Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

Fight them, without becoming them!

You cannot shame the shameless.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

Democracy cannot function without a free press.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

It is not hopeless, and we are not helpless.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

T R E 4 5 O N

Republicans in disarray!

I swear, each month of 2025 will have its own history degree.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

In after Baud. Damn.

Let there be snark.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

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Reader Interactions

125Comments

  2. 2.

    morzer

    I suppose the next logical step is for us to be told that Assange is a mutant and must be caged for the safety of the human race.

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    As always when there are accusations of criminal behavior, I suggest that people wait before jumping to conclusions as to guilt, innocence, or frame-up. Not that anyone ever takes me up on my suggestion.

  4. 4.

    J.W. Hamner

    So much for the 9/11 Mosque story.

    The WikiLeaks document dump did 0. Nobody cares about Julian Assange. Whatever his innocence/guilt, this is nothing.

  7. 7.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    Um. You might want to go back and read that story.

    I’d file this under extremely dodgy until there’s confirmation from the prosecutor’s office.

    [Edit – Or at least ask why the Swedes would be in on a conspiracy to frame up J.A.]

  9. 9.

    Joey Maloney

    Well, that’s the end of Pam “Crazy Jugs” Geller’s latest fifteen minutes.

    Now, the overarching question is which flying-monkey-right babe will step forward to drive the coverage of the Assange story? It doesn’t really fit into Geller’s Mooslims are coming to kiiiiiiiiiiiiill us all!!! remit. It’ll more likely be someone whose obsessions are more about sex or we-need-to-get-tough-on-crime with a side order of sex offenders. Now who fits that bill?

  10. 10.

    Apsaras

    Karen Hughes wants that mosque moved too! Her rationale is awesome.

    During my lifetime, a number of racial and ethnic slurs have been effectively banned from our national vocabulary — not because our free speech has been limited, but because we recognize that these words are deeply offensive to our fellow citizens and we decide to avoid them.

    Building a Muslim community center in downtown New York = using the word “Dago” or “Wetback”.

    Also, too.

    I told audiences from Doha to Jakarta to Kuala Lumpur that Islam is part of America; our country is home to millions of Muslims who live and worship freely here and are equally part of our great nation. Sadly, my message was often greeted with skepticism. “You think we’re all terrorists,” a woman in Cairo told me.

    I can’t imagine where that silly woman from Cairo gets her ideas. Did she not get a complimentary soccer ball or something?

  11. 11.

    Alwhite

    I liked the first line of the AP story:

    “brought instant suspicion of a US government-led smear campaign.”

    Guilty or not this is going to get attention

  12. 12.

    El Cid

    Of course I have no idea, but I did read or hear suggestions from Assange that the structure of Wikileaks was now such that Assange’s absence would not hinder the work.

  15. 15.

    matoko_chan

    Asssange has Insurance in case he gets whacked. The ginormous Insurance file on his site gets instant decrypted and broadcast.
    If the US can have him arrested then i presume they think could barter for the Insurance file.

  17. 17.

    Svensker

    @Joey Maloney:

    Well, that’s the end of Pam “Crazy Jugs” Geller’s latest fifteen minutes.

    Really? Do you think so? I think the righties are much more personally invested in getting their hate on the Mooslims. Assange is some weird foreign guy doing something typically foreign and bad, but he’s not exciting, and you can’t go stand outside his house in Kentucky with a badly spelled sign.

  18. 18.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    I find it interesting that Assange was recently in Sweden to apply for a publishing certificate in the hope of gaining Swedish protection for his operation of WikiLeaks.

    I think that he should have dealt with that issue some time ago and not after the fact.

  19. 19.

    J

    @J.W. Hamner: Agreed. The ‘minarets rising from the site of the twin towers’ story is a cunning piece of propaganda with legs. Too few people outside readers of blogs like this know who Assange is for the story to displace it. What this story will do is give establishment media types with a vestigial journalistic conscience the excuse they have been looking for to ignore Wikileaks.

