J’accuse Barack Obama of the political persecution of Julian Assange, an innocent man. The President is persecuting Mr. Assange because he cannot prosecute him (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/...
The President is persecuting Mr. Assange in diversion of the real failures of his government. The President is persecuting Mr. Assange because he has disclosed information that confirms that the President is actively preventing the prosecution of former members of the US government complicit in war crime, and furthermore, that his administration is continuing and expanding the policies of the previous administration with respect to the so-called War on Terror, including but not limited to assassinations, undeclared war, torture, imprisonment and the murder of US citizens without due process of the law under the Constitution of the United States.
Mr. Assange is not guilty of espionage. He is not guilty of dealing in stolen property. There is no evidence that he induced any person to breach any law of the United States. There is no evidence that he was ever in possession of any physical property belonging to the United States. There is no evidence that any disclosure that Wikileaks has made exceeded any disclosure committed by the New York Times. Mr. Assange is innocent.
There is no doubt that the President’s administration is mounting an active campaign of political prosecution against Mr. Assange. When a US Secretary of Defense, tasked with overseeing two wars and a multi-billion dollar budget, takes the time out from his busy schedule to comment that it "sounds good to me" regarding Mr. Assange’s current detention; when US Attorney General Eric Holder announces that he is taking "significant steps" involving criminal investigations of Mr. Assange, and further, when he confirms that both the US Justice Department, the Pentagon and the FBI are actively pursuing criminal investigations, it is obvious that a political witch-hunt is on the agenda.
The witch-hunt as a diversion is symptomatic of a fundamental problem that lies at the very core of Barack Obama’s administration: Obama has failed on each and every point of major public policy to advance real change and the interests of the average working American. In fact, he has not only failed to discontinue some of the more odious practices of the former administration, but has as a matter of official policy, continued and expanded many of them. The failures are manifest: no public medicare, tax breaks for the rich, expanded wars, both official and unofficial, Guantanamo, increased secrecy, the list is almost endless. These failures confirm the true ideological orientation of the President and his enablers.
The witch-hunt is also a diversion from the content of the Wikileaks disclosures. Evidence of expanded undeclared warfare abound. Evidence of intimidation and coercion to prevent the investigation of members of the Bush administration for war crimes has emerged. And less than 1% of the material has been disclosed to date. The witch-hunt is intended to shut Mr. Assange and Wikileaks up. It is intended to interfere with his freedom of speech. It is intended to avoid political embarrassment, pure and simple.
The disclosures of Wikileaks promises to bring real change to the political process. The disclosures of Wikileaks promises to expose crimes committed by the US government and its military and to bring those so guilty to justice. By persecuting Mr. Assange, Mr. Obama has fundamentally betrayed the platform upon which he sought election, upon which he obtained our votes. Obama, out of pure intimidation, has sold out to the military, giving them an expanded war, an increased budget, permission to assassinate and torture and imprison, and now, the head of Mr. Assange. Mr. Obama has turned his back on his progressive supporters in the name of political expediency and in furtherance of his one and only concern: re-election.
Let the search begin for a trust-worthy, viable and progressive candidate for the office of President in 2012, with sufficient integrity, sufficient commitment, and with real loyalty to both the average working American citizen, and indeed, the Constitution of the United States.