Julian Assange cast as common enemy as US left and right unite

[bemildred]

Source: Guardian.UK

The outcry against Julian Assange is intensifying in the US, drawing a rare degree of political consensus across the spectrum from politicians and pundits who have cast the WikiLeaks founder in the role of a common enemy.

In the past few days the calls for action against Assange have grown steadily louder and more shrill, with leading Republicans labelling him a terrorist and top liberal Democratic politicians, albeit in more moderate language, also calling for his prosecution.

The highly unusual bi-partisanship of the hounding of Assange has led some free speech campaigning groups to warn of a "chilling effect" in which the threats of legal action are already having an impact on the open spirit of the internet.

The most extreme attacks have come from prominent Republicans including Sarah Palin, who has likened Assange to an al-Qaida operative; Mitch McConnell the Republican leader in the Senate who called him a "hi-tech terrorist''; and Newt Gingrich, who dubbed him an information terrorist and said he should be arrested as an "enemy combatant" .

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/08/julian-assange-cast-enemy-us

[Warren Stupidity]

1. liberal != left

or in other words, there is effectively no "US left" in national politics, other than Bernie Sanders, Dennis Kucinich, and a handful of others.

[MisterP]

2. well, "US CENTER and right unite"

the conflation of the two parties with left and right is disastrous

all the ones they named are Establishment shills (Kerry, NYT, Apple-on-a-Stick-Head Gates) or conservaDems (Liebermush, Feinstein, Clinton, Chiquita Holder)

[bloomington-lib]

3. From what I understand, he didn't steal this information

Someone from OUR govt gave it too him. Maybe that guy could be labeled something, but as far as I'm concerned, he's just reporting what he has learned. He should probably reveal something a little more neutral next, like the banking information. I'm guessing it would divert attention, focusing everyone toward the corruption of the financial industry.

[stray cat]

4. AND A HERO TO DU!

or so it seems

[villager]

5. well, there are still people on the *actual* left who post here...

n/t

[sabrina 1]

28. He is a hero to most of the world. Try looking outside the U.S.

And the Guardian is wrong. It is only ELECTED so-called liberals, like Joe Lieberman, who are calling him a criminal. I certainly do not want to be viewed as part of a cabal of miscreants like Sarah Palin and Joe Lieberman, Mitch McConnell and the host of rabid freepers who are calling for his assassination and the killing of his family. All for being the editor and publisher of an award winning International News Organization, do you?

I would like the Guardian to correct that story. I am on the side of real liberals, like Daniel Elsberg, Noami Wolf, John Pilger and proud to say I defend the 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and free press as a necessity for any democracy to survive. Something this country has not had for a long, long time.

[ipaint]

6. The elite, the wealthy left and wealthy right, unite to defend the criminal status quo.

What else is new?

[katty]

8. precisely

[StarsInHerHair]

7. don't u mean U.S. Right & Other Right?

there isn't a Left in this country, not in power, just individuals.

[UpInArms]

9. Palin, McConnell and Gingrich = left??????

:puke:

and STFU!

free speech = free speech

not just free for what blathering politicians want

bleh...

[Matariki]

10. What a common tactic. Tell the People what "they" think.

Fucking liars.

[TNLib]

11. I think the Guardian has it wrong it should be the Corporatist Unite as they have always done

nt

[Violet_Crumble]

12. I don't think that degree of political consensus in the US is rare at all...

There's actually quite a few issues where there's very little to distinguish the 'left' from the 'right' in the US. The 'left' will word themselves differently and be less blunt than the 'right', but they end up coming to the same conclusions about quite a few issues....

I'm particularly impressed with Hillary Clinton's skillful juggling. From the article: 'The secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, has played a double game, threatening to take "aggressive steps" against disseminators of the cables while emphasising the positive worth of an open internet.'

Bottom line is Julian Assange is sooo un-American! He should be charged with treason!

[ChumbawambaFan]

23. Bill Maher did a piece about that...on CNN...did you see that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nJ8ehoFLfU
Some funny, some not. Pretty accurate overall I think.

Typical Bill.

[Violet_Crumble]

26. I don't watch CNN, but I just watched it on Youtube...

Thanks for posting it. What he was saying about how the Republicans stake out their claim further and further to the Right and then demand the Democrats meet them in the middle, which is no longer the middle, but on the Right, is so true...

That bit where he said the Republicans would call their health plan 'Drop Dead' was so funny, and so close to the truth...

[Avalux]

13. It's not the US right and left uniting - it's the wealthy.

Once you reach a certain income bracket, you band together if there's a perceived threat to your wealth, regardless of political party.

This article is BS.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. Dianne Feinsteing, Joe Lieberman, and Hillary Clinton are "the American Left"????

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Art_from_Ark]

32. Pretty funny, isn't it?

The left in the US hasn't held the reins of power since January, 1981.

[Creative]

15. There is still more to be learned, but one thing's for sure, many Democrats

think he is a criminal. Diane Feinstein is one of them.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703989004575653280626335258.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_News_BlogsModule

[No Elephants]

16. DiFi? LOL Many "Democrats" voted for the unconstitutional Patriot Act, too.

[Creative]

22. Many Democrats and Republicans vote for a lot of stuff that is unconstitutional.

(Quite a bit of what the fedgov does is unconstitutional)

My point relates to the fact that there is not enough information available to determine whether or not Wikileaks has committed a crime.

One thing's for sure though, no that Assange is in custody, it is only a matter of time before 12 people decide what is and what isn't.

[Greyhound]

24. Takes one to know one...

Not really, JA isn't a criminal.

[Creative]

31. No that the process has begun (arrest), that question can be answered

by those whose opinions actually matter.

[Greyhound]

17. "political consensus across the spectrum from politicians and pundits"

Says it all right there.

A lot of very rich and very powerful people are worried, when you fuck over millions of people for generations and those people find some way to hit back they will. They need us to live, we don't need them at all.
:kick: & R

[No Elephants]

18. "Information terrorist." Newtspeak. Is it 1984 again?

[Amonester]

19. Unrec for an un-informed broad-brushing article from the Guardian

being unable to distinguish between the Professional Left (the supporters of freedom of the press)
and the Professional Losers (torturers' enablers and protectors, and enemies of freedom of the press).

[jeanpalmer]

20. This is one of those moments

when all pretense falls away and we can see these politicians for who they really are.

[EFerrari]

21. Yes. They're rich people protecting their power

and lying about it.

[Ex Lurker]

25. The old order is being swept away. No matter how tenaciously they try to hold on,

they can only delay the outcome. We only dimly perceive the outlines of what may take its place. But change is coming.

[timtom]

29. It's what I'm hoping for.

True progressives always look to an uncertain future in hopes of improving all of mankind.

[TexasObserver]

27. It's a function of the continuing 9-11 hysteria.

The number of Americans irrationally terrified of the 9-11 event is huge. Even among many Democrats who should know better, this quaking in one's boots has replaced rational thought.

[PBS Poll-435]

30. He just needs thicker armor, nt