  20. 20.

    dmsilev

    @Joey Maloney:

    Now, the overarching question is which flying-monkey-right babe will step forward to drive the coverage of the Assange story? It doesn’t really fit into Geller’s Mooslims are coming to kiiiiiiiiiiiiill us all remit. It’ll more likely be someone whose obsessions are more about sex or we-need-to-get-tough-on-crime with a side order of sex offenders. Now who fits that bill?

    Nancy Grace.

    dms

  21. 21.

    Peter J

    The timing is purely coincidental.

    There’s also a general election in Sweden in less than a month. The Swedish Pirate Party has offered to host the Wikileak servers, obviously to help, but it’s also done to gain votes in the upcoming election.

  22. 22.

    soonergrunt

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Well, good luck with that.
    It’s been my experience that people leap to a conclusion of guilt right off the bat whenever there’s an accusation of rape. It even happens here on Balloon Juice. See Rothlisberger, Ben.
    Something tells me this one will be different because of course, the need to confirm what we already believe and ignore anything that might change that is just as strong among liberals as it is among conservatives, so I fully expect a bunch of stupid shit along the lines of “The US ARMY IS FRAMING OUR HERO!”
    “AIEEEEEE!” “11eleven1!”
    I shall now sit back with a beer and some popcorn and watch the monkey-poo-flinging begin.

    Oh, look. I’m late.

  24. 24.

    Larry Signor

    What is the story here?
    Australian arrested in absentia in Sweden for molestation and rape. Nothing more, nothing less. If and when untoward US federal government influence is proven, then we have a story. Not until.

  25. 25.

    Amir_Khalid

    @Apsaras: I can recall — barely — that Karen Hughes did indeed come to Kuala Lumpur in those days on her PR tour. As with that lady in Cairo, Hughes was greeted politely but with much, much skepticism. Muslims out here weren’t worried so much about how Muslims in America were being treated, so in emphasizing that she was failing to address our actual concern: the Bush administration’s intentions and actions in the Muslim world. There was definitely a lot to worry about there, and there still is even with the new President.

  26. 26.

    morzer

    @soonergrunt:

    Some people do, some don’t. FWIW, I know a number of Steelers fans who believe firmly that Roethlisberger was guilty, and wish that Art Rooney had cut him a year ago yesterday. You’d agree, surely, that two very similar incidents, with young girls gave grounds for suspicion?

    As for Julian Assange, when one considers the ways in which the US has framed, smeared and engaged in extraordinary rendition, in ways which clearly violate international and US law, and the fact that Mr Assange is clearly a target for the US security services, it would be a little strange not to wonder at this sudden rape charge against a man who has travelled widely — and against whom no such charge has been made in any other country.

  29. 29.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    expect a bunch of stupid shit along the lines of “The US ARMY IS FRAMING OUR HERO!”

    If anyone tries to claim Sweden is somehow working in concert with the U.S. Army to frame up some guy in Australia I will personally stamp on his nuts until he hits a High C that shatters glass.

  33. 33.

    Svensker

    @kommrade reproductive vigor:

    If anyone tries to claim Sweden is somehow working in concert with the U.S. Army to frame up some guy in Australia I will personally stamp on his nuts until he hits a High C that shatters glass

    What if anyone is a woman?

  38. 38.

    Glenndacious Greenwaldian

    Now Assange will be found dead, and it will be “proven” that he killed himself out of shame and disgrace regarding the rape charges.

    Nothing the least bit suspicious about any of this, of course.

    My god, I hope the man has an army of private security around him 24/7. Unfortunately, I’ve no doubt our democratic/free/liberty-respecting government would have no trouble infiltrating such an army.

    Pigs.

  42. 42.

    Larry Signor

    I thought the “Age of Obama” would disavow this type of behavior. Bush pissed me off. Obama makes me sad. Like the alternative to evil is…evil.

