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Acid TestThe aftermath of the release of the first 1% of the recent second wave of leaks of sensitive government documents is in some ways more fun than reading of the newly uncovered secrets themselves. It has drawn a clear distinction between those who are horrified and those who are delighted; like the acid test for fake gold, this reveals what people really think about government, now that it matters. Fair-weather friends are stripped of their pretenses.
From what I've seen so far, I have to agree with Zbigniew Brzezinski's assessment that the leaks are "catastrophic, but not serious." They acutely embarrass pompous government people, but haven't actually triggered a war. So why the hot indignation, from so many--when as Ron Paul said, what surely matters is truth, and that "In a society where truth becomes treason, then we're in big trouble"?
Exposure of government hypocrisy is a pleasure to us who question its right to exist, but infuriating to everyone else as we can see from some of their reactions:
1. Huckabee's Christianity is revealed for the savage authoritarianism that it is, for this Reverend Governor was among the first to call for Julian Assange to be executed for treason. Not so much here about gentle Jesus, meek and mild, nor about forgiveness of trespasses, nor mercy and loving kindness; rather, the majesty of the State having been mocked, it's "Off With His Head" in an eerie, Christianized echo of Khomeini's Fatwa against Salman Rushdie. A timely warning against theocracies of any stripe or degree. Words about smaller government to the contrary, this contender for the Oval Office should be kept as far from it as possible; he is a tyrant eager and thirsting to bloody his hands.
2.Palin's Protests against big government founder on the same rock, for she too has called for the leaker's death. She can turn a neat phrase and excite a crowd almost as well as Obama, but now that the chips are down, she's shown to be intoxicated on power and screeching for more of it. Sarah is known for sometimes engaging her mouth before her brain is in gear, and (as in Huckabee's case) this is a good example: She would hang someone for treason when no treason is possible. Mr. Assange is a citizen of Australia, and any oath of allegiance he may have taken was in favor of Her Britannic Majesty, not to this Republic.
3. The Fourth Estate is baying in unison for the blood of this amateur who has exposed their own hypocrisy for failing to report that of US diplomats. The media have an "understanding" with government spokesmen under which they learn most of what they want to learn, but agree to publish only what is declared "on the record;" see, for example, this passionate CS Monitor editorial bleat by John Yemma. In other words, as we have long believed, instead of being independent critics of government, the mainstream media are merely its spokescritters.
4. Justice Systems are uniting to silence this government critic, abandoning their pretense to administer right and wrong and springing, instead, to restore the dignity of their employers. The one in Sweden trumped up a rape charge so flimsy that it would, absent FedGov intervention, have been dropped again for lack of substance and the one in Britain may accept its extradition request even though Assange is a subject of the Queen, even though the absurdity of the charges is obvious to all, and even though the elementary (and all too fragile) protection of a jury trial, which Her Majesty is sworn to uphold, would be lost by the transfer under the terms of a European treaty. A warning to all about allowing governments to make treaties.
5. ISP Integrity was tossed overboard; when it became expensive to protect a customer against vicious DoS attacks from its enemies, EveryDNS.net declined any longer to host the Wikileaks domain. Several others have followed suit, caving in to pressure instead of treating it as a high honor to host such a hero. The Internet is a wonderful thing, but ISPs make up its backbone and now many are revealed as spineless. How fortunate we are that (at this writing) 500 good Netizens have made mirror sites for the leaker.
6. Bankers' Trust is revealed for the empty pretense it has been for many decades; even in Switzerland, where an Assange account was closed because his address was found to be in error. If any reader has any money entrusted today to any bank anywhere, now would be a good time to take it out. This class of Quisling is one of the sorriest excuses extant for honest human beings. In America, they are little more than collection agents for the IRS, and everywhere, their first loyalty is to the government that chartered them and whose "money" they handle, not to the customers who trust them with their treasure.
7. Government itself is of course confirmed as vicious, mendacious, lawless, intimidating and unprincipled, by everything it has done to harass and silence this whistleblower.
It's remarkable. This single story, which may only just have begun to be told, is verifying everything we root-strikers have long been saying, and then some.
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