Leaving Mr. Assange out of consideration I'm supportive of what WikiLeaks is doing. Who else is?

[bobthedrummer]

Check in here, DU, if you support what WikiLeaks is doing.

:hi:

[ibegurpard]

1. yup

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

34. oui oui!

[lunatica]

2. It's always best to know the truth and I think Assange is an International Hero

[EmilyKent]

3. Very much so.

:hi:

[leftstreet]

4. K&R

[xchrom]

5. If 'informed consent' is still the bedrock of an

Open democracy then yes.

[mbperrin]

6. Yes, sunshine is the best disinfectant. My taxes have paid for all

this, and I'm entitled to know what I bought.

[krabigirl]

48. 2nd

[BrklynLiberal]

82. +1000

[Voice for Peace]

7. big yes

with or without Assange, but I applaud his courage and brilliance and wish him the very best.

[stray cat]

8. if I receive your SS number and private information

I would not post it to the web and call it transparency even though it would be legal. I believe if I tell a colleague a matter in privacy he should not go directly to my boss and everyone at work and shout it from the rooftop. I believe my employer should not be able to wiretap my phone even though I may say something on the phone that is related to work. I believe conversations normally should have an expectation of privacy unless there is a real risk to the public if it is not disclosed. Watergate was an important investigation. Knowing someone said someone was stupid during an international discussion - not so much.

I also think that Obama should not post all the details of his security on line in the name of government transparency.

[snot]

19. A balance of power requires a balance of knowledge. Corps. & gov'ts have

trashed the Constitution in order to know everything about us. Learning about them is a necessary beginning to redress.

[JDPriestly]

90. California guarantees a personal right to privacy in the First Article

of its state constitution. But when you are on the job, your boss or bosses have the right to know what you are watching on the internet in the office or saying on the phone.

The staff and diplomats in the State Department, military and the rest of the federal government are our employees. We are their bosses. We have the right to know what they are saying.

The Wikileaks are not revealing real secrets -- nuclear weapons codes, names of informants, etc. We are as safe now that the Wikileaks have been disclosed as we were before. Some egos, some feelings are ruffled, but that, it seems to me, is a small price to pay for the flow of information to the public.

No, Obama should not post all the details of his security on line. That is not what Wikileaks have done.

Knowing that the British reassured Obama that, during their inquiry on the Iraq War, they would not embarrass the US or discuss the horrible conduct of the US in the run-up to the Iraq War is very important to me.

I am now educated to the fact that, not only has Obama attempted to thwart a war crimes trial against the Bush administration war criminals in Spain (including members of the military who killed a Spanish journalist), but he also thwarted any investigation into the Bush administration's role in starting the illegal Iraq War.

Knowing those facts will mean that I will never vote for Obama again. I will find a real Democrat and write that Democrat's name in on the ballot if necessary.

True, it is painful to learn these facts. I am even more deeply disappointed in Obama than I was before the Wikileaks. But it is something I have needed to know. It hurts though, like finding out that your spouse or lover has betrayed you.

[saras]

95. Beliefs vs. actions

"If I receive your SS number and private information I would not post it to the web and call it transparency"
It's nice that you have these ethics. It's too bad that corporations, in general, don't, ESPECIALLY if you include sharing information among corporations and not with the 'general public' as being public. Take a close look at how your credit rating is built.

"I believe if I tell a colleague a matter in privacy he should not go directly to my boss and everyone at work and shout it from the rooftop."
If I tell something to a colleague of mine in privacy I'm sure as hell not going to put it in an email, which I understand perfectly well is NOT private at pretty much any employer, including universities and governments.

"I believe my employer should not be able to wiretap my phone even though I may say something on the phone that is related to work."
It's fine that you believe this - what are you going to do about them actually doing so?

"I also think that Obama should not post all the details of his security on line in the name of government transparency."
What makes you think the details he's posting have anything to do with what they are really doing?

In general, I agree with your sentiments completely. Where I differ is that I think they need to be enforced equally across the board, not just where they expose criminal malfeasance.

[kestrel91316]

9. me

[canetoad]

10. Yep. Definitely support Wikileaks

I'd like to think that the very presence of Wikileaks is a step in cleaning up corruption, self-interest and cronyism in government.

[peace frog]

11. Sign me up

Good on 'em.

[Arctic Dave]

12. 100%

[tekisui]

13. Absolutely!

[Octafish]

14. Kick for Truth.

bobthedrummer knows of what he speaks.