  44. 44.

    soonergrunt

    @morzer:
    No.
    The fact that he’s not, as yet, charged anywhere else is not a defense to the charges in Sweden, of which he may or may not be guilty.
    Put simply, the US Gov’t is going to be blamed for anything that happens to him, regardless of the evidence offered or the jurisdiction in which it is offered. The contents of that bullshit ‘insurance’ file is known to the US Govt. They know what Manning took after all.
    So the information therein is going to get into the wild anyway, more likely sooner than later now that he’s been charged. If it were of real value as insurance, then what you’d see would be the US Gov’t leaning on the Swedish Gov’t to suppress the rape charges. In a couple years time we’d hear all about that.

    The reason I’m not inclined to believe this is essentially because there’s no percentage in it. Killing Assange would be easier than trying to get him convicted in a foreign court. One takes a bullet, and the other takes a shit-load of falsified evidence, and again, we’re going to be blamed anyway, so we might as well go for the maximum scare value if we were going to do something.
    Literally, if a known Al Quaeda operative, or Hugo Chavez’ first-born child were caught with the murder weapon by a third party country and confessed that he did it because he hates Assange’s stupid hairstyle and has never even met an American, people who were inclined to believe so, including quite a few B-J users, would go to their graves thinking the US Gov’t made it happen.

  45. 45.

    morzer

    @Larry Signor:

    I think Obama’s done as well as he could on most things, but I agree that his willingness to go along with Bush-style abuses of international and US law is the thing that I find saddest about this administration.

  48. 48.

    morzer

    @soonergrunt:

    Actually, I think you are wrong about this. Convicting Assange of rape would destroy him much more effectively than a mysterious killing that would only give credence to rumors about just what he knew and what the US government was trying to suppress. Better, for that point of view, to discredit him and have him discredit his friends by association. Assange in prison for assault on women would lose him liberal friends immediately. Assange with a bullet in his head becomes a martyr.

  49. 49.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    “Expressen is a tabloid; No one here has been contacted by Swedish police. Needless to say this will prove hugely distracting,” it said in another tweet.

    @morzer: No. Fucking conspiracy theorist piss me the fuck off.

    Especially, especially when it is clear they haven’t bothered to get 1/5th of the background. A Swedish TABLOID is running a story unsupported by statements from any official that Assange has been arrested in abstentia. The fact that NPR is running this dog proves journalism in this country really is fucked beyond all recognition.

  52. 52.

    soonergrunt

    @morzer: martyrs generally are two things:
    1) dead.
    2) easier and cheaper to make.

    Again, we’re going to be blamed for this anyway. And no, he won’t lose his liberal friends because they will do exactly what they are doing, which is to blame the U.S. Government. So we’ve got the “Assange is a martyr!” brigade forming up right now. See Jamal, Abu Mumia, and Peltier, Leonard. To a lesser extent, and more about artsy-types than ‘liberals’ per se, see Polanski, Roman, who we actually had convicted on hard evidence but he’s running free in Europe right now, with plenty of friends.
    Better (if they’d actually decided to do something,) to kill him and let other people who might be inclined to follow his lead think about that.

  53. 53.

    Joey Maloney

    There’s no reason in particular to think – if this is a ratfuck – that it’s Uncle Sam’s dick making rodent-on-a-stick. Wikileaks has embarrassed plenty of other governments besides the USA, at least some of whom probably have the ability to assemble this kind of setup. The fact that the timing will make everyone assume it’s the USA is gravy.

    Hell, why couldn’t it be Sweden itself? I can’t imagine that their current security regime is pleased with the synergy between Assange and the Pirate Party, and with the courtesy title of columnist recently given to him by Aftonbladet which makes him an official journalist and entitled to all kinds of protections under Swedish law.

  54. 54.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    @morzer: What the fuck are you asking me man? Would I be happier if journalism wasn’t being redefined as “Mindlessly repeat any old shit that you scrape off the internet in hopes of catching some eyeballs?”

    Hmm. Let me think …

    FUCK YES, I’D BE HAPPIER.

  55. 55.

    Michael

    @morzer:

    How would you expect to prove such involvement?

