Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK • Hacker News Board

Re: Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK

#31

Post by briandear » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 5:42 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #9

What I've wanted for Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and Chelsea Manning, and if Obama would have done it before leaving office, it would have earned him infinite respect: Try them, possibly even find them guilty of something, but also award them with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. What these people have done is probably illegal, but it is unquestionably about the most American, patriotic act you could commit. Sp…

Just a curiousity, is “far left” and “liberal” even related? Seems like the far left and far right are two sides to the same totalitarian coin. Liberal implies a respect for the freedom of individuals while “far left” puts the collective over the rights of the individual. The word liberal has lost its meaning. The far left (and far right) is incompatible with freedom. Cases in point: Venezuela, Cuba, the Soviet Union. The far left closer to fascism than liberalism.

http://thedailyjournalist.com/thethinker/fascism-is-far-left...

Re: Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK

#32

Post by Blindedwino » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 5:42 PM UTC

panarky wrote: post #16

timmytokyo wrote: post #4

Julian Assange is not "effectively imprisoned". He can leave the Ecuadorian embassy any time he chooses. Ecuador is under no obligation to provide him domicile.

If you spend 8 years confined to a small space, unable to travel freely due to a well-grounded fear of physical harm, you're most definitely "effectively imprisoned".

But then... is he really fearing for his life? Is it really about him knowing secrets or him trying to avoid the rape charges in Sweden?

Re: Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK

#33

Post by kev009 » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 5:43 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #9

What I've wanted for Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and Chelsea Manning, and if Obama would have done it before leaving office, it would have earned him infinite respect: Try them, possibly even find them guilty of something, but also award them with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. What these people have done is probably illegal, but it is unquestionably about the most American, patriotic act you could commit. Sp…

This is such a contrasting comment I am curious if you remember how you consumed information back then to i.e. develop admiration for the whistleblowers, and retain the political operative narrative that Obama was somehow sympathetic and good to these causes.

Re: Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK

#34

Post by AJRF » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 5:44 PM UTC

wpdev_63 wrote: post #30

Anyone want to start a gofundme to smuggle assange out of ecuador? I bet there numerous other south american countries that would take him in.

Hes in London, do you mean to smuggle him to another embassy of a South American state in London?

Re: Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK

#35

Post by guitarbill » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 5:44 PM UTC

panarky wrote: post #16

timmytokyo wrote: post #4

Julian Assange is not "effectively imprisoned". He can leave the Ecuadorian embassy any time he chooses. Ecuador is under no obligation to provide him domicile.

If you spend 8 years confined to a small space, unable to travel freely due to a well-grounded fear of physical harm, you're most definitely "effectively imprisoned".

Plus, the UN's Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has also found that he is in arbitrary detention... in 2016. The UK has conveniently ignored this breach of human rights.

Whatever Assange did or didn't do, and whatever this media and political spectacle is, it isn't justice.

Re: Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK

#36

Post by blhack » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

kev009 wrote: post #33

blhack wrote: post #9

What I've wanted for Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and Chelsea Manning, and if Obama would have done it before leaving office, it would have earned him infinite respect: Try them, possibly even find them guilty of something, but also award them with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. What these people have done is probably illegal, but it is unquestionably about the most American, patriotic act you could commit. Sp…

This is such a contrasting comment I am curious if you remember how you consumed information back then to i.e. develop admiration for the whistleblowers, and retain the political operative narrative that Obama was somehow sympathetic and good to these causes.

Obama was not sympathetic to these causes. That's why it would have gained him so much respect from me.

I posted the quote in another reply, so sorry for repeating it, but: "I disagree with what you are saying, but will defend to the death your right to say it."

This value is probably the most important to me, and it is something that I think is fundamentally American. I would have loved to see Obama exhibit it.

Re: Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK

#37

Post by chvid » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 5:46 PM UTC

I will believe it when I see it.

Re: Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK

#38

Post by alexandercrohde » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 5:47 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #3

This is less a news story than a coat rack Greenwald uses to hang a bunch of loosely-related political arguments he wants to make: * That Ecuador under Moreno is subservient to western powers, this according in part to Correa, who ran the previous Ecuadorian administration, which was widely considered one of the most corrupt in the western hemisphere (I have no idea if Moreno's was as well). OK? None of us are equipp…

Comparing to info-wars is either really ill-informed or an act of rhetoric. I see nothing in this piece even remotely on the level info-wars (e.g. claiming Sandy Hook was staged).

Re: Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK

#39

Post by squirrelicus » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 5:48 PM UTC

virtualadmin wrote: post #27

blhack wrote: post #9

What I've wanted for Julian Assange, Edward Snowden, and Chelsea Manning, and if Obama would have done it before leaving office, it would have earned him infinite respect: Try them, possibly even find them guilty of something, but also award them with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. What these people have done is probably illegal, but it is unquestionably about the most American, patriotic act you could commit. Sp…

Obama unfortunately prosecuted the largest amount of whistleblowers. I doubt he would have done this. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/16/whistleblowe...

Hmm sample size is too low to draw conclusions. 3 vs 8 over several years? Ehh.

But you're probably right for other reasons. He was a bit of an authoritarian despite talking like a cuddly bear. His relationship with the intelligence community is probably what allowed him to spy on the Trump campaign and more or less keep it on the down low for a while.

Re: Ecuador will hand over Julian Assange to the UK

#40

Post by panarky » Sat, Jul 21, 2018, 5:48 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #3

This is less a news story than a coat rack Greenwald uses to hang a bunch of loosely-related political arguments he wants to make: * That Ecuador under Moreno is subservient to western powers, this according in part to Correa, who ran the previous Ecuadorian administration, which was widely considered one of the most corrupt in the western hemisphere (I have no idea if Moreno's was as well). OK? None of us are equipp…

Your comment is less an incisive analysis of the article than a coat rack to hang a bunch of loosely-related ad hominem attacks on the author along with unsubstantiated and unbelievable attempts to cast doubt on the article's thesis.

Namely that Assange is a political prisoner, likely to be transferred from eight years of effective imprisonment in the embassy to an actual prison, and to remain imprisoned for a long time, all without being charged of any serious crime.