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[openscarf]

Imagine...

Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange (A statement from Michael Moore)

Tuesday, December 14th, 2010

Friends,

Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000 of my own money to help bail Mr. Assange out of jail.

Furthermore, I am publicly offering the assistance of my website, my servers, my domain names and anything else I can do to keep WikiLeaks alive and thriving as it continues its work to expose the crimes that were concocted in secret and carried out in our name and with our tax dollars.

We were taken to war in Iraq on a lie. Hundreds of thousands are now dead. Just imagine if the men who planned this war crime back in 2002 had had a WikiLeaks to deal with. They might not have been able to pull it off. The only reason they thought they could get away with it was because they had a guaranteed cloak of secrecy. That guarantee has now been ripped from them, and I hope they are never able to operate in secret again.

So why is WikiLeaks, after performing such an important public service, under such vicious attack? Because they have outed and embarrassed those who have covered up the truth. The assault on them has been over the top:

**Sen. Joe Lieberman says WikiLeaks "has violated the Espionage Act."

**The New Yorker's George Packer calls Assange "super-secretive, thin-skinned, [and] megalomaniacal."

**Sarah Palin claims he's "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands" whom we should pursue "with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders."

**Democrat Bob Beckel (Walter Mondale's 1984 campaign manager) said about Assange on Fox: "A dead man can't leak stuff ... there's only one way to do it: illegally shoot the son of a bitch."

**Republican Mary Matalin says "he's a psychopath, a sociopath ... He's a terrorist."

**Rep. Peter A. King calls WikiLeaks a "terrorist organization."

And indeed they are! They exist to terrorize the liars and warmongers who have brought ruin to our nation and to others. Perhaps the next war won't be so easy because the tables have been turned -- and now it's Big Brother who's being watched ... by us!

WikiLeaks deserves our thanks for shining a huge spotlight on all this. But some in the corporate-owned press have dismissed the importance of WikiLeaks ("they've released little that's new!") or have painted them as simple anarchists ("WikiLeaks just releases everything without any editorial control!"). WikiLeaks exists, in part, because the mainstream media has failed to live up to its responsibility. The corporate owners have decimated newsrooms, making it impossible for good journalists to do their job. There's no time or money anymore for investigative journalism. Simply put, investors don't want those stories exposed. They like their secrets kept ... as secrets.

I ask you to imagine how much different our world would be if WikiLeaks had existed 10 years ago. Take a look at this photo. That's Mr. Bush about to be handed a "secret" document on August 6th, 2001. Its heading read: "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US." And on those pages it said the FBI had discovered "patterns of suspicious activity in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings." Mr. Bush decided to ignore it and went fishing for the next four weeks.

But if that document had been leaked, how would you or I have reacted? What would Congress or the FAA have done? Was there not a greater chance that someone, somewhere would have done something if all of us knew about bin Laden's impending attack using hijacked planes?

But back then only a few people had access to that document. Because the secret was kept, a flight school instructor in San Diego who noticed that two Saudi students took no interest in takeoffs or landings, did nothing. Had he read about the bin Laden threat in the paper, might he have called the FBI? (Please read this essay by former FBI Agent Coleen Rowley, Time's 2002 co-Person of the Year, about her belief that had WikiLeaks been around in 2001, 9/11 might have been prevented.)

Or what if the public in 2003 had been able to read "secret" memos from Dick Cheney as he pressured the CIA to give him the "facts" he wanted in order to build his false case for war? If a WikiLeaks had revealed at that time that there were, in fact, no weapons of mass destruction, do you think that the war would have been launched -- or rather, wouldn't there have been calls for Cheney's arrest?

Openness, transparency -- these are among the few weapons the citizenry has to protect itself from the powerful and the corrupt. What if within days of August 4th, 1964 -- after the Pentagon had made up the lie that our ship was attacked by the North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin -- there had been a WikiLeaks to tell the American people that the whole thing was made up? I guess 58,000 of our soldiers (and 2 million Vietnamese) might be alive today.