[EFerrari]

15. Jeremy Scahill told a story on Amy's show this week.

He was working on a piece about our Special Forces being in Pakistan. The Pentagon found out and called him and threatened him not to publish it. He doesn't know how they got his cell number. And of course, they said it wasn't true. There's a clip of Pentagon spokesman Gregg Morrell saying that the story was false and conspiratorial.

Of course, the story was confirmed in the last Wikileaks release.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/2/covert_us_war_in_pakistan_confirmed

Hell yes, I support Wikileaks.

[sabrina 1]

18. Excellent. These leaks have confirmed many things people

were smeared for saying. I did not know about that. But then I would always take Jeremy Scahill's word over this government any day. It's sad, but they have really no credibility.

You should make that story an OP. The more people see how they lie, the better informed and questioning they will be. So many people just accept without question, what governments tell them. And that is how they get away with what they do.

I fully support Wikileaks and Julian Assange.

[glitch]

24. Whenever someone spouts "conspiracy theorist" I know they're either willfully ignorant

or very young (no offense to the young, who are new to the journey).

[saras]

96. Indeed

Anyone who thinks that Al-Qaeda really exists is a conspiracy theorist. Anyone who thinks the CIA has ever done anything illegal is a conspiracy theorist. Anyone who even knows about the existence of the NSA is a conspiracy theorist. Anyone who thinks that government officials gave documents to Wikileaks is a conspiracy theorist. Anyone who thinks the Soviet Union ever had spies in the USA is a conspiracy theorist. Anyone who thinks Guy Fawkes was a real person is a conspiracy theorist.

It all depends on the verifiability of your theories, and the data available to support them.

Other than that, "conspiracy theorist" seems to be a smear term with about the same emotional weight as "ni***r-lover". The only concrete meaning it has is that it refers to someone who, for whatever reason, questions some part of the mythology erected for us by the corporate media (oops - used that bad word 'corporate', therefore I must be a wacky conspiracy theorist).

[glitch]

97. Yeah. Anything other than corporate media spin gets labeled regardless of the research.

Wacky, goofy, nutty. All standard and well-worn qualifiers, smugly spoken as if somehow now they're new and clever.

I do think they're going to have to come up with a new one though, "conspiracy theorist" has whiskers on it. The label has done a most excellent and "patriotic" job, but it's so exhausted, it deserves to be retired.

[glitch]

22. Let that be a lesson: If they're throwing "conspiratorial" at you, you're on the right track.

At least their lies are transparent. :evilgrin:

[Hissyspit]

26. I never did get around to doing a post on that. Can you do an OP?

Actually, might be good idea to do it on Monday for more eyes.

[EFerrari]

29. Sure. Monday it is, then.

Maybe the most difficult part of this week has been watching the clips of the admin spokes people lying their @sses off juxtaposed to the cables that reveal the truth of so many different situations. That's a coffee table book right there. :(

[jotsy]

16. Supportive and grateful, tyvm.

I take note of how the danger for this man has escalated in the wake of his revelation about the financial services industry being the meat of the next release. I don't see a lot of the questions I'd like answers to even being asked. That ain't unusual.

RECOMMENDED.

[nenagh]

17. On RawStory..

cable reveals US Contractor bought Afghan policemen drugs, little boys...

Sunlight.. disinfectant... go Wikileaks..

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. The truth can be uncomfortable - it can even be dangerous.

But it always has one thing going for it - it's the TRUTH.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. I support the right of the people to know what their employees are doing. Call it democracy.

[Kaleko]

23. Wikileaks gives major whistleblowers an international platform.

I wholeheartedly support whistleblowers everywhere to come forward and start changing the balance of power.

[newfie11]

25. YEP!

[Odin2005]

27. Me!!!

Secrecy is Fascist.

[Hissyspit]

28. Why do we have to leave Mr. Assange out of consideration?

I mean, we can, but why do we have to?

WikiLeaks is not just Assange. Assange has not been convicted of shit. Any comments on him personally are just ad hominem argument, best I can see.

Until given reason otherwise, persons supporting WikiLeaks probably should be supporting Assange, too.

[bobthedrummer]

41. In this small person's mind it is to promote the action over personality, because of our right to

know waht has been kept from us-and, yes, Mr. Assange has been attacked in many ways, but this is not about personality at all. I know you get it, as do so many others here Hissyspit.

Thanks for asking.

[pacalo]

30. I'm supportive not only of what WkiLeaks is doing, but of Assange as well.

Without considering Assange, there would be no WkiLeaks. We all travel down different roads in life to make us the way we are, & Mr. Assange's road has shaped him to be the one who dared to give us the truth.

