WikiLeaks

There has been much hype in recent weeks about the whistleblower website, WikiLeaks. Julian Assange is under fire for not just the material he has published, but also for sexual assault? It seems like the media can't make up it's mind whether it wants to take the "Julian Assange is a rapist and therefore we should shut down WikiLeaks" approach, or the "WikiLeaks is a security threat and should be shut down" approach. I have noticed that regularly, when people start telling the world things that our politicians don't want us to hear about or know of, reasons are found to defame and discredit such people. An Australian example would be Pauline Hanson, who was jailed for "fraud" on the record, and "politically incorrect speech" off it. Tony Abbott, who may in fact become the next prime minister of this country, set about derailing Pauline Hanson's One Nation party in the late 90's and he made sure we all knew that there was definitely no free speech provisions in our constitution. She was jailed and derailed because people didn't like what she was saying. She was speaking out, and conservatives particularly among members of the liberal party didn't agree with her views.

Julian Assange is in a similar position. It was all okay, until we found out about all the naughty things American leaders have been up to. I personally do not believe there is a security threat here, I believe there is a threat of exposure. Kevin Rudd, Minister for Foreign Affairs, has recently been accused of encouraging Hilary Clinton at a luncheon to "Use force against China if necessary." Now Australia too is working to derail an internet activist who spoke out, and published something that our precious citizens were not supposed to see. It might upset China? Hardly. It confirms what they already knew, and that is that they don't like Kevin Rudd.

The website may have been taken down, and they can hurl accusations at Julian Assange forever, but if it can no longer expose the people we trust with the running of the world for what they are and what they have been doing with their power, the legacy will still be there. The seed of doubt has been planted in the minds of citizens and hopefully people are starting to realize that wait a second, things are not always as they seem.