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IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

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11–20 of 59 posts

Re: IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

#11
post #8

I can't think of a special reason why the UK would have it in for Julian Assange. I presume they are doing this in order to cow towel to their ally the United States. Do they not realize that the United States is likely to undergo a regime change at the beginning of next year? Do they think the new regime in the US will feel the same way about Julian Assange and will put the same kind of pressure on the UK that the T…

I'm guessing cow towel = kowtow. But... Perhaps you do treat your cows nice n stuff?

Re: IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

#12

It sickens me how little it seems to matter to people in our mainstream discourse whether or not Assange is treated as a human being. After he was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy, and officials said he had behaved erratically there and smeared feces on the walls, etc., the public reaction was along the lines of, “Wow, what a weirdo loser”—rather than, “Oh God, what have we done to this person?” It speaks poorly o…

Why should I care so much more about his physical and mental maltreatment by the legal system over the other millions experiencing the same everyday? If you asked why public discourse ignores this in general I would understand.

Making no claims about his guilt or innocence.

Re: IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

#13
post #12

It sickens me how little it seems to matter to people in our mainstream discourse whether or not Assange is treated as a human being. After he was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy, and officials said he had behaved erratically there and smeared feces on the walls, etc., the public reaction was along the lines of, “Wow, what a weirdo loser”—rather than, “Oh God, what have we done to this person?” It speaks poorly o…

Why should I care so much more about his physical and mental maltreatment by the legal system over the other millions experiencing the same everyday? If you asked why public discourse ignores this in general I would understand. Making no claims about his guilt or innocence.

I hate this argument. How can you care about the millions if you literally do not care about the one?

Re: IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

#14
post #12

It sickens me how little it seems to matter to people in our mainstream discourse whether or not Assange is treated as a human being. After he was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy, and officials said he had behaved erratically there and smeared feces on the walls, etc., the public reaction was along the lines of, “Wow, what a weirdo loser”—rather than, “Oh God, what have we done to this person?” It speaks poorly o…

Why should I care so much more about his physical and mental maltreatment by the legal system over the other millions experiencing the same everyday? If you asked why public discourse ignores this in general I would understand. Making no claims about his guilt or innocence.

There are, of course, atrocities everywhere all the time. Change generally isn't sparked by routine atrocities rumbling along in the background though, but by people coalescing around specific atrocities that gain high profile for whatever reason (largely random) which serve as an avatar for all the others. So I suspect you have it backwards: the mistreatment of others isn't a reason to dismiss Assange's complaint, but rather to elevate it. Maybe this will be the one that finally catches fire and helps all the others.

Re: IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

#15

It sickens me how little it seems to matter to people in our mainstream discourse whether or not Assange is treated as a human being. After he was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy, and officials said he had behaved erratically there and smeared feces on the walls, etc., the public reaction was along the lines of, “Wow, what a weirdo loser”—rather than, “Oh God, what have we done to this person?” It speaks poorly o…

Thing is, he damaged himself by choosing to spend nearly a decade in isolation. We haven’t done anything to him other than expect him to submit to due process as a citizen like any other.

That he has driven himself half-mad is indeed tragic, but it’s not societies fault, nor is it sufficient to place him outside the law.

Re: IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

#16
post #6

People don’t care because he’s “a bad guy”. That’s where we’ve got to. Trouble is people aren’t brought up with an understanding of how things should be in a fair and just society. They’re brought up with some mucky mixed up perception that the world is some mashup of Hollywood and what the media says. There’s no moral compass for society any more. My personal take is he’s some sort of weird Russian asset and he’s a…

>there's no moral compass for society anymore

What? And there was more of such a compass a century ago when lynchings were much more common for "racial defilements"? Or two centuries ago when slaves were considered bad by the general public for escaping from the brutality of ownership? Or perhaps 600 years ago when witch burning was remarkably common in much of Europe?

Not criticizing your defense of Assange (his treatment really is deplorable, petty and cruel), but This phrase has never been anything less than absurd, and particularly so is to claim it of today's society in comparison to some mythical past morality..

Re: IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

#17
post #10
post #6

People don’t care because he’s “a bad guy”. That’s where we’ve got to. Trouble is people aren’t brought up with an understanding of how things should be in a fair and just society. They’re brought up with some mucky mixed up perception that the world is some mashup of Hollywood and what the media says. There’s no moral compass for society any more. My personal take is he’s some sort of weird Russian asset and he’s a…

Are there people that think he is a bad guy? At least where I live I didn‘t hear anyone say that. Maybe this is different in the US. It‘s more like our government doesn’t say anything because of US imperialism. And most people don‘t know about him or think this outcome is expected if you dare to mess with the US. It looks more like pessimism to me. And it‘s to be expected. The US foreign policy was always inhumane. I…

> Are there people that think he is a bad guy?

Yeah, there are. I know people I generally find reasonable that consider him a traitor, and they're not even American. I think a lot of use have grown up on US culture and propaganda and it permeates our societies to the point of identification with the US, so Assange or Snowden are considered bad guys to a lot of people. It seems to me that it's primarily for pragmatic reasons: "We" profit from crimes, leaking information about those crimes reduces our profit from it, ergo leaking it is treason against us.

Re: IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

#18
post #8

I can't think of a special reason why the UK would have it in for Julian Assange. I presume they are doing this in order to cow towel to their ally the United States. Do they not realize that the United States is likely to undergo a regime change at the beginning of next year? Do they think the new regime in the US will feel the same way about Julian Assange and will put the same kind of pressure on the UK that the T…

Trump has floated the idea of pardoning Assange. A Biden presidency would likely be even more against Assange, because of his actions during the 2016 election which generally harmed Clinton.

Re: IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

#19

It sickens me how little it seems to matter to people in our mainstream discourse whether or not Assange is treated as a human being. After he was removed from the Ecuadorian embassy, and officials said he had behaved erratically there and smeared feces on the walls, etc., the public reaction was along the lines of, “Wow, what a weirdo loser”—rather than, “Oh God, what have we done to this person?” It speaks poorly o…

Thing is, he damaged himself by choosing to spend nearly a decade in isolation. We haven’t done anything to him other than expect him to submit to due process as a citizen like any other. That he has driven himself half-mad is indeed tragic, but it’s not societies fault, nor is it sufficient to place him outside the law.

There is no way he would have gotten due process, which is why he went in in the first place.

Re: IBAHRI condemned UK treatment of Julian Assange in US extradition trial

#20
post #8

I can't think of a special reason why the UK would have it in for Julian Assange. I presume they are doing this in order to cow towel to their ally the United States. Do they not realize that the United States is likely to undergo a regime change at the beginning of next year? Do they think the new regime in the US will feel the same way about Julian Assange and will put the same kind of pressure on the UK that the T…

> Do they think the new regime in the US will feel the same way about Julian Assange and will put the same kind of pressure on the UK that the Trump administration presumably has?

The pressure came from the Obama administration, the Trump administration just kept it up. I don't see any reason to believe that Biden would be substantially different.

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