[bemildred]

31. Present. nt

[Solly Mack]

32. I'm anti-torture and pro-prosecution of war criminals. Bring on the sun.

[AndrewP]

33. +1

[Laelth]

35. I am. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. n/t

-Laelth

[KoKo]

36. I was skeptical at first...but I'm fully on board. He is revealing the rot of SECRECY/ Government

He is getting out there what has been going on that many of us have pieced together from sporadic reporting from Indy Reporters and websites that were almost banned for trying to piece together information.

After the Patrick Fitzgerald thing. FITZMAS! FITZMAS! I got turned off to hero worship. Whatever Assange is or who is empowering him doesn't seem (at least a this point) to be part of the EVIL EMPIRE.

It almost seems as if he has someone or some group who is really trying to change what's been going on.
I'm not so altruistic that I don't think there's "another agenda" there...but so far...cautiously, what WikiLeaks is doing is verifying what was put together with hard work like a puzzle for decades by folks who had no power. The amount of squealing and carrying on by the likes of Lieberman lead me to believe that some of the TPTB are getting very upset.

Much of the way it's being done is pretty theatrical with Assange and his mystery and "TPTB" fighting back...and that might be worrysome...but most investigative reporters or groups that have tried to do anything since Daniel Ellsberg managed to expose the Pentagon...have gone fallow. REAL Investigative reporters were either smeared into oblivion with all kinds of accusations against them...or they were "suicided" in mysterious circumstances that were never fully investigated. So, in my thinking, Assange and whoever his "allies are" know that to be theatrical and mysterious is the way to get attention from the "Dancing with Stars and Jersey Shore" crowd mentality...but also to give a boost to we folks who've been onto what's been going on but never have been able to get anything out there that would stick or get Media Attention.

Interesting this comes out when the Valerie Plame Story is airing in theaters, too. It's almost like a "tie in" the way the rest of the Media does things with Marketing these days.

[cindyperry2009]

87. me

[Uncle Joe]

37. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, bobthedrummer.

[bluesmail]

38. +

:hi: back to you.

[strawberryfield]

39. What if it was your report that got outed

I keep thinking about this. Just imagine that you are a low level state department official assigned to some foreign embassy. Part of your job is to assess the situation in your host country. That involves developing all sorts of personal relationships and writing reports about what you learn. Suddenly, that little report that you sent up the chain about the Interior Minister being a drunk is out in public and your name is on it. All of your sources have been compromised and your career is in the toilet. What is worse is that the next guy that gets your job will be essentially paralyzed from doing anything useful.

[bobthedrummer]

42. So what-this is about the truth, not ego's or any thing else. It has happened to all of us in some

form anyway imho strawberry field.

[defendandprotect]

74. From the highest perspective, this is about our nation's future and freedom ....

democracy --

overturning government corruption and crimes.

[snagglepuss]

91. Pick up a copy of Legacy of Ashes which won the National Book Award.

Tim Werner exposes 60 years of out-of-control bungling in the CIA. The endless, across the board jaw dropping incompetence happened because anything negative got swept under the ruug and people who were and are clearly incmpetent remained in place doing further harm. This level of incompetence was seen recently with the bungling with the Underwear Bomber. The problem is that incompetents are NOT being given the boot so your worries are groundless. The people who are fired are those who rock the boat.

[malaise]

40. Yup

Democracy is about transparency. Since our governments continue to lie to us, I say give thanks for WikiLeaks.

[EFerrari]

43. I Read Wikileaks

FB page:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_108479639225239

Declaration at petition site:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/i-read-wikileaks/

:hi:

[pmorlan1]

78. Petition site

I signed this the other day and when I clicked to sign it said I was #11 but when I looked at it today it shows someone else listed as #11 and my name was nowhere to be seen in the petition list. My info, however, did appear on the right hand side of the screen where I'd completed it. Very strange.

[eilen]

44. We should have thousands of Wikileaks across our nation.

Why make one organization carry all the weight of the truth? Keep the government, the banks, the police, the courts, the churches, the schools, the corporations honest.

After all, we fund them.

[Left coast liberal]

45. Hell yes. He has to be one of the bravest people out there.

I hope he can keep hidden because I have a real bad feeling for his long term survival.

I hope I am wrong.

[Better Believe It]

46. K & R

[krabigirl]

47. I am, especially the whistle-blowing stuff. The video from Iraq for example.

The cables haven't been too interesting yet, but I do think things need to be blown open. I am really looking forward to the bank leaks.

I like Assange too..the interviews with him are entertaining.

