[LINK] Assange, Wikileaks and the reaction ...

[Frank O'Connor]

Seems to me the latest WikiLeaks release has 
revealed any number of conundrums, completely 
unrelated to their content.

Our politicians of course are averse to being 
embarrassed, and have called for the blood of 
Assange and anyone else related to the release of 
the cables. In a spectacular over-reaction they 
and their overseas brethren have involved 
Interpol - via political interference with same 
in my opinion Š in their response. (Can anyone 
point me at another alleged sex offender Š in 
which the case seem to revolve around consent 
after the initial act had, by the victim's own 
admission, been consensual Š who is on Interpol's 
Most Wanted List? And with such alacrity?)

Interpol has lost a lot of credibility Š it's 
reputation may be permanently damaged.

And the American politicians.  One wants Assange 
prosecuted for treason Š completely ignoring the 
fact that even if the crime could be proved 
against an American citizen (and that would be 
unlikely given their Constitution, the nature of 
the materials, Wikileaks place in the chain of 
events, and various political and legal 
realities), Assange is Australian and therefore 
couldn't satisfy one of the major prerequisites 
of the crime.

Better to just burn him as a witch, Mate.

Governments and their bureaucrats. Well, they 
like their dirty laundry hidden. Bureaucrats 
believe in anonymity, lack of accountability and 
responsibility, and their own omnipotence. They 
pay lip service to 'freedom of information', but 
whenever anyone tries to exercise said privileges 
(sadly it isn't a right in any democracy I know 
of) they place a myriad of processes, procedures, 
charges, editing and other obstacles in the way 
of releasing said information. So, it's not 
surprising they uniformly condemn Assange.

The Fourth Estate? Having spent the last 20 to 30 
years becoming 'embedded' with politicians, 
government, the military and whoever (as part of 
the devils contract they now meekly assent to) 
will drip feed mostly harmless information in 
their direction Š they too seem to detest Assange 
and WikiLeaks. Just heard some journos on the ABC 
condemning him for having no journalistic ethics 
Š rather than asking themselves why the 
whistleblowers no longer go to them. Why their 
credibility is no longer as high as it was in the 
early 80's.

I mean, if you insert yourself into the corridors 
of power, and you sell your soul to do so, and 
your credibility drops through the floor, and the 
only thing you have left to sell is your 
editorialising (rather than hard news) Š then you 
do have a problem in these days of widely 
disseminated and uncontrolled information 
channels don't you? I mean these are the guys who 
decided to give away all the investigative 
journalism techniques and live on press releases 
Š thereby becoming glorified PR hacks. Don't 
blame Assange for that.

And Assange and WikiLeaks have never made any 
pretence that they are journalists. They simply 
receive and disseminate information. So, why 
these journos should be castigating them for lack 
of ethics that apply to journos is a mystery to 
me.

The releases themselves? Well, I haven't seen any 
surprises yet Š I mean these seem to be pretty 
widely held opinions before hand Š and are just 
confirmed in the form of cables sent by 
diplomatic staff. The US spies on people!! 
Australia is a rock solid US ally!! Vladimir 
Putin is a tough guy!! The president of North 
Korea is a few cans short of a six pack!! I mean 
Š have you ever heard the like?

(These are, of course, revelations for our press 
Š but they are still in 'being spoon fed' mode.)

All up, the latest WikiLeaks release has shown a 
number of petty minded and debatable 
characteristics amongst those we like to consider 
our leadership. The press hasn't fared well 
either. I look forward to more of their 
hysterical and ill-considered bluster over the 
next few weeks - it's been very educational and 
shown up any number of spiteful and brain dead 
individuals for what they are.

So, sit back and enjoy Š unless you are one of 
the parties mentioned above, that is.