Alaska's Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Click on the URL just below
to see it. -Ed
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26710.htm
"Why is Assange still alive?"
The Wretched Mind of the American Authoritarian
By Glenn Greenwald
October 30, 2010 "Salon" -- Decadent governments often spawn a decadent
citizenry. A 22-year-old Nebraska resident was arrested yesterday for
waterboarding his girlfriend as she was tied to a couch, because he wanted
to know if she was cheating on him with another man; I wonder where he
learned that? There are less dramatic though no less nauseating examples of
this dynamic. In The Chicago Tribune today, there is an Op-Ed from Jonah
Goldberg -- the supreme, living embodiment of a cowardly war cheerleader --
headlined: "Why is Assange still alive?" It begins this way:
I'd like to ask a simple question: Why isn't Julian Assange dead? . . .
WikiLeaks is easily among the most significant and well-publicized breaches
of American national security since the Rosenbergs gave the Soviets the
bomb. . . .
So again, I ask: Why wasn't Assange garroted in his hotel room years ago?
It's a serious question.
He ultimately concludes that "it wouldn't do any good to kill him, given the
nature of the Web" -- whatever that means -- and reluctantly acknowledges:
"That's fine. And it's the law. I don't expect the U.S. government to kill
Assange, but I do expect them to try to stop him." What he wants the
Government to do to "stop" Assange is left unsaid -- tough-guy neocons love
to beat their chest and demand action without having the courage to specify
what they mean -- but his question ("Why isn't Julian Assange dead?") was
published in multiple newspapers around the country today.
Christian Whiton, a former Bush State Department official, wasn't as
restrained in his Fox News column last week, writing:
Rather, this [the WikiLeaks disclosure] is an act of political warfare
against the United States. . . . .Here are some of the things the U.S. could
do: . . .Explore opportunities for the president to designate WikiLeaks and
its officers as enemy combatants, paving the way for non-judicial actions
against them.
I emailed Whiton and told him I'd like to do a podcast interview with him
for Salon about his WikiLeaks proposal and he replied: "Thank you for the
invitation, but I am starting a trip tomorrow and will be on a plane just
about all day." I replied that it didn't have to be the next day -- I'd be
happy to do it any day that was convenient for him -- and he then stopped
answering. As I said, the real objective is for them to beat their chest in
public and show everyone how tough they are -- take 'em out, Whiton
roared -- but they then scamper away when called upon to be specific about
what they mean or to defend it (let alone to participate in the violence
they relentlessly urge). Whiton was just echoing his fellow war
cheerleader, torture advocate Marc Thiessen, who wrote this in The
Washington Post, under the headline "WikiLeaks Must be Stopped"
The government has a wide range of options for dealing with him. It can
employ not only law enforcement but also intelligence and military assets to
bring Assange to justice and put his criminal syndicate out of business.
"Military assets": apparently, according to this brave and battle-tested
warrior -- Marc Thiessen -- the U.S. can and should just send a drone over
London or Stockholm and eradicate Assange, or just send some ground troops
into Western Europe to abduct him.
Speaking of war cheerleaders, The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg today points
to an Editorial by The New York Sun's Seth Lipsky which fantasizes -- as
Goldberg puts it -- that "Lincoln, and FDR as well, would have pretty much
tried to hang the Wikileaks founder for treason." Apparently, the fact that
Assange is not and never was an American citizen is no bar to hanging him
for "treason": when you wallow in self-centered, self-absorbed imperial
exceptionalism, everyone on the planet has the overarching duty of loyalty
to your own government, and you think everyone is under the auspices of
American rule.
There are multiple common threads here: the cavalier call for people's
deaths, the demand for ultimate punishments without a shred of due process,
the belief that the U.S. is entitled to do whatever it wants anywhere in the
world without the slightest constraints, a wholesale rejection of basic
Western liberties such as due process and a free press, the desire for the
President to act as unconstrained monarch, and a bloodthirsty frenzy that
has led all of them to cheerlead for brutal, criminal wars of aggression for
a full decade without getting anywhere near the violence they cheer on, etc.
But that's to be expected. We lived for eight years under a President who
essentially asserted all of those powers and more, and now have a one who
has embraced most of them and added some new ones, including the right to
order even American citizens, far from any battlefield, assassinated without
a shred of due process. Given that, it would be irrational to expect a
citizenry other than the one that is being molded with this mentality.
* * * * *
One of the most progressive ads of the election cycle comes -- ironically,
sadly, and revealingly enough -- from Alaska's GOP incumbent Sen. Lisa
Murkowski, against GOP nominee and tea party candidate Joe Miller:
***
----- Original Message -----
From: jackie goldberg
To: Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2010 11:18 AM
Subject: Close races--Very important contests for our State
My buddy Parke Skelton sent this along. Remember to get other people to the
polls and to get there yourself.
