Great to see that so far at least Wikileaks is surviving on Facebook. To date there are over 906,000 friends. What is amazing is that late last night there were only about 815,000, so in less than 24 hours they have added close to 100,000!!!
Update - as at 8pm Eastern - now up to 921,500 - or about 5,000 an hour!!!
Kudos to Greenwald who again is one of the few out there standing up for freedom and not succumbing to the fear and hate mongering that is widespread in the media.
Greenwald's column does a great job of detailing the widespread campaign against Wikileaks, a organization that has NOT been charged with a crime. This really is like the Wild West.
The lawless Wild West attacks WikiLeaks
But that sort of legal scheming isn't even necessary. The U.S. and its "friends" in the Western and business worlds are more than able and happy to severely punish anyone they want without the slightest basis in "law." That's what the lawless, Wild Western World is: political leaders punishing whomever they want without any limits, certainly without regard to bothersome concepts of "law." Anyone who doubts that should just look at what has been done to Wikileaks and Assange over the last week. In this series of events, there are indeed genuine and pernicious threats to basic freedom and security; they most assuredly aren't coming from WikiLeaks or Julian Assange.
People often have a hard time believing that the terms "authoritarian" and "tyranny" apply to their own government, but that's because those who meekly stay in line and remain unthreatening are never targeted by such forces. The face of authoritarianism and tyranny reveals itself with how it responds to those who meaningfully dissent from and effectively challenge its authority: do they act within the law or solely through the use of unconstrained force?
Its time to stand against this kind of Wild West mentality (even if you don't stand with Wikileaks).
This is the same mentality that led to the illegal "preemptive" War in Iraq.
This is the same mentality that led to torture by US forces in Iraq and elsewhere.
This is the same mentality behind Guantanamo.
This is the same mentality that allows rendition.
This is the same mentality that allows for collateral damage on assassinations (without trial) in independent countries.
This is the same mentality that okays public groping in the interests of "security".
At some point enough is enough. It is great to see the flood of support on Facebook and the hundreds of mirror sites that have been set up help keep alive the Wikileaks site.
Maybe there is hope (unless Lieberman decides to go after Facebook too) in how the young seem to inherently know that this is a new world, a world where secrets are harder to keep (an electronic secret must now be seen as an oxymoron), and where transparency will take on a new meaning. The old guard will not go easily, they never do, but the continuing evolution of technology is on our side.
Finally apparently Julian Assange is set to turn himself in to the police within 24 hours (over allegations that are less serious than what any TSA groper does many times a day). No word on whether this will trigger the release of the rest of the encrypted "protection" files.
Update:
Since this diary is getting a few readers (thanks!) I thought I would add a link to an interview with Assange done a few months ago by TED. It is quite good and provides some additional insights into Wikileaks and their philosophy that seem to be getting drowned out in the current ruckus.
Update 2: In the comments hangingchad posted a link to an editorial by the Editor and chief of Wired. It is definitely worth a read. The article is Why WikiLeaks Is Good for America
The greatest threat we face right now from Wikileaks is not the information it has spilled and may spill in the future, but the reactionary response to it that’s building in the United States that promises to repudiate the rule of law and our free speech traditions, if left unchecked.
A government’s best and only defense against damaging spills is to act justly and fairly. By seeking to quell WikiLeaks, its U.S. political opponents are only priming the pump for more embarrassing revelations down the road.
Update 3. With the surrender to authorities of Assange, we will start to see details of the alleged infractions. To many the infractions seem to be "hyped up". In fact the original prosecutor dismissed the rape charge. Here is one more detailed account of what seems to have transpired. I caution that the account comes from the Daily Mail (not my favorite source) but it does do a pretty good job on the timeline and details of the "events".
The Wikileaks sex files: How two one-night stands sparked a worldwide hunt for Julian Assange