(Australian) Journalists' union shows support for Assange

[velvet]

Source: ABC News

Australia's media union is staging a show of support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in Melbourne. The Media, Arts and Entertainment Alliance (MEAA) will present an honorary member card to Mr Assange's Melbourne-based lawyer, Rob Stary.

The union's Louise Connor says Mr Assange has always been a member, but his fees will be waived in a show of solidarity. She says all journalists should be disgusted by the way he has been portrayed by the world's governments.

"We've been very disappointed in the way his journalism has been characterised," she said. "We'd like to remind everyone that Julian, like other members of the media alliance, is covered by our code of ethics that covers journalists."

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/12/23/3099859.htm

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Good to see. Now if only Julia Gillard could see fit to apologise for her error. But I ain't holding my breath.

[Tanelorn]

1. Good to see

The ABC is the government owned public broadcaster.(no fear or
favour)

[sabrina 1]

2. It's sad because until the U.S. and their puppets in Sweden

decided to smear him, as the CIA promised to do, he was known and respected by real journalists around the world, for his dedication to human rights and to the destruction of corruption in governments. But then the U.S. smear machine with its State Media, attempted to destroy him as they do anyone who gets in the way of their brutal war machine.

The problem for them is that around the world, people are not as easily fooled as Americans, since bad as some of the media is in other places, nothing compares to the total control the government has over our media.

If Sweden has charges to make, why don't they make them? I think by now, the reasons are clear. They know that cannot win a case against him, but they continue to pretend so that the smears can continue.

The Australian equivalent of our DOJ has declared Wikileaks to be a legal organization, shaming the puppet PM, Gillard who was clearly reading the script provided for her by the U.S. I am glad Australians have seen how controlled she is by a foreign government. Hopefully her career will be a short one.

Good for the Australian journalists, who understand that an attack in Wikileaks is an attack on the freedom of the press itself. But why is the U.S. media so silent?

[glinda]

3. And don't forget Rachel Maddow calling it "Date rape".

[sabrina 1]

4. That's very disappointing, I did not know about that.

'Et tu, Rachel?'

[glinda]

17. I was taken aback at her use of words.

[Violet_Crumble]

5. Our equivalent of the DOJ is the Attorney-General's department...

After Julia's foot-in-mouth moment, the AG instructed the Australian Federal Police to find something, anything at all, to charge Assange and Wikileaks with. They couldn't find anything and came out saying so, but Julia's now insisting that even though Assange hasn't broken any Australian laws, Wikileaks is still illegal. How can someone like Julia Gillard, who's a lawyer and up till recently someone I admired be so damn stupid?

[EFerrari]

6. The reach of Washington is far and ugly sometimes. nt

[Violet_Crumble]

15. It's been long-term and very ugly here...

There's been meddling and interfering from the US going back decades, and our leaders are so subservient that they'll do absolutely anything to keep the US happy, even when it's against our national interests...

[Matilda]

11. Because other people are pulling her strings?

Like Mark Arbib, who's apparently very close to the U.S. embassy.

[Violet_Crumble]

14. We should give Arbib the respect he deserves...

And refer to him as Secret Agent Arbib from now on;) Nothing like letting the Americans in on what was going to happen months before we had any hint of it. What a wanker.

Julia's a walking, talking example of how power corrupts. I'm so disappointed in how she's turned out...

[Matilda]

20. I'm also disappointed.

I still think she performs well in parliament and comes across as very strong, but outside of the chamber, she's a big letdown.

No firm policies on anything – she appears to be very insecure, and her answer to any problem is to call for another committee, just like Rudd. Perhaps it's because of the way she got the job, and now she's waiting for the knife to land in her back.

And her attack on Assange was not only wrong and unfair, it was a big misjudgment on her part - as a lawyer she should have known better, and she misjudged the Australian people – they've always had a fondness for renegades.

[defendandprotect]

8. Excellent point re Sweden's delay in actually filing charges ....

If Sweden has charges to make, why don't they make them? I think by now, the reasons are clear. They know that cannot win a case against him, but they continue to pretend so that the smears can continue.

Also, if you noticed today, Michael Moore was forced to semi-retract in the sense that

given criticism of his suspicions over the "broken condom" allegations -- too often called

"rape" in news articles -- he seemed compelled to say that the "rape charges should be

taken seriously" -- !!

