The real measure of how free is a society is not how its mainstream, well-behaved ruling class servants are treated, but the fate of its actual dissidents.
Glenn, Jim Acosta is more intrepid than Julian Assange. Jim had a microphone LITERALLY taken from his heroic hands by an SS trooper during a White House press briefing. Jim has had to deal with a torrent of online meanies: don't you suppose scrolling through these Russian bot messages would ruin his time in the green room getting his hair and makeup? Jim's access credentials were temporarily revoked: how is he supposed to grandstand on behalf of his CIA handlers from home?
I’ve been consuming the ruling narrative on Assange and Snowden without question. No more. Im unsure if any other journalist makes me re-evaluate my assumptions so well. Thank you Glenn.
Wow. Scathing. Glenn’s acerbic writing style makes me think on first glance he is overreaching, but when I look for specifics of what I disagree with in the piece I can only come up with trivialities. His overall point is correct. And while he doesn’t hammer on it in this particular piece, the thing that disgusts me the most is not the IC. It is the media. The US media - right, left and center - should be speaking with one voice denouncing this. There is a literal army of pundits that tweet 100 times a day. Many have cushy jobs at legacy media outlets. With a few exceptions, they are silent as the grave on the Assange case and it is an absolute embarrassment. I can only speculate on their motivations. My suspicion is that due to the unrelated Wikileaks releases during the 2016 election, they can’t bring themselves to defend Assange.
Assange is imprisoned. He is not serving a sentence. He has not been convicted of a crime. He is not a US citizen and has never consented to US jurisdiction. The indictment against him is an absurd overreach on the merits. The “bail jumping” conviction was retribution for him seeking (and being granted) asylum. Retaliation with criminal penalties against an asylum seeker is so patently absurd on its face that a country that does so cannot seriously claim to believe in human rights.
I wouldn’t ask anyone to judge Assange’s character or assess his motives. He may or may not be a good guy. But what we should all be able to agree on is that he is a human being who has basic human rights. Those rights are being violated every day he sits in jail. US citizens such as myself should all be horrified by this, as it is being done by a government that supposedly represents us. Assange should be released immediately.
Excellent article, as most of what you write is. I'm old and disabled now, but still on the correct side and it feels great to read what you write. Most so-called "progressives" are so stupidly brainwashed and without a broader philosophy that what they write is incredibly stupid --- but maybe Da Russians DID do it" :) .
It's not merely that the US depicts itself as a democratic freedom-loving exemplar of all that is good (although it does that), it also claims to be the *arbiter* of what constitutes democracy, freedom, and political goodness generally.
Somewhat ironically, this is a position it also unwillingly shares with some of its rivals and enemies, those fellow members of the UN Security Council that do not meet the US' high standards of international deportment and/or domestic self-restraint. But the foundational principle at issue is shared by all of those members, and it is this:
Might Makes Right.
The US, as unquestionably the most powerful empire during the post-war Pax Americana, sits uncomfortably atop this pinnacle of power and as above, only those who challenge its power (militarily, economically, or journalistically - the first two are nigh inseparable in our post-industrial age) are afforded the status of rival and therefore, enemy. The UK, for example, has a "special relationship" with her former colony and is "led" by tame Washington sycophants who know where their bread is buttered.
Yet as Shakespeare noted, "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown".
Never has there been a nation so powerful, so wealthy, so blessed with material and political and social capital, and yet so afraid.
What is being done to Assange is a crime against humanity, a crime against every one of us who value the human virtue of truth. The United States has become a very unfunny parody of itself. All talk and no walk, shallow platitudes and lip service.
Note that CIA front operatives from Bellingcat are trolling this seminal overview of persecution of the publisher Julian Assange.
One of the reasons -- pardoning of Julian Assange would fundamentally threaten the 3-year long stupid and dangerous Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine impeachment "entertainment". This is a fundamental threat to incoming administration and to the entire "rehabilitated" clique which led to the election of incompetent Trump.
Clearly Bellingcat has been activated by DNC/Obama-Hillary/CIA structure sensing the possibility of catastrophic danger. Assange might even commit "suicide" -- like Epstein.
The Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine-impeachment “entertainment” was concocted by deeply corrupt Obama/Hillary/Biden/Pelosi clique and their intelligence and DNC executives on behalf of their Wall Street and military industry donors, i.e., the imperial War party.
Always remember Tulsi's epic response after Hillary brazenly accused her of being a Russian asset:
"Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton . You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why.
Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly".
Killer piece. The contention you make in the first two sentences is strong and well supported by the rest of the piece. If people like Assange are not free, I don’t think any of us really are.
Fucking brilliant. We are such a hypocritical nation. This man reported things that should make us ashamed of our leaders and he sits in his own shit while the elitists pricks who he reported on are back working for Biden. It’s a pill to big to swallow. Trump needs to pardon both Assange and Snowden as it could be a big legacy issue for him. He was smeared and taken out by these same people. He needs to step up. Great work GG.