    When it turns out that Lizardbreath Cheney is the complaining witness.

  59. 59.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    @maya: Thanks. I was getting worked up. Now I will sit back and steal some of soonergrunt’s popcorn & beer.

    I’ve always wondered what it was like over on FreeRepublic or AtlasJuggs when rumors of The Whitey Tape hit the intrawebs. Now I’m finding out.

  61. 61.

    Jack Bauer

    @Joey Maloney:

    Wikileaks has embarrassed plenty of other governments besides the USA, at least some of whom probably have the ability to assemble this kind of setup.

    Absolutely. But I think it’s likely he’s been making big news in Sweden, and has attracted unwanted attention. They really do take their neutrality in international affairs seriously.

    Or it could just be tabloid nonsense.

  63. 63.

    Frank

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    As always when there are accusations of criminal behavior, I suggest that people wait before jumping to conclusions as to guilt, innocence, or frame-up. Not that anyone ever takes me up on my suggestion.

    Yup. The Al Gore story comes to mind.

  68. 68.

    daniel thomas macinnes

    Cough, CIA hit job, cough. We all knew the Wikileaks founder would go down, one way or another. I expected him to fall down some stairs, but maybe that would have been too obvious.

    Okay, that’s enough paranoia for one day. Back to normal.

  69. 69.

    soonergrunt

    @morzer: It occurred to me that just about any celebration of that fact would most likely involve doing something that, at some level at least, would damage the very heart in question.
    Since all the doctors are in agreement that the mass has to come out, and better now than later when there are actual real problems, I’m holding off on any celebration until later.
    Basically though, when the stitches come out of my chest, I’m going to get knee-walking, commode-hugging drunk.

  70. 70.

    apocalipstick

    As a consumer of trashy international-conspiracy thrillers, I will point out that if the object is to discredit Assange, there is no need for a conviction. Simply let a “credible” (I use quotes not because these charges may be false, but to emphasize the role of participants like NPR, the Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, CNN, etc. as “credible” sources) accusation be made and floated. Whenever the subject (in this case, WikiLeaks) makes the news again, it can simply be stated, “Yeah, but can you believe them? The guy in charge is a pervert.” Chins are stroked, nods are exchanged, and if/when the charges are disproven or dismissed, no matter. There will be no coverage of that.

    Again, this is not to take a side in this particular instance. I’m just pointing out that a plot very similar to this worked in an episode of The Rockford Files.

  73. 73.

    soonergrunt

    Only two diaries about this over at GOS, both of which are in full-metal-CT mode.
    BREAKING! and so forth.
    Neither diary made the rec-list before sliding into oblivion. Coincidence?! I THINK NOT!

  74. 74.

    soonergrunt

    @apocalipstick: And I’ll point out again, that this, even a conviction, even video of him actually committing the crime as charged will not discredit him in the eyes of a lot of people.
    The same need and ability to disregard facts that the birfers engage in on a daily basis to deny that the President is the President will take over and no matter what, he’ll always be a hero to a certain segment of the population of just about every country in the world.
    They’ll even rationalize it away when they can’t ignore it any longer. “Well, he probably did rape that woman, but he stopped a war!” Just like those people who rationalize Roman Polanski’s behavior. “he probably did rape that little girl, but he makes great movies!”
    And I’m not commenting on whether or not Assange did the crime. I’m commenting on the attitudes of various people and the efficacy or lack thereof of framing him. I don’t think he’s being framed, at least not by the US Gov’t because there’s nothing to be gained by doing so, and because these kinds of things ALWAYS get exposed sooner or later.
    Now, if Assange were found dead somewhere in what appeared to be an auto-erotic asphyxiation, surrounded by child pornography, then yeah, I’d be inclined to believe that the U.S. Gov’t had something to do with it.

  75. 75.

