Our govt. is looking more and more like every other communist dictatorship. They are blocking wikileaks.org and telling citizens and members of our armed services not to read the WL posts.
Where's that "transparent" government we were promised. More and more, everything becomes hidden and shrouded in the veil of national security. Our rights are trampled and we are treated like criminals by the very government and government workers that are supposed to be working FOR us.
If you have to hide the truth from the people you are supposed to be working for, maybe you are doing things you shouldn't be doing.
I said it the other day, and I will say it again. where is that grass roots, individual rights, constitution driven, tea party outrage for this 1st amendment travesty?
I guess they are to busy watching Palins reality show.
I tried posting the other day ... the Day MV was broken all afternoon and then some.
The fact that this soldier who stole the information .. and he did steal it - knowingly, it was not an oops ... no one told me I couldn't download this info and burn it on a CD ... sort of thing. He stole military and confidential secrets .. this is not a trivial - let's get over it point. This information was not gleamed from going though public avenues, on public data that had already been released .. it was secret/confidential.
Should it have been secret and confidential .. well that isn't for me or you to decide - it is up to the people who's jobs are on the line and it is do do this sort of thing.
Did anyone lose their live or botched missions due to these leaks'?? probably not - for the most part they were small things .. gee whiz - like we couldn't have figured out that Saudia supports Al Qaeda or that China has been messing with Google. The very fact that Assagne has decided to publish some things and not others - shows that he has manipulated the list - many 'military' secrets were leaked - so this fellow could play the judge and jury what should be leaked based on his morals. What if he found out that there had been collusion between courts and that Obama was really not a US citizen .. however he was an Obama supporter. I am not inferring this is the case - but I make the point - that Assagne has manipulated the leaks and therefore has manipulated the press and media.
Would it be OK, If 'someone' hacked into your computer - illegally, and downloaded private stuff about you and your family - then leaked it out on the internet? I don't think you or your family and friends would appreciate it very much. Why .. isn't that infringement of that persons 1st amendment if you were to stop them.
At what point is if freedom of speech .. Does the end justify the means ... Aren't these things that this person stole and released shouldn't they be public knowledge. Shoot .. we have a president who promised to have open discussions on bills - transparency .. and he did not do that .. should we be privy to the discussions of visitors to the WH .. he works for us .. doesn't he? Not to single out Obama, but he did run on a platform that he said he'd would be 'transparent'.
This is not such a Black and White issue - there are lot's of areas of gray. I am not a lawyer - nor would I want to be.
I would not have stolen those things from the govt .. I surely would not have leaked them - like I said before .. this leak - the information was stolen - perhaps many of you have no idea of what it means to deal with secret/classified/confidential information - but it is a big deal. Whether it is governmental of private or private industry - this information was not accidentally released - it was stolen.
I do think that there are too many things that are confidential and that the public should be privy to more things that go on 'behind' the scenes. It is sad that this govt and others are playing hardball. It should be a more We the people and that govt works for us and not us working for them .. that the FCC does not decide what goes on the internet .. as they are so busily trying to change at this very moment .. are you outraged over that? Are you outraged that the govt can close down domains so easily .. who actually knew what about he waterboarding .. Again .. does the end justify the means???? ..the list goes on and on.
I am not arguing that this soldier stole classified info, he did, and he should be dealt with accordingly. However, Assange is simply publishing.
Here is my question. If you take a job which advertised as defending freedom and justice, and find out that you are being asked to keep secret the fact that crimes against freedom and justice are being perpetrated, what is the correct course of action? Go to jail for exposing the crime or abet the crime by keeping quite. That is kind of a straw man, but it is how I see the situation.
I am not a lawyer either, but this case seems very similar to the Pentagon Papers and The Times VS. The United States. It is just that no press organization in the USA, Times, Fox or otherwise, has the balls to do this kind of stuff anymore.
Why we should applaud Wikileaks - News Columnist - O'Brien
The proper response to WikiLeaks should be a national conversation about what material should be kept secret -- and to keep that at an absolute minimum.
No one is arguing that there aren't some secrets the government needs to keep. Even WikiLeaks has held back some of the documents it received. But the circle around the stuff that falls into this category should be drawn as small as possible.
We have the First Amendment to insure Freedom of the Press so that they can provide us with the truth. Sadly, the media isn't interested in performing that role anymore, and this Leaks case shows that very clearly.
The Media is too busy with Natalie Hollaway, or Bristol Palin, or Paris Hilton, or whatever to let us know what is going on in our government, in our wars, in our foreign policy and so on.
MacThulhu
Because corporate citizenship is a supercitizenship with greater rights and no responsibilities.