Glenn, congratulations on this most lucid and thoroughgoing exposition of the reality of press and speech freedom under neoliberal regimes. This piece is not only an outstanding example of robust journalism, but is also a conscientious advocacy of a thoroughly wronged and vilified publisher of what press freedom is ideally supposed to mean to a purported free society.
What you trenchantly describe happens to those who out or repudiate prevailing orthodoxies and establishment propaganda is something that many, like myself (see screenshot), have experienced at the hands of high-tech monopolist oligarchs and self-appointed social-media gatekeepers who censor and ban realistically-critical, consciousness-raising information that contradicts or demystifies the status quo.
[Screenshot that doesn't show here is a FB Dangerous Individual or Organization Disabled Notice]
My access to all of my accounts on Facebook has been permanently disabled.
Many thanks for all your efforts to expose the insidious hypocrisies that undermine and thwart public consciousness of the political reality we are immersed in.
Thank you Glenn - once again. The total silence of corporate media on the persecution of Assange (and Snowden) is deafening and telling. Now (n January), that Trump has defeated himself, fully "rehabilitated" Assange persecutors will be back in power...
There is one basic fact: The entire anti-Russian 3-year narrative is and has been a deliberate fabrication. The first priority will be to maintain it.
Clapper, Brennan & Hayden trio were among former 50 intelligence officials stating that Hunter-laptop is classical “Russian disinformation”.
- They were also key promoters of the three-year Russia-gate hoax.
- They were also key intelligence executives in Obama/Biden/Hillary government – the government which hunted Snowden (forcing Bolivian plane with Bolivia’s president to land to search it) and armed Al Qaeda (including “white helmets” hoax) and staged all chemical attacks in Syria to remove its government.
Trump’s utter incompetence in handling Covid-19 created the human and economic catastrophe will be called - Trump-virus; he brought into government religious extremism and racism.
The Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine-impeachment “entertainment” was concocted by Obama/Hillary/Biden/Pelosi, etc. and their intelligence and DNC executives on behalf of their Wall Street and military industry donors, i.e., the imperial War party
Glenn, Jim Acosta is more intrepid than Julian Assange. Jim had a microphone LITERALLY taken from his heroic hands by an SS trooper during a White House press briefing. Jim has had to deal with a torrent of online meanies: don't you suppose scrolling through these Russian bot messages would ruin his time in the green room getting his hair and makeup? Jim's access credentials were temporarily revoked: how is he supposed to grandstand on behalf of his CIA handlers from home?
Quit erasing Jim's pain.
I’ve been consuming the ruling narrative on Assange and Snowden without question. No more. Im unsure if any other journalist makes me re-evaluate my assumptions so well. Thank you Glenn.
Operation Mockingbird is still in full effect. Those on MSM should no longer be referred to as journalists, but as propagandists.
Wow. Scathing. Glenn’s acerbic writing style makes me think on first glance he is overreaching, but when I look for specifics of what I disagree with in the piece I can only come up with trivialities. His overall point is correct. And while he doesn’t hammer on it in this particular piece, the thing that disgusts me the most is not the IC. It is the media. The US media - right, left and center - should be speaking with one voice denouncing this. There is a literal army of pundits that tweet 100 times a day. Many have cushy jobs at legacy media outlets. With a few exceptions, they are silent as the grave on the Assange case and it is an absolute embarrassment. I can only speculate on their motivations. My suspicion is that due to the unrelated Wikileaks releases during the 2016 election, they can’t bring themselves to defend Assange.
Assange is imprisoned. He is not serving a sentence. He has not been convicted of a crime. He is not a US citizen and has never consented to US jurisdiction. The indictment against him is an absurd overreach on the merits. The “bail jumping” conviction was retribution for him seeking (and being granted) asylum. Retaliation with criminal penalties against an asylum seeker is so patently absurd on its face that a country that does so cannot seriously claim to believe in human rights.
I wouldn’t ask anyone to judge Assange’s character or assess his motives. He may or may not be a good guy. But what we should all be able to agree on is that he is a human being who has basic human rights. Those rights are being violated every day he sits in jail. US citizens such as myself should all be horrified by this, as it is being done by a government that supposedly represents us. Assange should be released immediately.
THIS...is the stuff of my subscription. I disagree with almost all of it...but the perspective is brilliantly formed and articulated. My thanks.
Excellent article, as most of what you write is. I'm old and disabled now, but still on the correct side and it feels great to read what you write. Most so-called "progressives" are so stupidly brainwashed and without a broader philosophy that what they write is incredibly stupid --- but maybe Da Russians DID do it" :) .
It's not merely that the US depicts itself as a democratic freedom-loving exemplar of all that is good (although it does that), it also claims to be the *arbiter* of what constitutes democracy, freedom, and political goodness generally.
Somewhat ironically, this is a position it also unwillingly shares with some of its rivals and enemies, those fellow members of the UN Security Council that do not meet the US' high standards of international deportment and/or domestic self-restraint. But the foundational principle at issue is shared by all of those members, and it is this:
Might Makes Right.