The insurance companies are pouring in dough to elect a "good friend of
theirs" over Dave Jones (Insurance Commissioner),
with whom I served. Dave is great! and needs your support. Insurance
Commissioner is a critical position in California State government, as is
Attorney General of the State.
Kamala Harris, for Attorney General is in a dead heat with that "I love the
death penalty" guy Steve Cooley from L.A. County.
And finally, Gavin Newsom (Attorney General) is in a very, very close race
with the cute, friendly and VERY CONSERVATIVE Abel Maldonado.
Tell everyone, these races matter too. Thanks to all of you for doing your
part, now and again on Tuesday.
--Jackie
- - -
Hey, Jackie
We need to stop the Insurance Companies from buying the Insurance
Commissioner. We are trying to get this out to as many people in CA as
possible over the next couple of days.
The big insurance companies are spending millions to buy the office of
Insurance Commisisoner and defeat a strong consumer champion Dave Jones..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pFZBNyqp5c
Can you forward to everyone you know? And ask them to do the same?
Thanks
Parke
P.S. No office, with the possible exception of Governor, will have more
impact on the day to day lives of Californians than Insurance Commissioner.
Especially as the state begins implementing national health reform.
--
ParkeSkelton
SG&A Campaigns
600 Playhouse Alley #504
Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 535-9616
***
----- Original Message -----
From: Marcy Winograd
To: pdla@svpal.org
Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2010 5:58 AM
Subject: [PDLA] GOTV Offices in LA - Where to Volunteer Before Tues., Nov.
2, Election Day
Please do what you can to get out the vote beforeTuesday. We need to
establish majority rule in Sacramento, protect our air, land, and water, and
make the corporations pay. Volunteer at an HQ in LA. The Newsom and Boxer
campaigns need volunteers. If we elect Newsom Lt. Gov., he will chair the
State Lands Commission, a little-known but powerful body that has the power
to stop new offshore and onshore oil drilling. Thank you for your energy
and activism, Marcy Winograd
LOS ANGELES COUNTY
CDP VOTE 2010 West LA
3916 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 391-8232
Hours: 10am - 9pm every day
(RE-elect Senator Boxer Campaign HQ here, too.)
Gavin Newsom for Lieutenant Governor
1801 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 720
Los Angeles, CA 90067-5901
8AM to 8PM
Office Telephone: 323-331-1881
Kamala Harris Campaign Office - LA HQ
5442 Crenshaw Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
volunteer coordinator Alida Garcia - alida@kamalaharris.org
NO on Prop 23 (Keep caps on greenhouse gas emissions.)
2202 Main Street
Santa Monica, CA 90405
volunteer coordinator - Alex Epstein (310) 591-7421
7374 Beverly Blvd.
LA, CA 90036
volunteer coordinator - Bryce Carter (310) 591-7270
CDP VOTE 2010 Mid LA
2240 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018
(323) 735-6703 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (323) 735-6703
end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Hours: 10am - 9pm every day
Democratic Party of San Fernando Valley (DPSFV)
7221 Van Nuys Blvd., Unit B-2, Los Angeles, CA 91405
(818) 995-DEMS (3367)
Hours: Mon-Fri: 2pm - 8pm | Sat: 10am - 6pm
CDP VOTE 2010 East LA
4530 East Cesar Chavez Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90022
(323) 415-8021,
Hours: 10am - 9pm every day
Southbay CDP Democratic Headquarters
603D East University Drive,
Carson, CA 90745
The corner of Avalon Blvd and University Dr.
Email DEMWIN2010@att.net or
Telephone 310-421-VOTE for more information
Democratic Headquarters
1311 Sartori Ave.
Torrance, CA 90501
10AM-9PM
CDP VOTE 2010 San Gabriel Valley/La Puente
15330 Amar Rd. Suite B, La Puente, CA 91744
(626) 968-0800 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (626) 968-0800
end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Hours: 10am - 9pm every day
United Democratic HQ Pasadena
260 S. Lake Ave., Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 449-2008 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (626) 449-2008
end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Hours: Mon-Thur: 10am - 8:30pm | Fri: 10am - 8pm
Sat: 9am - 5pm | Sun: 12pm - 8:30pm
La Puente Satellite - Whittier
12200 E. Washington Blvd. Suite D, Whittier, CA 90606
(562) 965-9175 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (562) 965-9175
end_of_the_skype_highlighting
GOTV Hours: Sat/Sun: Noon - 12pm
La Puente Satellite - Baldwin Park
14180 Live Oak Ave., Suite F, Baldwin Park, CA 91706
(626) 480-8086 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (626) 480-8086
end_of_the_skype_highlighting
GOTV Hours: Sat/Sun: Noon - 3pm
La Puente Satellite - Claremont
520 W. First Street, Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 263-1773 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (909) 263-1773
end_of_the_skype_highlighting
GOTV Hours: Sat/Sun: 3pm - 8pm
OFA SoCal Headquarters (Culver City, CA)
6700 Centinela Ave.
Culver City, CA 90230
9AM-9PM
## ##
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