ThoughtCast: Is WikiLeaks' Julian Assange a hero, or a villain?

[peterlikesthis]

You're not aloud to make whistle-blow government atrocities, you end up in prison. Free Bradley Manning!

[nickst0ne]

This interview forgot to mention how Assange was labeled a terrorist by politicians and news organizations while Assange's discourse was totally muted in the media (the need for secrecy being much less than the actual secrecy, which has grown dramatically since Bush's administrations).

The revelations by Wikileaks drew an incredible picture of violations committed by the USA, but such an inconvenient truth gets him a political prosecution aimed at deporting him to USA and a threat to his life

[russpears2009]

faculty insight? the only thing this interview proves is that this educational system is a mouthpiece for the system. this guy and the rest of this educational system have takiem sides with corruption only because they want their piece of the 850,000,000,000

[DCWhatthe]

Nice interview.

[jt55106]

Julian Assange is a true hero and wikileaks is far better then Media Propaganda we get in america. If anyone puts Julian in prison with out real proof the shit is going to hit the fan. We'll make all the riots around the world going on right now, look like a little girls slumber party.

[listen2meokidoki]

@jt55106 Grammar! Wikileaks is far better THAN Media. Not then. But there their they're, you're not the only one making this mistake. Also, Julian in prison WITHOUT real proof. Anyway, your sentiment is good. Thank God you have a constitution that protects Julian also. But the most important aspect of government is the independence of the judiciary. In Australia, where Julian derives, that independence is incredibly strong. I too would go to civil war to protect our courts.

[thomkaufmann]

He says that Assange is not a journalist and Wikileaks is not a news organization but then goes on to say "...everybody with a computer is a blogger, a journalist...".

[jenattiyeh]

@thomkaufmann

Very acute observation! Too bad I didn't catch it in the interview! What do you think about Assange, and his role?

[bedfordgold]

@jenattiyeh An accurate but incomplete observation. The first reference was to the commercial characteristics of Assange's activity; the second was addressing the legal standing with regard to freedom of the press extending to everyone.

[listen2meokidoki]

@thomkaufmann Oh My God! That's is exactly what I instantly thought. Very well put observation. This means that a Spade really is a Spade. A tool to dig holes held in one hand. On the other hand a Shovel is held in both hands to effectively use it. And so Julian is a Hero because all Journalist are heros. Even if they are also bastards because to err is to be human. And Julian is human. Computers are sources & Evil. But will civilisation outlast Computers? Or is this the begining of the end?

[javu04]

@thomkaufmann I think he is distinguishing between a journalist and a '"journalist" in the legal sense'. Meaning that Assange is only a source to the journalists/media and not a journalist himself, but still enjoys the same legal protection as any journalist would. In other words, he is explaining that in the eyes of the law everybody is a "journalist" and therefore enjoys the protection of the freedom of the press. If you get what i mean ;)