Thursday, December 16, 2010

Holder me Closer

"The American people themselves have been put at risk by these actions [Wikileaks] that are, I believe, arrogant, misguided and ultimately not helpful in any way," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "We have a very serious, active, ongoing investigation that is criminal in nature. I authorized just last week a number of things to be done so that we can hopefully get to the bottom of this and hold people accountable... as they should be."

Pay very close attention to Holder's words here: "ongoing investigation that is criminal in nature." He doesn't say this is an investigation into a crime. He says that this is an investigation that is, itself, criminal. Now, it may be that he didn't mean to say that. It may only mean that Holder was waxing eloquent and went with obvious intent rather than express meaning. But, itt may mean that his Freudian slip is showing.

Consider the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg risked prosecution for treason simply for exposing treasonous actions of former American presidents. With the help of Senator Mike Gravel, the report exposing crimes by Presidents, was revealed in a way that allowed for publicity and shielded criminal liability under the Speech and Debate Clause of the Constitution.

Assange, et al., could not rely on obtaining such protection. We the people can't either. The truth has been hijacked for political expediency and we are being fed a bill of goods intended to shred the bill of rights until it's unrecognizable. The wars we are mongering are not justified by our interests or our laws. The wars we are mongering are not going well for us. Our President is not telling us the truth.

That's information I want. I also want to know that our government officials are using this situation to bully corporations into shutting down his access to speech. The free speech rights in this country are based on the concept of the Lone Pamphleteer, that crusty old curmudgeon standing on the street corner handing out leaflets. If you deny Lone Pamphleteer either the paper, the ink or the street corner, you have wrongfully silenced the Lone Pamphleteer. It is illegal for government officials to wrongly deny a person his or her constitutional rights.

Since Assange is not a U.S. citizen,, does he have the same right? If he committed those acts while in the U.S., yes he would. Is there a magic American boundary where our responsibility to abide by our Constitutional laws and mandates ends? Good question.

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