Summary: Here is a clear and passionate response from the Left to the arrest of Julian Assange, with revulsion to liberals’ betrayal of their principles.
The “Resistance” is Silent on Julian Assange
By Margaret Kimberley at the Black Agenda Report, 17 April 2019.
Liberals are just as much true believers in imperialism as the right wing they claim to oppose.
“Attacking the person who revealed war crimes is compliance in the service of the state.”
Ever since Donald Trump was elected president we have heard a lot about people who call themselves the “resistance.” That word has very significant meaning and should not be used frivolously. The enslaved Haitian people resisted the French 200 years ago. Harriet Tubman resisted and so did Tecumseh. Brave people all over the world have resisted colonial invasion, occupation, and racist violence.
But resistance for the anti-Trump group doesn’t amount to very much. They are united in dislike of Donald Trump, but only some of the time. They call him a fascist, but they mute themselves when his fascism supports the bipartisan imperialist consensus.
The so-called resistance have been conspicuously silent ever since Julian Assange was arrested after Ecuador withdrew his asylum from its London embassy. Under the guise of defending the press, this same group became hysterical when Trump had a stupid argument with a CNN reporter.They are enraged when he refers to the media as “enemies of the people.” But when publisher and journalist Julian Assange was snatched up by the U.S. and its vassal states they either said nothing or condemned a man whose actions are the very embodiment of resistance.
“This same group became hysterical when Trump had a stupid argument with a CNN reporter.”
Julian Assange now sits in a London prison awaiting extradition hearings. The United States government convened a grand jury in 2017 which handed down a secret indictment against him. He is charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusion in relation to Chelsea Manning’s 2010 revelation of United States war crimes in Iraq. The Collateral Murder video shows army soldiers killing civilians, returning for a “double tap” killing of first responders, and laughing about their massacre. Anyone who revealed these horrors is a hero and should be supported without any ifs, ands or buts.
The United Kingdom played its usual role of partner in crime for the U.S. Fellow puppet state Australia refused to protect its citizen. Ecuador made off with a cool $4 billion in IMF loans. There is so much corruption to oppose but one wouldn’t know that with all the cheering on behalf of the surveillance state.
“Anyone who revealed these horrors is a hero.”
This resistance is little more than a collective hissy fit from dead ender Democrats who insist on following a party that can’t even reliably stay in office. They have spent the last three years railing against Trump but bite their tongues when he commits an act that reeks of fascist ideology.
The kindest thing that can be said is that they have been hypnotized by a combination of Democratic Party and corporate media lies. It is very difficult to determine the truth in a culture saturated with all the deformities of an imperial state in panic mode. One has to act as a detective and know which web sites to read or whom to follow on social media in order to learn anything outside of the confines of state propaganda. Ever since election night in November 2016 the public have been subjected to a relentless campaign meant to deflect righteous anger away from the Democrats while furthering imperialist goals at the same time.
Julian Assange has become the poster child for the big lie. His leaks of Democratic National Committee emails are blamed for Hillary Clinton’s defeat. But there was no computer hack of the DNC at all. Assange received leaked materials from an insider and used Wikileaks to publish it.
{Editor’s note: see this article in The Nation about the pros and cons of that theory.}
“His leaks of Democratic National Committee emails are blamed for Hillary Clinton’s defeat.”
But that is only a partial explanation. The reality is far worse. Liberals are just as much true believers in imperialism as the right wing they claim to oppose.They are nothing if not consistent. When the Trump administration announced the coup attempt against the Venezuelan government the resistance didn’t resist at all.
Instead they repeated talking points from the New York Timesand National Public Radio which labeled the elected Venezuelan president a brutal dictator. They didn’t question the United States claim of a right to undo the will of people in another country. Some gave wishy washy criticism of military intervention but none of them questioned an intervention which is fascist by any definition.
“Liberals are just as much true believers in imperialism as the right wing they claim to oppose.”
These people will never defend Julian Assange. According to their world view he doesn’t deserve to be defended. He revealed government secrets, which runs counter to their support of the imperialist state, and they think he deprived them of a second Clinton presidency.
Now we know who is for real and who is a phony. Chelsea Manning sits in jail for a second time because she refused to testify before the grand jury which indicted Assange. There are people all over the world occupying Venezuelan embassies and consulates in order to protect them from the would be usurpers. That is resistance. Attacking the person who revealed war crimes is compliance in the service of the state. Perhaps this group needs a new name. They should be honest and call themselves the conformists. That would be truth in advertising.
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About Margaret Kimberley
Margaret Kimberley lives in New York City. She is an editor at the Black Agenda Report and writes their weekly Freedom Rider column. See her articles at Common Dreams, her website, and her Twitter feed. Her articles are reposted widely.
Especially see these recent articles by her at the BAR …
- The Amazon Robbery.
- The Democrats Win and Black People Lose.
- Mueller, Manafort and Assange.
- Yellow Vests Show the Way.
- UK and US PSYOP Collusion.