I love Michael Moore -- it's disappointing.

Keith Olberman is getting same criticism for his comments on the sexual allegations.

Your point is the best -- if they have charges -- file them!

And, btw, Common Dreams has an article up suggesting that Rove was behind pushing these

charges in Sweden -- seems he is close to the leader there -- and it's where he went when

he was hiding from Senate Hearings on Scooter Libby. Earlier today there was a full article

on it -- something happened and the link disappeared. Reference to the article is still there,

but only that.


:)


Downwinder just provided the link ---

http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2010/12/is-karl-rove-driving-effort-to.html

[Downwinder]

9. Here it is.

Is Karl Rove Driving the Effort to Prosecute Julian Assange?

http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2010/12/is-karl-rove-driving-effort-to.html

[defendandprotect]

10. Thank you -- was able to edit my msg and add it --!!

:)

[Matilda]

12. There is a theory that Sweden wants him under surveillance

only until the U.S. finds something to charge him with and calls for his extradition. Then the Swedish charges
will simply disappear.

Makes sense to me.

[EFerrari]

13. Yes, that seems to be the plan.

[defendandprotect]

19. Sadly, that seems to depend upon destroying Manning .....

thought we might hear something other than simple denial from government

that they were torturing Manning -- but doesn't look like sufficient

pressure put on by public. It's the holidays and who's paying attention????

[sabrina 1]

16. Interesting. I wasn't aware that that is where Rove was hiding.

But it does have his style all over it, and who would the government turn to when it wants to destroy someone other than Rove?

I am sorry that Keith and MM felt pressured to give any credence to these false charges. But I do understand it. They are both men, and the extremists who call themselves 'feminists' on the right especially, in true Rovian fashion always take an issue, like women's rights, that is identified with the left, and use it like bludgeon on liberals.

I was reading a lot about Sweden recently and it is apparently far from the 'bastion of liberalism' that it is generally credited as.

Apparently there are some very extremist 'feminist' factions there, not really feminists at all, but like every movement, feminism has also attracted some pretty quesionable individuals. The lawyer for the women, eg, and Ann Ardin, belong to that extreme faction. The lawyer eg, believes that ALL MEN are guilty even if they themselves never abused a woman, but hold a 'collective guilt' due to the actions of some men. He supports therefore, a 'Man Tax' for all men to pay for this 'guilt' simply because they are men.

I could see Rove contacting this guy and using him to insert himself into the case, which he did AFTER it had been dismissed.

There are apparently text messages, seen and confirmed by prosecutors and Assange's lawyers, between the two women who apparently colluded to go the police and 'smear' him, then go to the tabloids. Ann Ardin has contacts at the rightwing tabloid that first released the story. That was always a question, who gave the story to that tabloid? I think the answer may be in those text messages. Apparently there was also talk of 'making money' from it, according to reports.

Using women to get to a 'enemy of the state' simply disgusts me. And using women to slam anyone, like MM and Keith, to silence their support for Assange, is an insult to all women. I wish MM had simply said that he has a right to form an opinion and from the evidence, mainly the fact that NO CHARGES have yet been filed, despite Assange's willingness to talk AGAIN to the police, as he did before, he has decided that if he was on a jury, he would dismiss the case.

But yes, this has dragged on and on with no charges. If someone is sure of their case, they file charges. That would be the best way to extradite him. But they have not done that. And the questione everyone should be asking is 'why not'? The judge ASKED for more evidence if he was to refuse to release Assange. They had their chance, and apparently the Judge was not satisfied. So, the whole thing reeks of a smear job.

[defendandprotect]

18. Rove and Siegelman, Rove and Assange?

Completely agree with you ...

And exactly how Rove got involved would be interesting to know --

Kind of like the questions of Kissinger involvement with Obama foreign policy --


Re Sweden -- MM has pointed to the actual LACK of prosecutions of rape in Sweden and

the fact that rapes go unreported because they are largely ignored.

Also agree that we see a lot of professional anti-feminists and the issues twisted by

the right wing for their own purposes.


Assange spoke again about the threat to journalists as our government tries to move

to make it "terrorism."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101223/ts_alt_afp/usdiplomacywikileaksmediaassange_20101223000810

Then again, how do we even begin to react to the video shooting of citizens and two

journalists?


Shock and awe --

[defendandprotect]

7. k/r