I do not often blog about current affairs- most things in life need a little reflection before weighing in with more words. But have you been following the strange story of Wikileaks and its charismatic leader Julian Assange? It is one of those stories that might yet come to define something about our time- capturing for those yet to come the spirit of our age…
In a previous post I wondered if wikileaks could be compared to the protest songs of the 1960’s- an internet age focus for counter-cultural critique and social justice. Freedom proclaimed through computer hacking and information stealing.
Wikileaks has accumulated awards as quickly as it has raised the hackles of the most powerful people in the world. It has tweaked the tail of the war mongers and the profit makers, and they are not happy.
And when you offend these sort of interests, then you are marked. The shadows will always rustle.
But even when the timing of the attack on Assange leaves a hundred questions about whose interests are being served by the current media frenzy around his alleged sexual abusive activites in Sweden- even then the confusion over what is really going on remains.
If you want to know what Assange is actually accused of- then I suggest you check out this article in the Mail (I know, I know- but the Guardian does not seem to have been as keen to lay out the dirt.) While you are there, you can have a snigger at the sort of journalism that uses two photographs of the women involved that are totally pixelated out!
And so the lines are drawn. The Swedish prosecutors say that they have had no pressure from the USA, and the women involved say that they are merely interested in exposing Assange in his abusive attitudes towards women.
And Assange’s supporters see the whole thing as a CIA inspired honey trap- and have responded by cyber attacks on the Swedish prosecutors website (as well as attacks on Mastercard, Paypal and Visa.) Famous supporters like Ken Loach, Michael Moore and John Pilger put up money to help Assange with his legal bill- despite being labelled as ‘fans of cereal rapists’ by US conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.
We will probably never know the truth of these allegations.
And as for Assange himself- his star has risen high- and so has far to fall. He is no Messiah, and his motives appear to be as mixed as the rest of us.
After my trawl through the tinternet looking for the marks made by this story, the only conclusions I have been able to reach are these-
To reveal the powerful in the miss use of their power is a brave and good thing.
As for the Internet Prophet himself- like most powerful messianic men, he has to face the problem of the possible miss use of personal power.
Think of the stories that have followed other men who have inspired us towards freedom- Martin Luther King, Kennedy, Mandela. All have faced scandals of a sexual nature. Some of them were trumped up in the dirty war fought against them- some were the consequence of the adulation, and the personal power accrued to men whose feet were clay, no matter how golden their heads become.
We live in interesting times.
this fragile tent 