The Progressive: Wikileaks and the Reactionary Impulse to Repress

[Better Believe It]

Wikileaks and the Reactionary Impulse to Repress
By Matthew Rothschild
Editor of The Progressive
November 30, 2010

The single biggest Wikileaks revelation is not that the Saudis are still funding Al Qaeda, or that Hillary Clinton ordered the State Department to spy on foreign diplomats and the U.N., or that many Arab countries favor an attack on Iran.

No, the real eye-opener is the reactionary impulse of people in power to repress those who disseminate information.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the disclosure “not just an attack on America’s foreign policy interests. It is an attack on the international community.”

Rep. Peter King echoed her comments, saying, “This is worse even than a physical attack on Americans, it’s worse than a military attack.”

.... Sen. Joe Lieberman said the Wikileaks staff had “blood on their hands.”

Lieberman, Clinton, and King are trying to convict Wikileaks with guilt by hyperbole.

Fundamentally, in a democracy, we, as citizens, deserve to know what our government is up to. The State Department is not the preserve of the Mandarins, and we are not peasants to be kept in the dark.

We are not treated as citizens. We are treated as subjects of a ruling elite. This elite gets to decide what we are told and what we are not told. And we’re just supposed to grin and bear it.

But a democracy shouldn’t be afraid of information and public knowledge.

The more, the better, as far as I’m concerned.

It’s no sin, to let us, as citizens, in on things for a change.

Actually, it’s kind of refreshing.

Please read the full article at:

http://www.progressive.org/wx1130b10.html

[stray cat]

1. If all leaks are good why didn't we defend Cheney? Should we post security for Obama as well?

[Better Believe It]

2. Are you making reference to the outing of a CIA spy?

What does that have to do with the government documents released by WikiLeaks?

By the way, I'd like the identities of ALL secret government agents (FBI, CIA, NSA) spying on the legal activities of domestic dissidents and progressives in violation of our Bill of Rights revealed.

How about you?