Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The irony of Julian Assange


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Some suggest that he's a hero for revealing the deepest and darkest of secrets of government and corporate leaders, revealing through his wiki leak dumps the hypocrisy and duplicity that some suggest guide their every efforts.

Others however, believe that Julian Assange is perhaps one of the most dangerous men alive, putting lives at risk, an egotistical blowhard who is using his wiki leaks fame for his own personal glories.

It's a divide that is becoming the obsession of the media of late, as commentators staking out their turf either in favour of Assange and his efforts or decrying them as a very dangerous practice.

That debate it seems is also shared both within and far from his wiki leaks group, insiders to the group have spoken out at how the project has strayed far from its original ideals and become too focused on Assange and his troubles, while those clearly on the side of Mr. Assange have suggested that evil forces are at work to bring to an end his goals of transparency and accountability of some of the highest of powers.

The split within the wiki leakers spawning another site, Open Leaks, which is hoping to return to the task of revelations without the personal dramas that have evolved thus far.

Somewhere in the middle of all this muddle we imagine is the truth, one day to be examined and divined as to where Assange will fit in the larger picture of  this anarchy of the internets and what we should have access to and when we should access it.

Before that happens however, Mr. Assange will no doubt face more than a few legal questions and procedures, the first of which would appear to be his troubles in Sweden over charges of alleged sexual impropriety.

Recently released from his British cell where he was being held while the Swedish charges get sorted out, Assange has been quick to return to the public spotlight he had to abandon while incarcerated.

However, the first of his public comments since that new found freedom have provided for a fascinating bit of situational irony in recent times, where the man who found no problems with his leaking volumes of information from around the world is more than a little annoyed that a British newspaper has leaked details of his own legal difficulties in Sweden.

It's made for an interesting review of his own wiki leak beliefs and how sometimes we can be hoisted upon our own petard.

Certainly it's the kind of development that can make the work of the script writers at Saturday Night Live as easy as its ever been, not that they need the leg up, considering the past works on the Assange file so far.

Here  are a couple of their most recent comedic gems, spawned from the very public profile of the wiki leaker himself
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