Censorship – Antiwar.com Blog

Pardon Snowden Now!

Earlier today, Antiwar.com Editorial Director Justin Raimondo published this letter:

Dear Friend of Antiwar.com,

When darkness begins to fall, some curse the shadows – and others turn on the lights.

One man, a 29-year-old former spook and apparent libertarian, has stepped forward to reveal the truth about what our government is doing – and rescue our liberties from the warlords of Washington. One man had the courage to step forward and speak truth to power: in some dictionaries, that’s called “narcissism.” In mine, it’s called bravery.

Americans must send a message to Edward Snowden, one that will also be immediately noted and understood by our nervous rulers: Ed, we’ve got your back!

That’s why it’s so vitally important for you to sign the White House petition to pardon Snowden. It’s the least we can do for a man who has sacrificed everything so that Americans might be given one last chance wake up and restore the Constitution. The petition — started by an anonymous person from Rochester, New York, with the initials “P.M.” — immediately took off, with over 50,000 in the first 48 hours, but it is now stuck at around 90,000 – with until July 9th to reach a total of 100,000, and thus earn an official White House response.

Topping 100,000 – even after they raised the threshold from 25,000 – would score a huge public relations coup for the cause of civil liberties and force the White House to acknowledge the popularity of Snowden’s cause.

The success of the petition will also have a cascading effect on legislation – such as Sen. Rand Paul’s “Fourth Amendment Restoration Act of 2013” – designed to rein in Big Brother.

Please sign the petition now – every signature counts!

In peace and liberty,

Justin Raimondo
Editorial Director
Antiwar.com

Eric Garris on The New Cyber War

Antiwar.com founder and managing editor Eric Garris sat down with RT’s Alyona Minkovski to discuss the ethics and efficacy of hacking, the boycott of Amazon and the public’s fascination with Wikileaks.

Why are they so dangerous?

Why Julian Assange (and Wikileaks) are so dangerous. In Assange’s own words – – –

Sun 31 Dec 2006 : The non linear effects of leaks on unjust systems of governance

…different structures of power are differentially affected by leaks (the defection of the inner to the outer) [and] its motivations may become clearer.

The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie. This must result in minimization of efficient internal communications mechanisms (an increase in cognitive "secrecy tax") and consequent system-wide cognitive decline resulting in decreased ability to hold onto power as the environment demands adaption. Hence in a world where leaking is easy, secretive or unjust systems are nonlinearly hit relative to open, just systems. Since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of governance. ja-conspiracies.pdf

Why you MUST be shielded from Wikileaks!

You will know you have spoken the truth when you are angrily denounced; and you will know you have spoken both truly and well when you are visited by the police. –J. B. R. Yant

Apparently the folks from Wikileaks.org have spoken both truly and well. Which is why you must be shielded from them – – –

"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State." –Chief Nazi "Information Officer" Dr. Joseph P. Goebbels

Thus the American establishment — including opinion mills from both halves of the War Party — is actively looking for any which-way it can to repress the release of more of it’s mortal enemy to "we the people." The methods of repression include a very shakey prosecution of head Wikileaks dude, Julian Assange, threats in fact, to persecute him all over the world, an on-going investigation of Wikileaks by Mr. Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder, presumably to invoke the Espionage Act, etc.

There have also been calls to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by U.S. Representative Peter King (R-NY) to have Wikileaks declared a Foreign Terrorist Organization, or FTO on a par with al’Qaeda. That would open Wikileaks associates to assassination, etc. as per the latest White House push to authorize executive kill lists.

Is it just me, or does it seem as if the U.S. establishment — in fact, establishments world wide [1] — are as terrified by the truth as they want us to be of al’Qaeda?

Perhaps Wikileaks front dude Julian Assange and company aren’t aware of the dangers the truth poses, not only to the state as Goebbels revealed, but to those ill-advised enough — or brave enough — to reveal it.

During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. –George Orwell

If you’re going to start talking the truth, keep one foot in the saddle of your fastest horse. –Chinese proverb

So, is your foot in the saddle?

No? It’s OK, but how about the next best thing: Support these brave folks, not only wikileaks, but the folks brave enough to put antiwar.com up for more than 12 years, etc.

Notes:

[1]

"This disclosure is not just an attack on America’s foreign policy interests. It is an attack on the international community," Clinton said, following talks in Washington with Turkey’s foreign minister. –[Hillary] Clinton accuses WikiLeaks of ‘attack’ on the world return

Scott Horton on Fox Business Channel (video)

Scott Horton, host of Antiwar Radio was the featured guest tonight (11/29) on Fox Business News’ Freedom Watch, hosted by Judge Andrew Napolitano. The show airs daily Monday through Friday at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific.

Scott discussed the latest Wikileaks release. Judge Napolitano’s earlier interviews with Justin Raimondo can be found here and here.

Watch the clip:

We weren’t on the wrong side in Vietnam – – –

We weren’t on the wrong side [in Vietnam], we were the wrong side. —Daniel Ellsberg, The Most Dangerous Man in America, via NewsBusters.org

And were we also the wrong side in the Korean “War”, Panama (Operation Just Cause), Grenada (Operation Urgent Fury), Iraq – – – you get the idea.

Has this sort of behavior by the U.S. government — and other governments — become SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)?

And just in case you want a more complete accounting — and you have a bunch of spare time — here’s a more complete list of United States military operations.

And if you’re morbidly curious of how many lives these sorts of operations have squandered — and have a strong stomach — you can find out from the University of Hawaii’s R.J. Rummel.

And, if you’ve read this far and want to know how much you contribute to this mayhem if you consider yourself a U.S. Taxpayer, the kindly Quaker folks from the Friends Committee on National Legislation have figured that out for you. (HINT: 43% of your 2008 tax bill went to pay for “wars,” past and present.)

So maybe a donation to antiwar.com might actually be a good investment – – –

P.S. The U.S. Government hasn’t declared war according to its charter (the U.S. Constitution) since WWII. So none of those “Wars” since WWII were — or are — Constitutional. Isn’t that cute?