    Kristine

    FWIW. My dad knew someone who claimed to have been set up on a rape charge. This man’s story–honest cop in a dirty town (late 50s/early 60s Chicago), wouldn’t play ball, made enemies, accused by an underage girl. He had no reason to bring up the story at all, or to lie to my father, afaik. I do not believe the matter ever came to trial. His health suffered, and his wife had a nervous breakdown. They left Illinois. He became a man of some standing in the community where I grew up.

    I remember meeting him a couple of times. I went to grade school with his daughter. Sure, he may have been guilty, but you look at who accused him and damn, you wonder.

    So, can you count me among the black chopper crowd? I don’t know. Assange gives me the creeps, personally, for all the alleged good he does. I don’t like the affiliation with the guy who finances his operations at least in part through Pirate Bay, which markets pirated books and software. Yes, I am familiar with all the anti-copyright arguments. I’m familiar with lots of things.

    I don’t see any white hats in this. Be interesting to see how things unfold.

  76. 76.

    gelfling545

    Regardless of guilt or innocence or even the actual existence of charges in this case, it returns us to a question that has become more pressing as society has passed through a variety of changes. How much do a person’s (artist, politician, activist, etc) actions outside his/her field of endeavor matter to that endeavor?

    In NY we lost Spitzer (immoral) and got Patterson (incompetent). If Assange has indeed been charged and, if charged, convicted does that cast suspicion on the information he released? Is it really falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus? Should it be? I realize that a large part of this becomes political but is there a point at which personal actions invalidate the body of one’s work? I don’t know and I wish I did.

  77. 77.

    Peter J

    Now, if Assange were found dead somewhere in what appeared to be an auto-erotic asphyxiation, surrounded by child pornography, then yeah, I’d be inclined to believe that the U.S. Gov’t had something to do with it.

    In Sweden, just drawings would be sufficient.

  78. 78.

    Bnut

    We’ll get to see a shitty movie about this whole thing in about 5 years. My bet is Sean Penn and Oliver Stone. Multiple Oscars awarded. Liberals placated.

  79. 79.

    apocalipstick

    @soonergrunt:
    Now that would be hard to shake. I understand the School of the Americas calls that maneuver “doing a Hutchence.”

    My point is the contention that a frame-up would be complicated and expensive, requiring thousands of man-hours and an army of forgers and attorneys is not true. Something as simple as a whisper campaign is just as effective, and much more deniable. After all, if it turns out to be false, who can remember who actually started it?

    You are correct about rationalization, and while I would agree with you that there is no real rational benefit in framing Assange (again, disclaimer: I have no idea if that is what is happening and withhold all judgment until more facts are on the table), I stopped believing in rational underpinnings for human decision-making in about 1979.

  81. 81.

    kommrade reproductive vigor

    I’m just pointing out that a plot very similar to this worked in an episode of The Rockford Files.

    Thanks to you my sinuses have now been well irrigated with hot coffee.

    And really, Sweden? Aren’t they all a bunch of furrin’ soshulust perverts anyways?

  85. 85.

    eemom

    There’s gotta be a Roman Polanski joke in here somewhere.

    Oh, that’s Switzerland. Never mind.

  86. 86.

    Jack Bauer

    @soonergrunt:

    The same need and ability to disregard facts that the birfers engage in on a daily basis to deny that the President is the President will take over and no matter what, he’ll always be a hero to a certain segment of the population of just about every country in the world.

    Nice.

    FWIW, this is how I view this.

    I call BS until criminal charges are made. Then I’m officially neutral until the case resolves. If guilty, then he’s guilty of rape. And to my mind that would discredit him significantly.

    But that’s a long way off.

    And I’m pretty sure Wikileaks will continue doing what it’s doing.

  88. 88.

    matoko_chan

    i wonder if the guvvie cryptos are trying to break Assanges Insurance file in the underground labs….under the Pentagon is where the supercomputers live…well some do .

