SODOM & GOMORRAH: We were promised transparent government. Gone were the days of Bush’s lies, secret prisons, or fiery rhetoric. But now it seems that the American left’s current messianic figure not only wants to touch your junk but also do away with transparent government.
WikiLeaks has been branded criminal by people in the government. The honorable Representative Peter King has called on the administration to list the site as a terrorist organization, allowing the government to go after anyone who aids or supports them.
So I certainly won’t say that I support them. In fact, I don’t. I think leaking documents is dangerous, stupid, and doesn’t help whatever cause you’re working for. That said, this is a beast created by the very government that wants to stop it. The administration would do well to remember the supreme court’s feelings about Daniel Ellsberg and that whole leaking-Pentagon-studies business. But of course, Daniel Ellsberg and WikiLeaks are separate cases.
Daniel Ellsberg wanted to stop war, which is always noble because identifying and going after enemies with force, violence, fear, etc. is bad. WikiLeaks wants to…I don’t know, pursue some nebulous understanding of free press. But at this moment in time, it’s clear that WikiLeaks is an “enemy of the United States” and that going after the site and its supporters with force, violence, fear, etc. is justified. It’s clear: Daniel Ellsberg and WikiLeaks both defend liberal ideals. Daniel Ellsberg helped the New York Times. WikiLeaks… Well, WikiLeaks does it’s own thing. The site poses a threat to power structures and doesn’t lubricate the normal media channels so much as Ellsberg and his copy machine. It has made itself an enemy of the United States; Ellsberg, American soldiers who leaked prison abuse, or government bureaucrats who repeatedly talk to the press about confidential issues are clearly not enemies of the United States. Why?
There are two reasons.
First, liberalism isn’t suited for government, but only opposition and revolution. Left to itself, liberalism always undermines whatever government is in power. Obama, the old messianic figure of the 2008 presidential elections, is now in power. Up until a couple of months ago, his party completely ran the show. Up pops WikiLeaks which broadcasts what happens behind the curtain – not of Democratic government but democratic government. And liberalism can’t tolerate so many flagrant violations of its sacred dogma. So WikiLeaks continues to attract disgruntled bureaucrats. The government, naturally, will do what the government does and work to retain power. But we’re all revolutionaries now and the measures to retain power become more extensive – and bizarre. Really, consider for a moment that a couple of journalists running a site in Switzerland can be targeted by the USFG for doing things that the New York Times wish it could do.
Second, other leakers operated through proper channels. A disgruntled bureaucrat would call a reporter and give them the scoop. That reporter would then publish a story and get a nice check for being so popular. Going to WikiLeaks doesn’t benefit any of our reporters; they get the story second-hand, when everyone else does. In simple terms, there’s rarely any penalty for playing one arm of the USFG against another.
But I, of course, disapprove of leaking. It’s messy, and depending on the circumstances, may require a doctor’s attention.
What do you think? Is the government right to lockdown WikiLeakers, or do they need to tolerate it?