TIL about the "'New York Times problem'—the dilemma of indicting Assange for the very same kind of investigative journalism that mainstream media engages frequently" - eviltoast

Two of us, Ellsberg and Noam Chomsky, testified for Assange at his extradition hearing last year. In Ellsberg’s words then, the WikiLeaks publications that Assange is being charged for are “amongst the most important truthful revelations of hidden criminal state behavior that have been made public in U.S. history.” The American public “needed urgently to know what was being done routinely in their name, and there was no other way for them to learn it than by unauthorized disclosure.”

  • Drive-by Lurker@lemmygrad.ml
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Maybe you should care about what your government does in foreign countries. Particularly when it is routinely murder and manipulation, as is the case with the U.S. government.

    That aside, I invite you on a thought experiment:

    Let’s say everyone took your advice and just let the government hide whatever it wanted because it is a “state secret”. Let’s say then the government goes ham and commits a bunch of atrocities. What would stop it from declaring them state secrets to prevent the public from knowing about them?

    • SCB@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      9
      ·
      1 year ago

      What if I want my gov manipulating more?

      I’d be totally into some manipulation in Russia, North Korea, Iran, Niger, Syria, etc.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          arrow-down
          6
          ·
          1 year ago

          Going well in Ukraine, and I’d like to see that aid heavily escalated, too.

          Would’ve been great if we’d saved Syria during the Arab Spring.

        • awwwyissss@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          5
          ·
          1 year ago

          US/Euro hegemony has been some of the most peaceful time in human history, and many people internationally have been brought out of poverty. Compare that to the most recent serious alternatives:

          • the USSR caused famine for it’s own citizens and killed people who tried to leave
          • China forcefully suppresses alternative perspectives, continues imperial land grabs, and has some of the worst journalist freedoms of any country
          • acockworkorange@mander.xyz
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            As someone that experienced the tail end of one of the many dictatorships propped up by the US in Latin America, go peddle your shit elsewhere.