Thursday, March 03, 2011
Killing the Messenger
It is a truism that not all messages are appreciated; when it comes to exposing fraud as an imperial adventure, killing the messenger is an automatic imperial response. In the case of Bradley Manning, the source for the Wikileaks expose on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the new charge of aiding the enemy comes with the death penalty.
Beyond Manning, the desire of the U.S. Government to execute Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange is less about security and more about control. What the White House can't narrate through the imperial friendly, corporate media machinery is considered the enemy, especially if, like Wikileaks, it tells the truth.
Of course, everyone who wants to find the truth already knows. Thanks to Manning, Assange, and Wikileaks, the ugliness of imperial savagery is available online. In the twisted imperial logic of our national security state, if they can't shut down the Internet, then they have to start killing whistleblowers. As such, Obama and Clinton may be the last people in America to get the most crucial message of all--the empire is over.
Beyond Manning, the desire of the U.S. Government to execute Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange is less about security and more about control. What the White House can't narrate through the imperial friendly, corporate media machinery is considered the enemy, especially if, like Wikileaks, it tells the truth.
Of course, everyone who wants to find the truth already knows. Thanks to Manning, Assange, and Wikileaks, the ugliness of imperial savagery is available online. In the twisted imperial logic of our national security state, if they can't shut down the Internet, then they have to start killing whistleblowers. As such, Obama and Clinton may be the last people in America to get the most crucial message of all--the empire is over.