[Desertrose]

49. Totally! K&R

:hi:Bob

[barbtries]

50. i do

:hi:

[donheld]

51. I am

:toast:

[MrMickeysMom]

52. b the d... look at me!

K&R drumroll

:hi:

[backscatter712]

53. Assange is a fucking hero!

He's risking the McCarthyist character assassination machine (and potentially literal assassination) to make sure the world sees the fucking truth!

[tavalon]

54. Absolutely!

And even more so, it needs to be about their work, not Assange.

[Catherina]

55. Most definitely. Absolutely. n/t

[Lugnut]

56. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.. n/t

[OnyxCollie]

57. Here.

K&R.

[leveymg]

58. Me? You have to ask?

Too bad it isn't the really good stuff with T/S that deals with the frauds and murders of 9/11 and the buildup to the Iraq War.

[tomp]

59. yep.

totally support the exposure of government corruption, and THAT is what govt secrets are 99.9% about.

[Pharaoh]

60. totally!

[sendero]

61. Double plus ..

.... he's got the bastards worried and they should be.

Notice how everything ratcheted up big time when he mentioned he was going to leak some bank info?

War and diplomacy are one thing but they are REALLY SCARED at what will happen when Americans start figuring out how bad we've been screwed by the Fed/Big banks.

[DemReadingDU]

80. It's all about the Fed/Big banks

Wikileaks must be getting close to leaking info about the banks for all the noise about Assange nowadays.

[Lucian]

62. I support WikiLeaks 100%.

[spanone]

63. sunlight is a good thing in the corners of politics

[Darth_Kitten]

64. I am..........

nothing wrong with the truth revealing itself. ;)

[Celtic Raven]

65. Here

I support both Assange & WikiLeaks.

[Waiting For Everyman]

66. Yup.

[Dinger]

67. I Am

I fear for his safety though.

[Catherina]

68. Rec'd last night, checking in n/t

[xiamiam]

69. one million percent..nt

[hulka38]

70. Yes. n/t

[defendandprotect]

71. Wikileaks website .... HERE ...

http://wikileaks.ch/support.html

with info on donating if anyone wishes to do so --

[defendandprotect]

72. I am -- and just donated to Wikileaks --

http://wikileaks.ch/support.html

[lonestarnot]

73. The only question I have is why SHOULDN'T we know?

[pmorlan1]

75. Totally Supportive

I'm totally supportive of what they do. Our government wants to call everything a secret because they don't want us knowing what they are doing. In a democracy it's very dangerous to have an ignorant citizenry. We no longer have a press that functions as it should. Our corporate journalists are more interested in being buddies with the people they cover than uncovering stories the American people need to know. They are not remotely serving the people's interests and Wikileaks may help to change that.

[tpsbmam]

76. There have been lots of well thought out threads where people have indicated their

support. Sorry, but I hate these check-in/rec me threads with zero substance added. Unrec.

[WillyT]

77. Yep... K & R !!!

:applause::applause::applause:

:kick:

[gmudem]

79. Absolutely

I don't see how a citizen could oppose them. How can we call this country a democracy if our govt is participating in all kinds of things we aren't supposed to know about? I want to know how our hundreds of billions of dollars are being spent on these wars and I'm glad wikileaks is doing something about it.

I don't understand how Americans can oppose this guy, do they really not see that our government lies to us every day all the time? How could you not want to know the truth?

[NorthCarolina]

81. I am absolutely supportive of WikiLeaks. The MSM isn't up to the task. nt

[Greybnk48]

83. 100% n/t

[caseymoz]

84. Even leaving Assange in consideration . . . nt

[avaistheone1]

85. I like what wikileaks and Assange is doing.

[JDPriestly]

86. K&R

[gateley]

88. Me! I realized I'd become accepting of "that's how it's played". nt

[snagglepuss]

89. Absolutely. nt

[Mosaic]

92. Of course

Only the brainwashed morons who don't even know what democracy means anymore don't.

[saras]

93. Absolutely

I think the main problems with Wikileaks have to do with the arrogance and inflexibility that always come along with being a monopoly.

There's nothing wrong with Wikileaks that couldn't be cured by some good honest competition.

So, below Wikileaks, what are your top five sources of censored information?

[Vidar]

94. With all my heart!

[bobthedrummer]

98. It's a privilege to be in such good company, who else is with US?

:patriot:

[bobthedrummer]

99. Who else is with US? n/t

[lightningandsnow]

100. I do!

As someone who has been harmed by a person in the activist community (my emotionally abusive ex-partner), I have issues with how Mr. Assange's alleged victims are being talked about. However, I cannot discount the good work that WikiLeaks does.