Quote:
Originally Posted by mixedmedia
I have a fabulous idea.
Since we're all in our happy place making up laws to be broken so we can trot certain 'bad people' out to be shot, why not think of it this way:
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There's no laws being made up. The guy who handed over the information broke laws about releasing classified information. Maybe it's PFC Manning, who the military will deal with soon enough, maybe it's somebody else, who should also be dealt with.
The people running wikileaks could have just turned the classified info back to the government, along with the name of the person who gave it to them if they knew that.
Or they could create a second violation of the laws against releasing classified information by releasing the documents themselves.
They chose the second and deserve to be prosecuted out of existence.
If the NY Times somehow obtained a detailed military plan for some action in Afghanistan and published that, I really doubt that free speech laws would protect them form that. I think national security law would take precedence.
---------- Post added at 07:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:42 AM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by roachboy
interesting. so in this scenario, government has a job and media has a job, but citizens, who are parts of a democratic polity i understand, don't have a job---like to be informed, to make informed decisions---and so have no interest really in accurate information. it's ok to lie to the polity it's ok to manage them. because american democracy really is that paper-thin. and the irony, i suppose (were there even surprise about this) is that it's the conservatives who claim to be all about democracy in america (except when it's politically inconvenient at which point democray becomes mob rule or communism somehow except when it's convenient when it becomes what the united of states stands for) who are in this place yelling: I DONT WANT TO KNOW ALL THIS STUFF I'M NOT LISTENING LA LA LA SHOOT JULIAN ASSANGE.
i dont get it.
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Where's the outrage that wikileaks hasn't published any of Al Queda's classified information?
Or are maybe the wikileaks people a bunch of cowards who are afraid something bad will happen to them if they do that?