Hey, you sensible people... Why don't you just can it. Permanently.

[BainsBane]

142. I'm sorry to hear that

but that doesn't change the fact that at least 100 people on this site who claim to be leftists insist Julian Assange should not have to face justice for allegations of sexual assault. They hold him above the rest of humanity, and relegate the victims to less than nothing. My point was about claims of leftism that are not borne out in the positions people take, such as arguing for concierge justice for Assange. There is no challenge to power. It is a complete and utter affirmation of power and the subjugation of the many for the benefit of the few.

The example you site of Petraeus doesn't relate to my point in anyway. If I were to point to inequality in justice for its own sake, I would focus on racism in sentencing, and rape remains a stunning example of that inequality everywhere, including the US. Racism, like violence against women is something that pales in comparison to the hero worship for the few that prevails around here, unless it involves the police or Republicans (the same with rape) because then it serves a purpose other than equal rights for the people of color and women. My point is such sycophantic attitudes toward individuals fly in the face of anything approaching justice or equality. As long as people hold a few above the many, they promote inequality. That does not comport with my conception of leftism. It instead is based around ego, the ego of the great men and of those who can see no space between their own egos and truth.

What I have observed is that many appear to be concerned with people like them, who look, live and think like them, and very little else. They don't seek to do away with inequality. They simply seek to position new characters on the top of an unequal society, hence the obsequious reverence for Assange, whom they imbue with King like status. In a year it could be another individual but the phenomenon would remain the same because that is how their value system works. That is why so much discussion on this site is about individuals rather than issues--Clinton, Greenwald, Assange, Snowden--rather than broader issues endemic to society, as though arguing about the boxes in Snowden's garage means a fucking thing. It illuminates nothing about the national security state or the rights of privacy. It does provide them an excuse to insult others, which increasingly seems to be the point. Hence my comments about us vs. them. One went at my throat when I suggested working together for a constitutional amendment to end the role of money in politics, where others insisted on talking only about particular politicians in response to that point. Challenging power and inequality is not the goal. They merely seek to place new faces at the top and respond with hostility to any ideas that deal with systemic issues rather than reinforce cults of personality. Calling themselves leftist doesn't change what they promote. It is merely an empty label that they use to form their own in-group. They can have it. I've never been a conformist joiner, and I won't start now.