The US, as unquestionably the most powerful empire during the post-war Pax Americana, sits uncomfortably atop this pinnacle of power and as above, only those who challenge its power (militarily, economically, or journalistically - the first two are nigh inseparable in our post-industrial age) are afforded the status of rival and therefore, enemy. The UK, for example, has a "special relationship" with her former colony and is "led" by tame Washington sycophants who know where their bread is buttered.
Yet as Shakespeare noted, "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown".
Never has there been a nation so powerful, so wealthy, so blessed with material and political and social capital, and yet so afraid.
Afraid of distant goat-herders.
Afraid of Russian cyber-spies.
Afraid of the weather.
Afraid of being called racist/sexist/xxx-phobic.
Afraid of getting sick.
Afraid of reporters.
Afraid of everything, and everyone, all the time.
It must be exhausting.
And it is obviously maddening.
Hi Glen I must say, don't always agree, but you sure do make me think!
What is being done to Assange is a crime against humanity, a crime against every one of us who value the human virtue of truth. The United States has become a very unfunny parody of itself. All talk and no walk, shallow platitudes and lip service.
Free Asange Now!
Note that CIA front operatives from Bellingcat are trolling this seminal overview of persecution of the publisher Julian Assange.
One of the reasons -- pardoning of Julian Assange would fundamentally threaten the 3-year long stupid and dangerous Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine impeachment "entertainment". This is a fundamental threat to incoming administration and to the entire "rehabilitated" clique which led to the election of incompetent Trump.
Clearly Bellingcat has been activated by DNC/Obama-Hillary/CIA structure sensing the possibility of catastrophic danger. Assange might even commit "suicide" -- like Epstein.
The Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine-impeachment “entertainment” was concocted by deeply corrupt Obama/Hillary/Biden/Pelosi clique and their intelligence and DNC executives on behalf of their Wall Street and military industry donors, i.e., the imperial War party.
Always remember Tulsi's epic response after Hillary brazenly accused her of being a Russian asset:
"Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton . You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why.
Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies. Join the race directly".
Killer piece. The contention you make in the first two sentences is strong and well supported by the rest of the piece. If people like Assange are not free, I don’t think any of us really are.
Fucking brilliant. We are such a hypocritical nation. This man reported things that should make us ashamed of our leaders and he sits in his own shit while the elitists pricks who he reported on are back working for Biden. It’s a pill to big to swallow. Trump needs to pardon both Assange and Snowden as it could be a big legacy issue for him. He was smeared and taken out by these same people. He needs to step up. Great work GG.
Good article. Trump should pardon him and snowden before he leaves.
Glenn, congratulations on this most lucid and thoroughgoing exposition of the reality of press and speech freedom under neoliberal regimes. This piece is not only an outstanding example of robust journalism, but is also a conscientious advocacy of a thoroughly wronged and vilified publisher of what press freedom is ideally supposed to mean to a purported free society.
What you trenchantly describe happens to those who out or repudiate prevailing orthodoxies and establishment propaganda is something that many, like myself (see screenshot), have experienced at the hands of high-tech monopolist oligarchs and self-appointed social-media gatekeepers who censor and ban realistically-critical, consciousness-raising information that contradicts or demystifies the status quo.
[Screenshot that doesn't show here is a FB Dangerous Individual or Organization Disabled Notice]
My access to all of my accounts on Facebook has been permanently disabled.
Many thanks for all your efforts to expose the insidious hypocrisies that undermine and thwart public consciousness of the political reality we are immersed in.
John de Clef Piñeiro, Esq.
Thank you Glenn - once again. The total silence of corporate media on the persecution of Assange (and Snowden) is deafening and telling. Now (n January), that Trump has defeated himself, fully "rehabilitated" Assange persecutors will be back in power...
There is one basic fact: The entire anti-Russian 3-year narrative is and has been a deliberate fabrication. The first priority will be to maintain it.
Clapper, Brennan & Hayden trio were among former 50 intelligence officials stating that Hunter-laptop is classical “Russian disinformation”.
- They were also key promoters of the three-year Russia-gate hoax.
- They were also key intelligence executives in Obama/Biden/Hillary government – the government which hunted Snowden (forcing Bolivian plane with Bolivia’s president to land to search it) and armed Al Qaeda (including “white helmets” hoax) and staged all chemical attacks in Syria to remove its government.
Trump’s utter incompetence in handling Covid-19 created the human and economic catastrophe will be called - Trump-virus; he brought into government religious extremism and racism.
The Russia-gate hoax and Ukraine-impeachment “entertainment” was concocted by Obama/Hillary/Biden/Pelosi, etc. and their intelligence and DNC executives on behalf of their Wall Street and military industry donors, i.e., the imperial War party
https://taibbi.substack.com/p/were-in-a-permanent-coup
Nothing to add here except FREE ASSANGE