- Freedom Rider: Democrats are the McCarthyites.
About the Black Agenda Report
Founded in 2006, Black Agenda Report is your source for news, commentary and analysis from the black left since 2006. Find their weekly Black Agenda Radio program on Soundcloud, iTunes, or Stitcher.
Their “About” page gives (impressive) bios of their key staff. Also see their Twitter feed. Google suppresses Black Agenda Report in search results. Subscribing to their email updates is the only guaranteed way to see them.
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For More Information
Ideas! For shopping ideas see my recommended books and films at Amazon.
This failure of the news media and our political system is an example of the broad institution failure I discuss in A new, dark picture of America’s future.
Please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. For more information see all posts about Julian Assange, about Wikileaks, about leaks & leakers, about propaganda, about ways to reform America’s politics, and especially these …
- The Affair Assange rips off the veil concealing the face of modern journalism.
- America’s wise men defend the government’s surveillance programs.
- America’s courtiers rush to defend the government – from us.
- Will a wave of leakers undercut America’s national security?
- Julian Assange trapped & smeared. Wikileaks weakened. Mission accomplished for CIA?
- Important: The Affair Assange shows us what’s behind the curtain.
- A new and revolutionary force has appeared in US politics: truth!
Propaganda rules America! Read all about it!
Propaganda
Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda
The “resistance” movement is yet another faddish, self-indulgent, self-important exercise in posturing from the people who brought us Me Too and other overreactions. A bumper sticker on your Prius doesn’t exactly make you a heroic figure.
Assange is not exactly a sympathetic figure, but he serves a larger good. We can only hope that others will rise to take his place. He deserves far better than to end up in some godawful SuperMax with the likes of Richard Reid and Ted Kaczinski.
S Snell,
“The “resistance” movement is yet another faddish, self-indulgent, self-important exercise in posturing”
I disagree on two grounds. First, it has been a successful tactic. Much of Trump’s time (any leader’s scarcest resource) and political capital (the second scarcest) have been consumed fighting the Hydra-like resistance.
Second, the “resistance” characterizing Trump as an existential evil is SOP for modern US politics. Bush jr. was Hitler. Obama was an autocratic jihadist anarchist, and also Hitler. Now Trump. There is a sound reason for this. When two political parties have substantially different policy differences, they argue about policy. When they are similar, they describe their foes as Hitler or Satan. It is necessary to personalize the differences since the policy differences are small. Otherwise party cohesion is lost.
The Israelites has the same problem in Canan, surrounded by their ethnic cousins. So they developed bright line differences, such as dietary rules and circumcision, to distinguish Us from Them.
I’m afraid my bias is showing. I live in deep-blue Austin, where performative outrage is practically a way of life. This is what springs to mind when I hear “resistance.”
Quite valid, highly relevant point you make about the magnification of trivial differences for political gain. We humans are pretty good at this us vs them business. And when we don’t have a hand Other to demonize, we invent one.
Snell,
“you make about the magnification of trivial differences for political gain.”
Perhaps I wasn’t clear. This is us today. It is an exceptional (not unprecedented) behavior in our history (and more broadly, British-American history). It’s not normal, but rather a symptom of deeper forces at work.
“Resistance” may be silent; however, its “subject” may be not.
As per: while the The Donald, who really liked WikiLeaks when they published the DNC emails, Tweeted and mentioned that on the campaign trail — “I love WikiLeaks…” ; and now, when he was asked about the arrest of Mr. Assange, he pleaded ignorance(?): “I know nothing about WikiLeaks.”
A sudden change of heart or an amnesia?
Or is that a distinguishing trait of a truly “Rotten Person”?
Jako,
Analysis of our clown president is fun but usually pointless. He has governed as a bog standard GOP president – with wild tweets. Would any Presidential policy decisions have been different if we elected Bob Dole (alive or dead) in 2016?
Larry,
You know, come to think of this — there may be no tangible difference even if the female Clinton was elected; save the cut to the taxes for the rich, but a jury could be out on this one for a while and she would surely “compensate” with extra spendings and all…
That’s a lot to say about a representative democracy :-(
Jako,
“there may be no tangible difference even if the female Clinton was elected;”
OMG. The differences would be huggge. Imagine how Clinton would have reacted to #MeToo. The blizzard of punitive regulations and Federal litigation against public and private institutions would have few precedents in US history. That’s just one example. There are many others.
Larry,
I never thought of that; however, on the international stage, she may not have exercised her hawkish streak at all; and on the fiscal stage — I mentioned that already.
My point was not really about the nuances, but the essence — whomever you elect, they will follow the Deep State narrative as Gospel. Amen…
Jako,
“they will follow the Deep State narrative as Gospel.”
True. But it is vital to remember that there are other aspects of public policy of little interest to the Deep State.
Larry,
Are you a fan of Dr. Anthony Bradley? He gores everyone’s sacred ox with the truth so worth reading IMO.
Bryce,
I’ve never heard of him.