Who Cares About Julian Assange?

[DonViejo]

AUG 18, 2014 2:19 PM EDT
By Marc Champion

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, says he will "soon" leave his refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy in London, but not when. He says he is sick, but won't say in what way. He says he should be "freed," yet he is a captive by choice.

If Assange is seriously ill, he should of course be given medical attention, but beyond his health it is hard to feel much sympathy. His asylum ploy has been a two-year farce of his choosing.

Assange bolted for the Ecuadoran embassy in 2012, as soon as a U.K. court denied his appeal against extradition to Sweden to face questioning over the accusations of two women that he sexually assaulted them. He says the case is a ruse to get him to Sweden so he can then be extradited to the U.S. There, he suspects he would face prosecution in connection with WikiLeaks's publication of classified military papers documenting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There are two things to say about this. First, Assange's conspiracy argument never made sense, even though the U.S. actually is out to get him. There is no reason to believe he can be more easily extradited to the U.S. from Sweden than from the U.K. -- indeed, in terms of legal process, the opposite is true. So this is and always has been about the Swedish case: He should leave his refuge and volunteer to go to Sweden to clear his name.

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http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-08-18/who-cares-about-julian-assange

[SamKnause]

1. I care about Julian Assange.

I care about WikiLeaks.

I care about Chelsea Manning.

I care about Edward Snowden.

I care about Glenn Greenwald.

I care about Anonymous.

I care about a free press.

I care about net neutrality.

I care about free speech.

I am grateful for all the brave whistleblowers and leakers around the globe !!!!!!!!!!

[Autumn]

2. ^^^THIS x100^^^

Thank you for that. I care

[SamKnause]

4. Your are most welcome.

[bobthedrummer]

3. I care too. n/t

[nilram]

5. +100

[OnyxCollie]

6. I care about all that you listed.

Here's what I don't care about:

Big banks.

Huge corporations.

Mass media.

Politicians who break laws, treaties, etc., and do so with impunity.

Cowardly politicians who are more concerned with marketability than enforcing laws.

Fuck all those people, and fuck the apologists for them as well.

[SamKnause]

7. I'm in agreement with that !!!

The pain they have caused, the lives they have ruined, and the blood they have spilled.

Mindboggling if you think about it, truly mindboggling.

[woo me with science]

8. +100000 Thank you.

[Oilwellian]

9. Well said

[Fantastic Anarchist]

13. I care and stand with all you mentioned.

In solidarity with all rabble-rousers, dissenters, working people, oppressed, bombed, sick, poor, gay, straight, male and female.

I stand with all against the system we live in now.

[SamKnause]

15. As am I.

We could be best friends.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

16. I, I think we are.

[randome]

17. But not women who claim they were sexually assaulted.

It should have been a very simple matter for a 'hero of the people'. Heroes don't typically run and hide, abuse their friends' money and claim everyone is out to get him.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]The truth doesn’t always set you free.
Sometimes it builds a bigger cage around the one you’re already in.[/center][/font][hr]

[whatchamacallit]

10. Obviously the author does

To the point of obsession.

[el_bryanto]

11. So I take it the evidence that Assange assaulted these two women is suspect?

Or is there some other reason why he is avoiding that situation?

Bryant

[Lancero]

12. I don't care for a rapist.

And until he goes to face the charges, that is all he is in my mind. That he is refusing to return Sweden to face these charges is a lot of proof saying that he is guilty - If he was innocent of these crimes, why go to such lengths to avoid facing the charges?

Until then, any of his successes are not. Because they will be built on a foundation of rape, a foundation of misogyny, a foundation of inequality.

Not many are interested in holding him accountable for this. The majority of this site is more then willing to give his misogynistic actions a free pass because 'evil gubmint wants him ded!' saying that these charges are 'gubmint haox, not legitimate rape!!!'

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. Obviously, the CIA, NSA, and FBI care about Julian Assange.

Those friends of Justice, Freedom, and the American Way would love to jail another whistle-blower.

[TeeYiYi]

18. I care. ..nt

TYY