#FreeAssange

Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States because that government has given assurances he will be treated humanely.

So says the court in the UK which has seen Assange, his health broken and mental health in jeopardy, and turned away.

His crime? Revealing the truth about governments. For instance, what the U.S. government was doing in Iraq with our tax dollars in the now infamous “Collateral Murder” video i.e. gunning down Reuters journalists and shooting up a good Samaritan’s van carrying children in Baghdad.

The U.S. government tortured Chelsea Manning at length for allegedly leaking evidence of U.S. war crimes in Iraq.

The UK government tortured Julian Assange by holding him captive in the London embassy of Ecuador for seven years as his health deteriorated.

On what legal grounds? In so-called “free democracies” the publication of truth is a protected right of journalists. Indeed, a free press is considered the cornerstone of democracy.

Trumped up charges of rape (i.e. nonconsensual condomless intercourse) in Sweden was the ostensible reason Assange was targeted for lawfare, but the Assange’s accuser has now retracted his accusation. And the machinations behind getting her to make it in the first place have been revealed as bunk.

How Edward Snowden, NSA whistleblower, escaped the long arm of U.S. imperial power to suppress the truth makes for a thrilling documentary. Snowden remains a guest in Russia, and is now raising a family rather than returning to the U.S. to languish in prison himself.

Assange has a family, too, but his children are not permitted to know their father’s care.

People who dare tell the truth about the most powerful government in history pay a harsh price.

Their families pay a harsh price.

Meanwhile Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook accelerate censorship of dissident views. Sometimes on behalf of convicted pedophiles and their close friends in high place.

We all pay a harsh price as truth and real journalism subside into darkness.

On this inauguration day, as Democrats pretend that all will be well under a neoliberal regime headed by the very corporations that are killing the life support systems of our planet, and that empty promises are as good as kept, I’m worried.

**False dichotomy is a very effective tool for keeping the masses confused. The above meme claiming “the left” just won* the presidential election is not stupid, it is dangerous.**

And we’ve lived through this before.

President Obama was constantly portrayed as a socialist or communist by propagandists and political enemies. Meanwhile, the banks got bailed out and the people got sold out on his watch. (And Occupy Wall Street encampments were violently evicted in a coordinated national effort.)

Also, whistleblower Chelsea Manning and free speech martyr Julian Assange were jailed and tortured for revealing war crimes and financial crimes. Their fellow whistleblower Edward Snowden escaped the empire’s grasp to go into exile in Russia; he was at risk of suffering their fate for revealing that the federal government was conducting illegal surveillance of us all.

And those who had opposed wars under George W. Bush mostly went to brunch rather than hold their handsome, articulate warmonger accountable.

Yesterday the Biden nominee for Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, (yet another recycled Obama administration hack) indicated a desire for the war in Afghanistan to continue indefinitely. He bemoaned the fact that the Obama administration overthrew the socilaist government of Libya without installing an effective replacement for Gadaffi, whom Hillary Clinton gloated about killing.

Blinken not asked about most wars, not even Iraq, nor about his revolving door profiteering. He thinks Iran is evil but favors the agreement. He defends Libya war lies and war, arming Ukraine, freaking out over China. Asked how to rejoin the world he named 0 steps.
— David Swanson (@davidcnswanson) January 19, 2021

The inside job that allowed black clad men with zip ties to breach capitol security did not look like “the left” had any involvement. Someone who’s paying attention told me Erik Prince and Blackwater — or whatever he calls his band of mercenaries these days — had their people inside.

The large number of clownish participants on January 6 tend to draw our attention, but let’s not get distracted from what was allowed to happen — and what it is being used to justify.

In the 1970’s my late father warned a teenaged me, “Watch for the U.S. to become a police state. It’s already well underway.”

Let’s not be distracted by the shiny surface of things, but instead keep our eye on the ball.

*A handy guide to know if “the left” ever comes to power in Washington DC: we’ll get universal health care and guaranteed basic income.

went2thebridge.org

Organizing and actions to resist the moral and financial bankrupting of the U.S. through wars against the poor, at home and abroad.

Assange Can Be Extradited Rules UK Court While Press Freedom Dies A Lingering Death

Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States because that government has given assurances he will be treated humanely.

People who dare tell the truth about the most powerful government in history pay a harsh price.

Like this:

In Sophisticated Propaganda, Even The Reverse Isn’t True

**False dichotomy is a very effective tool for keeping the masses confused. The above meme claiming “the left” just won* the presidential election is not stupid, it is dangerous.**

And those who had opposed wars under George W. Bush mostly went to brunch rather than hold their handsome, articulate warmonger accountable.

Let’s not be distracted by the shiny surface of things, but instead keep our eye on the ball.

Like this:

Julian Assange can be extradited to the United States because that government has given assurances he will be treated humanely.

People who dare tell the truth about the most powerful government in history pay a harsh price.

Share this:

Like this:

False dichotomy is a very effective tool for keeping the masses confused. The above meme claiming “the left” just won* the presidential election is not stupid, it is dangerous.

And those who had opposed wars under George W. Bush mostly went to brunch rather than hold their handsome, articulate warmonger accountable.

Let’s not be distracted by the shiny surface of things, but instead keep our eye on the ball.

Share this:

Like this:

**False dichotomy is a very effective tool for keeping the masses confused. The above meme claiming “the left” just won* the presidential election is not stupid, it is dangerous.**