Instead, secrets killed them.

For those of you who think it's wrong to support Julian Assange because of the sexual assault allegations he's being held for, all I ask is that you not be naive about how the government works when it decides to go after its prey. Please -- never, ever believe the "official story." And regardless of Assange's guilt or innocence (see the strange nature of the allegations here), this man has the right to have bail posted and to defend himself. I have joined with filmmakers Ken Loach and John Pilger and writer Jemima Khan in putting up the bail money -- and we hope the judge will accept this and grant his release today.

Might WikiLeaks cause some unintended harm to diplomatic negotiations and U.S. interests around the world? Perhaps. But that's the price you pay when you and your government take us into a war based on a lie. Your punishment for misbehaving is that someone has to turn on all the lights in the room so that we can see what you're up to. You simply can't be trusted. So every cable, every email you write is now fair game. Sorry, but you brought this upon yourself. No one can hide from the truth now. No one can plot the next Big Lie if they know that they might be exposed.

And that is the best thing that WikiLeaks has done. WikiLeaks, God bless them, will save lives as a result of their actions. And any of you who join me in supporting them are committing a true act of patriotism. Period.

I stand today in absentia with Julian Assange in London and I ask the judge to grant him his release. I am willing to guarantee his return to court with the bail money I have wired to said court. I will not allow this injustice to continue unchallenged.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

P.S. You can read the statement I filed today in the London court here.

P.P.S. If you're reading this in London, please go support Julian Assange and WikiLeaks at a demonstration at 1 PM today, Tuesday the 14th, in front of the Westminster court.

Comments

[dadadadio.livejournal.com]

I was kind of hoping you would slap me a little when I posted on this topic .... but you didn't.

I love this post because it does a great job of outlining the reasons to love wikileaks. I am a fan of wikileaks but I think the man and motive are suspect.

It's no shock MM is a huge Assange supporter. He himself has gotten rich .... and I mean seriuosly wealthy .... off making people angry at the system. He is no better than Ruch Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. Moore is merely the left's version of media demagogue with a big bank account.

That does not mean I don't like Michael Moore, I simply put him in perspective.

Thanks for posting this. I enjoyed the read and can't wait for the next chapter in wikileaks vs security. The international legal angle is a nice twist.

[openscarf.livejournal.com]

Hah. I didn't comment before because there are just some things we vastly disagree on. Your perspective is not mine.

I'm not so concerned with Assange's character, I think it's bizzare that people suspect his motives. Does he have a huge ego? Yes, it's been written about, who cares? It's what he has put in motion that is making people and corporations run like mad. Plus he is uber intelligent.

How far off track is that? Why is THAT the focus? (If he really raped women, I'm not defending that) Anyone who exposes the lies the gov't tells us that causes people to die and/or suffer, is tops in my book. There will be others, all ready a splinter group of former Wikileaks are forming a group. These are fascinating times. It's all changed. Hip. Hip. Hooray.

The legal action will be a bust, the US will make a fool of itself. I want to know this stuff. No more secrecy, no more bullshit, let's see how the crooks (not all crooks, did you hear Bernie Sanders??)run and hide now.

Comparing Michael Moore to Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh? Just because some people are liberals or progressives doesn't make them the mirror opposite of Fox news and their ilk.

WOW, I couldn't disagree with you more. He has exposed a lot of truths, especially showing us how the health care system works. Is he theatrical? Sure, who cares? But he's tolerant, not intolerant, doesn't preach hate, during the Katrina aftermath, he went in and set up an infrastructure that fed and saved people while gov't floundered for WEEKS... WOW. There may not have been 2 wars going on if information had been released like this, that is HUGE. Who cares if he's made money? Who cares? WOW, WOW, WOW.

Gotta agree to hugely disagree with you my friend. Our perspectives are far apart. :-) Is that better?

Yup, that's better.