    Online whistle-blower WikiLeaks has posted a huge encrypted file named “Insurance” to its website, sparking speculation that those behind the organization may be prepared to release more classified information if authorities interfere with them.
    At 1.4 gigabytes, the file is 20 times larger than the batch of 77,000 secret U.S. military documents about Afghanistan that WikiLeaks dumped onto the Web last month, and cryptographers say that the file is virtually impossible to crack – unless WikiLeaks releases the key used to encode the material.Cryptographers say that the file was likely made using a 256-bit encryption standard known as AES256, which the U.S. government and others employ to mask some of their most sensitive data.

    this encryption is robust, but not unbreakable. possible Assanges hackers used something else.
    the coolest thing to me is the hacker war here …..the info-revolutionaries and the cyber-guerillas against the government.
    NWBCW!
    NWBAW!

  90. 90.

    matoko_chan

    @Peter J: i think they were trying to get a position, triangulate on Assange.
    if they can grab him they would try to use some of Burn’s legal shit on him to make him stop.

  91. 91.

    Corner Stone

    @Peter J:

    I guess the accusation and the smearing is enough.

    I’m sure for some here it will be all that’s needed.
    Funny, that.

  94. 94.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Corner Stone: And for some a video of him committing the crime along with a notarized certificate of authenticity signed by Assange himself would not be enough. But for most people, as you would see by reading the comments here, an unconfirmed report in a tabloid of an arrest warrant does not say much of anything.

  95. 95.

    matoko_chan

    @morzer: actually this has the makings of a coolio scifi novel.
    the hacker war is right out of scifi bible Neuromancer.
    encryption “ice” and cyber-guerilla “cowboys”.
    :)

  97. 97.

    burnspbesq

    @kommrade reproductive vigor:

    A Swedish TABLOID is running a story unsupported by statements from any official that Assange has been arrested in abstentia. The fact that NPR is running this dog proves journalism in this country really is fucked beyond all recognition.

    And the Telegraph is reporting that the Swedish prosecution service has confirmed the issuance of the warrant. Are they also part of the grand conspiracy to frame Assange?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/wikipedia/7957665/Wikileaks-founder-Julian-Assange-facing-arrest-over-rape-claim.html

  100. 100.

    matoko_chan

    @morzer: okfine. i am willing to be corrected by my olders and betters when i am wrong……what, in your esteemable and unimpeachable opinion is the scifi bible?
    :)

  101. 101.

    burnspbesq

    @Peter J:

    So the question before the house is, who got to the victim and persuaded her to recant her story?

    Whack-job conspiracy theory is a game that any number can play, and my theory is just as valid as yours.

    And in case it’s not clear, yes, I am mocking all of you who immediately rushed to judgment that there was a US-inspired railroading going on.

  103. 103.

    eemom

    everywhere is reporting that it’s been withdrawn now.

    This may be the shortest nontroversy on record. Born and died in a single thread.

  106. 106.

    Chad N Freude

    @eemom: But it will run continuously on Fox, possibly with a chyron for the next 48 hours, and no acknowledgment of the withdrawal.

  109. 109.

    Citizen_X

    @Larry Signor:

    I already believe this is a government setup and takedown. It’s one of the activities our national defense still excels at.

    Excels at? Why, because we got Diem wacked nearly fifty years ago, leading to a decade-long clusterfuck? Because we got Mossedgh wacked nearly sixty years ago, leading to still-continuing clusterfuck?

    I leave you with a joke from American Gods:

    Q: How do you know the CIA was never involved in the Kennedy assassination?

    A: He’s dead, isn’t he?

  111. 111.

    Corner Stone

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    But for most people, as you would see by reading the comments here, an unconfirmed report in a tabloid of an arrest warrant does not say much of anything

    By my reading of the story there was an actual, official warrant issued. Then withdrawn.

    And I disagree with you. It’s given some here license to further push a theory that if you support what Assange and WikiLeaks does then you are a wild eyed cultist follower who knows deep down in their deranged and perverted little heart that Assange is the second coming.
    Please notice the analogies and references to Polanski for further info.

  112. 112.

    Stillwater

    @kommrade reproductive vigor: If anyone tries to claim Sweden is somehow working in concert with the U.S. Army to frame up some guy in Australia I will personally stamp on his nuts until he hits a High C that shatters glass.

