Julian Assange is that Chinese kid standiing in front of the tank..

[ddeclue]

Only this time the tank is being driven by the U.S.A.

[villager]

1. yet isn't it shocking how much "pro-tank" sentiment there is on DU?

Even... on this thread?

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. It is indeed. We know why the general public might be "pro-tank":

The garbage-in, garbage out effect of our corporate mi$information monolith.

But why people who fancy themselves progressives would think that way is beyond me.

[Kaleva]

2. Nobody seems to know what became of 'tank man'.

[stray cat]

3. No - he isn't.

he is anonymous and faced what appeared likely to be certain death - without a place to go like Sweden. He is likely died for his act of courage

[Avalux]

4. Not the same, but I understand what you're trying to say. n/t

[dave29]

5. Oh my god, he so is not.

Not even remotely. An argument can be made that wikileaks is a good thing, but Assange as "Tank Guy" ... I don't think so.

[Alameda]

14. Actually, it's not that far off. Look at all the calls for his death....

and from our free and democratic leaders no less.

[Occam Bandage]

22. Bloviation from the infotainment industry is not exactly the same

as a tank with live ammunition bearing down on you, as machine-gun fire echoes through the streets.

[Smarmie Doofus]

6. Apt comparison. n/t

[baldguy]

8. That student was a criminal, too.

[Peace Patriot]

9. I agree! And Assange has not been charged with ANY crime. WHAT is he doing in prison?

The hypocrisy of the U.S. and British governments (and lackey Sweden's) has reached epic proportions. So has Australia's. There is no such thing as freedom of speech and freedom of the press any more in these countries. It is gone! Citizenship in these countries doesn't even entitle you, any longer, to the basic human right against arbitrary seizure and detention. That is gone! Your government will not protect you, and it will turn you over to another government for its own arbitrary reasons. It's not "terrorists" any more. It's not Arabs or other Islamics who are "suspected" of a crime or have committed no crime whatsoever, who can be seized, deprived of all rights, rendered to another country for torture or tortured by this one in secret dungeons, and even killed, never having stood trial in any court. It's ANYBODY who offends the Corporate State for any reason at all. This is a "lesson" to EVERYBODY. Don't annoy Big Brother!

This is so awful I can hardly find words for it. And the worst of it is, I know that our leaders here in the U.S. are completely immune from accountability, with the last nail having been driven into our democracy with the 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines. We have no power. And until we get rid of those 'TRADE SECRET' voting machines, we cannot even begin to recover our sovereignty as a people, which largely resides in the counting of our votes--let alone initiate serious reform. We have a long and difficult road ahead to restore just the very basics of democracy. All I can say is...

:grouphug:

[jeanpalmer]

15. In the US you can't be jailed

umless there's probable cause to believe you committed a crime. You cant even be arrested. In Sweden apparently they can put you in jail if the authorities want to question you. What a cesspool of a judicial system.

[cherokeeprogressive]

10. Um, no. n/t

[LittleBlue]

11. Spot on. The sheeple will continue to bleat

about n-naaa-naaa-aaational security.

[Phx_Dem]

12. Was that guy an accused rapist too? n/t

[LittleBlue]

13. The government found a crime for Tank Man too. n/t

[Smarmie Doofus]

17. Maybe. Do you doubt the Beijing gov'ts ability to make that happen? n/t

[Occam Bandage]

21. They wouldn't have to. They don't require a pretext. nt

[Smarmie Doofus]

24. Does that, if true, make our gov't wonderful?

Faultless?

Benevolent?



Where's your logic?

[Occam Bandage]

25. Did I at any point suggest our government was faultless or benevolent?

The fact of the matter is that the United Kingdom and the United States are both countries where the government is constrained by law. It is true that in both, there are forces within the government that are constantly straining, stretching, circumventing, and occasionally breaking the law. What that amounts to saying is that rule of law is, in the US and UK, an imperfect check on government power.

However, in China, there is absolutely no check on government power. Beijing has the effective ability to murder and incarcerate its citizens at will, with neither free press nor free courts acting as a bulwark against tyranny.

It is true that the existence of worse systems of government than our own does not excuse us. That fact, however, does not mean that comparisons to China are valid.

[jeanpalmer]

16. Yes he is

Looks like Obama is going to try to extradite him. Can't prosecute war criminals, but can persecute a whistleblower. I'm not surprised.

[LAGC]

18. He's not even a fucking whistleblower!

He's simply an independent journalist who forwarded on information that was given to him BY whistleblowers!

If they succeed in extraditing Assange to the U.S., its time for a revolution in this country.

[zulchzulu]

19. As I've said before, if we had a REAL news media, a WikiLeaks would be redundant n/t

[Occam Bandage]

20. No. Not close.

Wikileaks is probably, on the balance of things, a good idea. Julian Assange, who at this point is no longer necessary for WikiLeaks to function, is being held on dubious sexual assault charges. He has put himself at risk of considerable inconvenience in the service of frustrating diplomats across the world.

"Tank man" put himself at risk of immediate death in order to allow pro-democracy protesters to escape, preventing them from being gunned down.

[Soylent Brice]

23. i nominate this for post of the year.

K&R

Absolutely perfect.

[jefferson_dem]

26. Bite your tongue.

What a fucking disgraceful analogy you have presented - on both sides of the equation.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

27. Oh my god...

:puke: