PrintDecember 7, 2010
CableGate's Grand Illusion
Governments around the world want you to believe something utterly fantastic. They want you to believe that the actions of Julian Assange pose a great danger to you and everyone else on the globe.
Hillary Clinton spoke for them all when she said that WikiLeaks disclosures are "not just an attack on America's foreign policy interests, [but] an attack on the international community: the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity."
Nothing could be farther from the truth. Assange's act is not an attack on the peoples of the world. Quite to the contrary, it is an attack on a very narrow group of people. It is an attack on the world's governing elites, because it shows them for what they truly are: liars, hypocrites, schemers, incompetents, egomaniacs, thieves, and murderers.
Please remember that these are the same people who cast themselves as the custodians of public good. These are the same characters who routinely position themselves as paragons of virtue and wisdom. These are the same leaders who demand people's obedience, allegiance, and money.
Assange let the cat out of the bag. This is a good thing. People's eyes need to be opened, because we trust our governments way too much. People should know what their leaders are made of. The WikiLeaks revelations will no doubt come as a shock to those who think that governments are populated by angelic and benevolent public servants who always act in the public interest. The sad state of the world today is to a great degree due to the fact that too many harbor this belief.
Some will argue that it is not not good when people lose trust in their political leaders. This, however, is a misguided objection. It is always dangerous to trust in politicians and give them authority and power, because they almost always use it to oppress, exploit, and destroy.
Take the case of our own country, for example. Here are some of the things that the politicians have done in recent past. By keeping interest rates unduly low in order to improve their reelection prospects, they blew up asset bubbles whose bursts wreaked havoc across the economy. They have broken our national bank and made us the world's largest debtor. By contracting immense debts that cannot be paid and by wantonly printing money, they have destroyed our currency. By excessive regulation and taxation, they have driven jobs away and destroyed this country's manufacturing base. They have ruined our economy, which is now on life support made of debt. When that is taken away, the whole edifice -- such as it is -- will collapse.
More recently, the Obama administration has been engaged in the wholesale and rapid destruction of the U.S. economy and society on a scale never seen before. This administration has been taking away our freedoms, our money, and our jobs. While ordinary people are experiencing considerable hardships, those connected with government thrive and prosper. Is it, then, such a bad thing when their duplicity and incompetence are revealed?
It is the people in the government who pose the greatest danger to your property, liberty, and way of life. And it is these same people who are now trying to deflect attention from themselves to an Australian programmer by telling you that it is he who threatens you.
It is hard to believe that so many are falling for this cynical ploy of the governing class. The focus should not be on Julian Assange. The focus should be on them. Julian Assange will never be able to take away your money or freedoms. He will never subject you to humiliating pat-downs and X-ray scans at airports. They will. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would love to hike up your taxes to fifty percent or more, if they only could. They would love to see government run every aspect of your life, telling you the kind of bicycle you can ride or the type of electric bulb and toilet paper you can use. You have no reason to fear Julian Assange. But you have much reason to fear them.
But wait, they will say -- Assange revealed secrets that will harm our national security. So far, however, there have been no top-secret documents released by WikiLeaks. The vast majority of them were not even classified; they were merely confidential dispatches from embassies around the word. So far, their main impact has been the embarrassment they have caused to this administration and other leaders around the world. Given the kind of people they are, they well deserve it.
But if the cables indeed contained such important secrets, let us ask this: How is it possible that hundreds of thousands of people had access to the government networks on which they were stored? How is it possible that a rank-and-file government employee with a computer and a zip drive could easily download all these "secrets"? Would this not be a colossal indictment of governmental incompetence?
If truth be told, the greatest secret revealed by the WikiLeaks disclosures is that most of world leaders -- including our own -- are a bunch odoriferous characters. Understandably, they would like to keep this information top-secret. But Assange let the truth out, which is why they are after him and why they want to destroy him.
Do not be duped into defending these people. Do not be duped into defending the Obamas, the Clintons, the King Abdullahs, and the Putins of this world. If you focus your anger on Assange, then you are taking their side. They do not deserve your efforts or your time, because they are a menace to you. Did you know that the U.S. government is giving billions of your dollars to Arab states, who then turn around and use part of that money to plant Islamic centers across the United States? You would do well to ask yourself who poses a greater danger to you: Julian Assange or them?
Who is more dangerous to you and your children: Julian Assange or the people who wreaked havoc across our economy and destroyed our currency?
According to Hillary Clinton, Saudi Arabia is the world's greatest sponsor of terrorism, and yet Barack Obama bows to King Abdullah. Officially, Saudi Arabia is our ally. They have bought their ally status with many bribes to American politicians over the years. The Saudis, for instance, have donated untold millions to the Clinton Library. What do you think: Will Hillary Clinton in her role as Secretary of State make decisions that are good for the people of this country, or will she make choices that will benefit her and her husband?
Let's ask again: Who poses a greater danger to you? Selfish, scheming, and power-hungry politicians or a guy with a computer who exposes their evil deeds?
In the effort to save its skin, the administration will keep harping on our patriotic feelings. If you love America, they will imply, you must direct your anger at Julian Assange. Just remember that plucking the patriotic chord is often the last refuge of politicians in trouble. When things get bad, politicians love to rally the populace by sounding the alarm about some foreign threat. This is the oldest trick in the book. This time, that great threat to America is a slightly built Australian bloke who cannot not even grow a beard. This is truly a desperate time for our political class.
Does Barack Obama strike you as a particularly patriotic man? So how in the world did he get us to defend him and his incompetent administration in the name of patriotism? Do you still remember how when they wanted to raise your taxes, Joe Biden claimed that it was a patriotic duty to pay them? Their effort to get out of CableGate under the cover of patriotism is equally preposterous. Do not let them fool you.
Disclosing the truth about a country's politicians by no means constitutes an attack on the country and its people. America is not the same thing as its present administration or government. More than anything, America is the great idea of freedom and liberty. For the better part of the last hundred years, however, the American government has been engaged in the systematic suppression and destruction of this idea. This effort has reached a frenzied pitch under this administration.
The WikiLeaks affair shows the duplicity, the incompetence, and the ugly reality of government here and everywhere. May we wake up and realize that the way to save ourselves is not by silencing Julian Assange, but by taking power away from the governing class that oppresses and preys upon us. To the extent that this fiasco spurs us on this quest, we should be thankful.