    Lol. a theory like that really is laughable, and deserves a nut-crushing. Everyone knows that the Swedes would be working with the CIA, not the Army.

  113. 113.

    eemom

    But surely, if there WAS a secret US backed smear campaign at work here, whatever US entity was behind it wouldn’t be stoopid enough to fuck things up so badly that the whole story was DOA within a couple of hours.

    oh wait…..

  114. 114.

    Phoenician in a time of Romans

    Next up – child pronography found on JA’s computer – news at eleven.

  116. 116.

    Corner Stone

    @Phoenician in a time of Romans:

    Next up – child pronography found on JA’s computer – news at eleven.

    I’m betting they’re going to “find” a friend who testifies that when Assange was a teenager his favorite hobby was tripping little old ladies as they tried to cross the street.
    Or he possibly embezzled from a charity org that worked to help disabled orphan children.

    Do you see what a depraved monster he is? DO YOU??

  117. 117.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Corner Stone: You are correct that a warrant seems to have been issued and withdrawn. At the time I wrote my comment, I was only aware of the tabloid article. As far as your reading of the comments here goes, you should note that some people on all sides of any controversy will stake out extreme positions. I would say that the majority of people commenting on this thread did not do that. If you interpret things differently, that is fine, but I disagree.

  118. 118.

    Stillwater

    @soonergrunt: Again, we’re going to be blamed for this anyway.

    We’re gonna be blamed for this? Who, BJ commenters? US citizens? The US government in its entirety? The CIA?

    And by whom? Certainly not the MSM, or other serious commenters. By flame-throwers at KOS? By governments of other nations? By future historians? By Muslims?

    The US may have had a hand in this – that’s yet to be determined and may never be. They also may not have. I think you’re trying to get out front of a non-issue wrt to … well anything you’re claiming matters. Other issues about this matter, but not whether the US gets blamed for it.

  119. 119.

    Alien-Radio

    To Those positing an occams razor defense of the us intelligence services. This doesn’t have to require the swedish governments involvement, you can set someone up with three phone calls, and one agent to make the approach to the victims, one call to a local prosecutor to tip him off about a possible big arrest and one call to a right wing taboid with a tip off that’ll drive an immense amount of traffic their way.

    No conspiracy needed, Especially if you don’t need to make the charge stick in order to do the intended damage.

    Clumsy and hamfisted? Yes but I’d expect that. I have a sneaking suspicion that intelligence agencies aren’t adapting well to the speed at which information travels or that the panopticon goes both ways now.

  120. 120.

    Joey Maloney

    @matoko_chan:

    what, in your esteemable and unimpeachable opinion is the scifi bible?

    The Bible. Oh, okay, maybe it’s more fantasy than science fiction, knowing what we know now. But there’s nothing in it known to be scientifically impossible at the time it was written.

  121. 121.

    Alien-Radio

    @Joey Maloney:

    That’s because at the time it was written, the arabs had yet to use doubt and falsification to begin to form the foundations of truth. Nothing was scientifically possible or impossible.

  122. 122.

    Jack Bauer

    This doesn’t have to require the swedish governments involvement, you can set someone up with three phone calls, and one agent to make the approach to the victims, one call to a local prosecutor to tip him off about a possible big arrest and one call to a right wing taboid with a tip off that’ll drive an immense amount of traffic their way.

    Exactly.

    Of course, the US may have had nothing to do with it. It could have been any number of other countries or corporations trying to intimidate Assange. Or no one at all, and these two women may have had intimate problems with him but a weak case.

  123. 123.

    matoko_chan

    @Alien-Radio: heh. actually Arabi and Ghazali postulated Many Worlds theory as a response to Aristotles theory of the end of the universe 400 years before the catholics tried to burn Galileo.
    @Joey Maloney: nah. its not the Bible. the Bible, like all sacred texts, is a recipe for building a good human, complete with instructional parables and myths.
    :)

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