Say what you will about Julian Assange, but the guy's smart as a whip. In an interview with MSNBC yesterday, the WIkiLeaks captain eloquently and vehemently defended his First Amendment rights, while decrying the U.S. media's "digital McCarthyism," entailing a call for his assassination. As he sat in the English manor home where he is under house arrest,
Assange looked cool under fire, dismissive of his detractors and befuddled by their fury. (Video after break.)
Tags: government, JulianAssange, law, politics, top, web, wikileaks
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Comments
24
Subscribe to commentsCriticalEyeDec 23rd 2010 12:27PM
Could not agree more......... Watching Faux News makes people stupid!
DennyDec 23rd 2010 2:37PM
I did not realized that as a Australian journalist he has First Amendment right under the UNITED STATES Constitution.
FabioDec 23rd 2010 8:08PM
@Denny
Well, apparently you did not realize Assange is asked to be prosecuted in the US either, it seems.
DavidDec 24th 2010 3:51PM
@Denny Actually the constitution doesn't make the distinction between American Citizen and Australian Citizen. The first ammendment right applys to any person in the united states... I'm a Canadian Citizen and I know this, sheesh.
alanmcclean17Dec 24th 2010 6:48PM
@Denny He does.
UnknownDec 24th 2010 9:24PM
@Denny
You should study up on the Constitution before making such a dumb comment.
Too much fox news perhaps.
pfcDec 23rd 2010 3:25PM
I'm confused. Is this a political site for far left nuts, or is this a technology website?
Think4YourselvesDec 24th 2010 8:46PM
@pfc
Actually it's a news website, I know Fox might have blurred
your vision to it - but news isn't supposed to give it's own opinion, that's for
the editorial, or specialty-show section. You're supposed to be a free-thinking
American, one who makes up his/her own mind. The news is supposed to
be fact.
But then again, you're also supposed to have freedom of press, thought and expression........ Obviously publishing fact about government means you're a terrorist.?.?>? Since when do news stations (*cough* Fox *cough*) follow the GOP party line like it came from some fundamentalist bible? -> I guess they don't want to be labeled "terrorist" like Wikileaks
josephtreyesDec 24th 2010 11:08PM
@pfc why is this video so offensive to you?? Why is this website for so called "far left nuts".
GreenbeanieDec 25th 2010 12:35AM
@pfc Still stuck in that left/right paradigm, I see.
UberSilDec 24th 2010 8:33PM
@Fabio
You can be tried for breaking US law and still not have amendment rights. Only US citizens have amendment rights, however you only need to do business in the States to be charged and sentenced of a crime. Mr. Assange most definitely has done business in the States. In fact it seems as time goes on that he actually preferred to do business in the States. Who gets Amazon to do their hosting when they're holed up in Scandinavia?
rand_oneDec 24th 2010 11:21PM
@UberSil
14th amendment, equal protection clause......
"...nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
The Constitution, read it.
UberSilDec 24th 2010 8:33PM
Does Fox News make you more stupid by simple osmosis than Wikileaks? You can bet your redneck, mountain man Uncle it does!
Is it more of a terrorist? Depends, how often do they release classified information from any country? And fail to put it into context while they're at it?
FabioDec 25th 2010 4:28AM
@David
Not being US citizen I wouldn't know the details, but if what you say is true then I get chills all over my spine: USA claims the right to prosecute people outside of their country by their own laws but without granting them their own rights?
UberSilDec 27th 2010 3:19AM
@David
Actually the first amendment only protects you if you're a recognized journalist via a recognized source of media. The question is what is and is not recognized and the distinction is what protected deep throat while not protecting Assange.
On the other hand, if you were to bother committing an act of terrorism in the US as an American you'd be better off than as a Canadian in Canada. American's can hide in Canada from the death penalty while Canadians are not afforded that luxury in any country.
UberSilDec 27th 2010 3:19AM
@rand_one
Then please explain Saddam Hussein, once president of Iraq, to me. Also explain Omar Kadhr to me, who was found to not be a military combatant by the US supreme court but has not been treated fairly under it's law.
In addition, a Canadian cannot hide from extradition via US law from a Canadian crime. Where as american law enforcement agencies need to petition for a warrant of arrest for an American citizen on Canadian soil and be denied due to refusal of extradition, the RCMP has no recognition of any border in the world in regards to its own citizenry; a fact recognized by the US government that refutes your assertion. Thus there is no equal protection under the law in many instances of US law.
DennyDec 25th 2010 1:59AM
Thanks for the correction, I needed to be more precise.
First, the First Amendment does not cover leaking state secrets.
http://volokh.com/2010/08/22/can-the-wikilinks-founder-be-prosecuted-for-espionage-by-the-us/
Second, I did not think Assange was under the US jurisdiction when he posted the stuff. Again, I am not sure how the US Constitution applies here. I am sure when he is being in our courtroom certain rights will be given to him but not sure how the 14th or the 1st amendments apply to him right now.
Billy Von TrapDec 25th 2010 2:14AM
@Denny
Basically we'll ignore the rights we feel he shouldn't have while creating retroactive laws to charge him with.
RichardDec 25th 2010 2:29AM
@Denny
Bradley Manning leaked the documents, Wikileaks (and the NYT, and the Guardian, et al) published them. Here, have a read of this page before you "contribute" further to the discussion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
As for your second point, all I have to say is Derp.
DennyDec 25th 2010 5:28PM
@Richard
The name calling bias stuff has no relevant. Please read http://volokh.com/2010/08/22/can-the-wikilinks-founder-be-prosecuted-for-espionage-by-the-us/ regarding persecution of publishing state secrets. Freedom of the press does not cover publishing secrets.