualties are 3civilians:1combatant, leaks re: outsourcing torture, etc). Better to discredit the site now than risk future leaks.

    @Stan. Anon's just a Grumpy Gus. I not only appreciate the commentary about politics (which IS centrist), but I really like hearing points of view that differ from my own. Keep up the good work.

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  7. I'm not centrist by any stretch of the imagination, but I still appreciate your political posts. You're respectful, not acerbic, and you have never rubbed me the wrong way whatever your view. Please carry on as you do.

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  8. I would classify myself as moderate, leaning left. I only vote for Democrats but that's because the Republican Party only works for its base. I don't agree with everything you say on here, for instance I feel you are too hard on TSA. But I would never threaten to quit reading your blog or call you an "ass." That says so much about the poster. Please carry on, and express your opinions. It's your blog. I read it to see what's on your very interesting mind.

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  9. I'd love to ask Julius Assange a question.
    If he had the power in 1943, would he have leaked the secrets of the Manhattan project?
    Oh and Pro-life means Pro Life.
    I've always thought it ridiculous for anyone to be Pro Life and For the Death Penalty.
    Likewise Against the Death penalty, and Pro Abortion.

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  10. @gbradley: I doubt he would have been able to find out about the Manhattan project, that's the kind of information governments tend to protect pretty thoroughly.. but what I'm wondering is: what would the consequences have been?

    As for the pro-life thing, I don't see a contradiction in being pro abortion and anti death penalty (which is my position).
    The rationale for being anti abortion is that killing a human being, even in embryo form, is immoral. This clearly goes against the death penalty.
    However, the main argument for abortion is that people should have the choice as to whether or not to give birth to an unwanted child. This does not say anything about the right of a government to kill an adult.

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  11. Minnesotastan- I'd welcome you to the realm of unmitigated asses, but... I forever grow tired of being defined on their terms.

    Ultimately, the Wikileaks disclosures reveal more about ourselves than any outlandish government secrets- we are simply beyond the point of caring, and please kill the guy who tried to wake us up on your way out.

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