31–40 of 234 posts
What strikes me with the US is that they can be very progressive on some issues (e.g. lgbt rights), yet totally backward on others (torture, death penalty, mass incarceration and so on...).
Its also preposterous that Americans will continue to justify these heinous acts as "might makes right", and then go on with their day, ignoring their states immense crimes against humanity in their effort to 'get theirs'... but yeah, drop the ol' "Ma' Russians!" into the conversations, and heads explode. There is literally no difference between the chemical castration of Assange inside a prison, and what "th' Russia…
I’m going to ignore all the subjective incendiary rhetoric and focus on this (slightly edited) line: > [Those] who uncover state crimes are the enemy of the state. This is an interesting point, considering Snowdon made public improper behaviour, which resulted in him fleeing the country, while (at least some of) the improper behaviour has been declared illegal behaviour by a court of law. Meanwhile Snowdon remains pe…
Its not rhetoric if you've had to dig your children out from under the rubble.
I'm not surprised this is a scary subject, and that it is immensely important to the American public that it be kept hidden away beyond the state secrecy walls of privilege.
The collateral damage video wasn't rhetoric, either. Again, innocent children being murdered for lies.
Let us not forget Assange's message: yes, the USA is committing atrocious crimes against humanity, on the regular, and expecting to be allowed to get away with it.
What strikes me with the US is that they can be very progressive on some issues (e.g. lgbt rights), yet totally backward on others (torture, death penalty, mass incarceration and so on...).
The former is distraction for the others. The left in USA has been convinced (or convinced itself) that identity politics is more important than human rights.
Today’s left are more right than yesterday’s right.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder if we can manipulate trump into freeing Assange and Snowden under the narrative “These heros exposed Obama’s crimes, you can be the hero who frees them” (I know they are not “Obama’s” crimes but that’s the only way to get trump engaged, or maybe just “democrats” crimes) I think he would run with it if only it didn’t set president for whistleblowers to blow the whistle on whatever he has done...I dont think h…
> I wonder if we can manipulate trump into freeing Assange and Snowden under the narrative “These heros exposed Obama’s crimes, you can be the hero who frees them” Apparently, no, as Trump has much higher priority of "controlling" the press. See "Trump’s campaign against the press" from the testimony of Mark Feldstein, who's a Professor of Broadcast Journalism at the University of Maryland and a witness for defense i…
Being distracted by the scary orange puppet rhetoric is one thing - having the courage to face the criminal charges with integrity, at a state and cultural level, is another thing entirely.
The only reason the USA isn't having its leaders schackled in the docks of The Hague for the last 20 years of criminal murderous insanity, is the people of the USA don't think it necessary, or warranted.
That is the purpose of the leaks: to encourage an honest investigation by a just and fair society. Alas, the conditions for that cannot exist under secrecy regimes dictated by a military junta.
What strikes me with the US is that they can be very progressive on some issues (e.g. lgbt rights), yet totally backward on others (torture, death penalty, mass incarceration and so on...).
The former is distraction for the others. The left in USA has been convinced (or convinced itself) that identity politics is more important than human rights.
I disagree. I think we had torture so that a President could look tough on National Security as a re-election strategy. Not-torturing people and "identity politics" are not mutually exclusive, there is no reason that we couldn't have both. "Identity politics" is fundamentally about human liberty and the dignity of the individual, a.k.a. individualism, which is also the same moral foundation that most arguments against torture rest on. Advancing the rights of the individual advances the case against torture.
After reading the NSA article about getting ISIS in very subtle ways that makes it seem like technical glitches, does anyone believe that there were actual “technical glitches” preventing this guy from testifying on video about his CIA torture?
does anyone believe that there were actual “technical glitches” preventing this guy from testifying on video about his CIA torture? FTA: it will likely be excluded as irrelevant because the Espionage Act does not allow a public interest defense. Assange is accused of 17 counts of violating the Espionage Act
Let's see what the British court does; I just hope they don't bring more shame to the country.
> The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) confirmed nine years after that El Masri was “severely beaten, sodomized, shackled, and hooded, and subjected total sensory deprivation—carried out in the presence of state officials of Macedonia and within its jurisdiction.” > Macedonia’s “government was consequently responsible for those acts performed by foreign officials…Those measures had been used with premeditation,…
Till you depend on America for protection you will have to play by their rules.
What I believe Americans are confused about European reluctance to protect themselves.
We recently saw Chinese threatening politician from Checz republic. Other European nations still welcomed the group.
His actions clearly came with the moral imperative of whistleblowing - even just this one example shows the humanitarian crimes that would go unrevealed if the leaked documents weren’t published.
There’s just no way to pretend like Assange caused harm or violated law - whistleblowing is not stealing, it’s not treason, it’s not endangerment of affected government perpetrators. It’s the exposure of mass scale criminal murder and torture.