[dadadadio.livejournal.com]

I know we disagree on this matter but that's okay, as long as we can do so and still be friends. Some of the best conversations I've had have been with people I disagree with. We learn more from those talks than we do from an echo chamber.

I compare MM to RL and GB only in the fact they've all become very rich exploiting the political and social issues that polarize this nation. I see them all as political profiteers.

I believe the sex charges against Assange are suspect. He may have fallen into a honey trap, the oldest trick in the spy book.

Re: Yup, that's better.

[openscarf.livejournal.com]

Regarding our government, I feel there is plenty of information out there to get it all, I read a lot of non-mainstream stuff plus what everyone else sees. My beliefs are firm and I don't like at all, discussing politics with those who don't think as I do. I learn a lot more from people who know more about my leanings, I am no expert and don't feel comfortable arguing my case. I'm not a middle of the road person. There has been to much death, suffering, lies and corruption in the USA. Sorry, but to me, these conversations are pointless. I'm for change, knowledge, truth.

I don't think Michael Moore has exploited anything. I believe he cares where he comes from. He made money because his medium is film, I don't know what being rich has to do with anything. They're are lovely rich people in the world.

FOX "news" is an embarassment, it incites people to hatred, it's uninformed, it spreads lies, it panders to the gov't. Watching it is a waste of precious time and supports a lot of negative causes.

I don't believe it's an echo chamber either, I think it's a vast room of information.

Sorry. :-)

[yummydeb.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this, it's hugely interesting and informative.

Btw as for the rape charges, from what it sounds like, it was consentual sex during which a condom broke, thus turning it into unprotected sex which wasn't constented-to (the unprotected bit, not the sex bit). I haven't read it myself but this is what I've heard on the news and what Sem reminded me of today too when they talked about it yet again. So, yeah. He's being charged because of a condom defect.

I don't know, maybe there's more to it than that but didn't they (Sweden and now the UK) realize that everyone with half a brain realizes how 'convenient' this rape charge/arrest/extradition proceedings are, in light of all the WikiLeaks furore just now? Argh.

I think that they (WikiLeaks) aren't always very wise in what they leak - some things do have an impact on the safety of, say, the armed forces and so on. BUT... I think the majority of what they post IS something we all have the right to know about, and that there have been too many wars based on too many lies and somehow those in power get rich off of too much of it - and get off scot-free.

Things are changing and governments are flailing in their need to keep the people blind, deaf and dumb about it all. But I think now that it has started, with Assange or not, it cannot be stopped and that's no bad thing!

[openscarf.livejournal.com]

I'm so fascinated by it all, you are welcome.

I agree with you concerning the rape charges. We all ready know the US gov't leaned on Visa, Amazon, Pay Pal and how many others to shut Wikileaks up. That Assange did step forward as the face of Wikileaks put a brighter spotlight on the purpose of it. I'm sure the gov't frantically told many to find anything on him that could hold him in jail.

The fact that he's in jail for releasing documents proving our leaders lie to us on a routine basis regarding everything, but leaders aren't in jail for lying to us regarding wars that began based on lies, BP isn't in jail or put out of business because of our pact with oil nations, Karl Rove isn't in jail for outing Valerie Plame as a CIA operative, wall street crooks aren't in jail for their massive part in destroying the economy, insurance companies are not accountable for letting people die, omg, I could go on and on.

The fact that some people believe all that is ok, that gov't is above the law, that its ok to target who they want, that their motives don't matter, but people who expose the truth, their motives are questioned, that Assange's motives are questioned is ludicrous to me.

Those ridiculous people fighting and screaming about whether homosexuals can marry and openly serve in the service, wtf? I mean really? It's time for a change, it's time for transparency.

I agree with you, it can't be stopped and we don't know what the consequences will be, but to me, it is a revolution, it's the "people" taking it to the streets, except this is a new street. Maybe this will break the 2 party system, maybe this will loosen corporate rule, who knows? But we get to read what's really going on.

Power to the people! The Truth will set you free! ;-)