‘’Senator Julian Assange–Not as Crazy as it Sounds
By Steve Huff
Okay, perhaps it's a little crazy.
Head Wikileaker and house arrestee Julian Assange has been pondering a run for the Australian Senate. Before you even quirk an eyebrow at the prospect of a “Senator Assange,” note that a recent survey by Australian Labor Party pollsters indicates Mr. Assange could garner nearly 25% of the vote. Agence France-Presse reports members of “the left-wing Greens party were most likely to be pro-Assange, with 39 percent saying they would vote for him.”
In a sampling of 1,000 potential voters, nearly equal percentages of Labor and conservative supporters also indicated they might vote for Mr. Assange, who is currently on bail in England after being accused of “sexual molestation” in Sweden.
Mr. Assange is essentially under house arrest while he waits to see if he’ll be extradited but that hasn’t stopped him from launching a TV show in addition to exploring a future in politics. His World Tomorrow airs on RT and has featured guests such as Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hebollah and Ecuador’s president, Rafael Correa.
Agence France-Presse also reports that Wikileaks, as an organization, is prepared to field a candidate against Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2013.
Correction: An earlier version of this post said Mr. Assange was “charged with” sexual molestation. At this point he has not been officially charged.
I'm not to sure that Julian has not come up with a way to beat the US charges this way. If he gains senior politician status, he is in essence immune to US extradition, much the same way as a diplomat. As long as he stays in office it is my understanding that the US will just have to whistle and wait. Julian will be able to do whatever, including flying to the US on official business and not have any hassles whatever from the US other than possibly the No Fly list. It is even conceivable that he could get his name removed from that list as a major politician in Australia. Even if he doesn't I don't suspect that it would really matter to him.
There's something else in this story. It strikes a chord with the Occupy movement. Both wish transparency of government. Both when it comes down to it want protections for whistle blowers. Obama has used the spy bill that against all whistle blowers that have exposed major government actions that were mistakes. Not because aid was given to the enemy but because that is the most severe charge he can bring against whistle blowers. He himself, has used this charge more than all other presidents in the history of the US, combined. For someone that ran on transparency of government for his first election this action has shown he is for anything but transparency.
Whistle blowers are necessary to catch government agencies and politician office holders when they circumvent or break the law. Without them, you don't find out. Whistle blowers know where the skeletons are hid, where the keys are, and why they are hid. Without this info it is much harder to apprehend the criminal minded with a good chance that even if you know about such actions without the evidence you can't prove it.
Now I am not a birther but I suspect there is something here that Obama is hiding and that just might be it. Understand right up front, I don't care what the race, gender, nor sexual preference, of the president or any other politician is. What I care about is what they do. I don't have to live in the same house, don't have to hear them every day, so what that comes down to is those traits have no effect on my life from any politician just because they happen to hold a seat or office. Their actions that they perform in office is a whole 'nother ball of wax. That effects me when they make laws and that is what concerns me.
It seems much of where the government is headed and probably more importantly how it intends to get there that is my concern along with lots of other citizens that are speaking up and saying so.