The Accused WikiLeaker - In A Society Ruled By Laws, The Accused Are Granted Due Process. In A Society Ruled By Men, They Are Denied That Fundamental Right And May Even Be Tortured.
I don’t always agree with everything Glenn Greenwald writes - his view on corporate personhood is ill-thought in my estimation. But he generally is a source of reason and virtue as it pertains to the rule of law. I suppose we would expect this from someone who has dedicated their life to being a constitutional and civil rights lawyer.
You may agree or disagree that the Wikileaks leak is beneficial. But I suspect much of any disagreement is derived from a deluded belief system. How many people who disagree with the recent leaks of “classified” information would have a problem if we were back in the 1970s and someone smuggled out classified Soviet Union information on possible misconduct within their own society and around the world? Dare I say no one? Might I ask the difference?
While two wrongs don’t make a right, is there any truth or legitimacy in all of the secrets our government keeps? Is this really democracy? Are they really following the intent of the law or are they creating their own laws as a society ruled by men and not laws? I doubt a single signer of the Constitution would come to the aid of the U.S. government in this issue were they alive. I doubt that because in many ways our government appears very similar to that of England in 1776 – imperialistic, driven by a corrupt and heavily indebted banking system, using intimidation and war around the world to maintain an empire, wielding and levying ungranted powers, driven by its own interest over that of its sovereign citizens, etc.
That the accused has not been charged with anything, has not granted due process and is contained in an environment many consider to be torture, should be very disturbing to anyone who appreciates freedom and democracy because this constitutes neither.
Below is a timeless quote from a man who lived in another society which was ruled by men and not by laws. While we aren’t to that point and may never get to that point, it’s worth noting what silence and acceptance of the state’s shenanigans are capable of creating.
First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.
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