Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he is considering a request from Australia to drop the decade-long US push to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing a trove of American classified documents.

  • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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    8 months ago

    He’s an absolute scum bag and is directly responsible for Trump’s election.

    That said, my personal feelings about him are irrelevant. Whistle-blowers are an important part of democracy and must be protected.

    • deft@lemmy.wtf
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      8 months ago

      It isn’t whistle blowing if you’re using it for your own personal gain. Then it is just politics

      He sold away his whistle blower status in my book when he was attempting to manipulate elections and wasn’t being 100% truthful

      • OneOrTheOtherDontAskMe@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        I don’t think he would have done that if we didn’t pursue him like a dog and threaten to throw the book at him, as a whistleblower.

        If we’d given him proper whistleblower protections, he wouldn’t have fled for his life or intentionally jumped in our enemies pockets

        • deft@lemmy.wtf
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          8 months ago

          Nah that man has an agenda.

          He’s basically a tattle-tale so he can benefit. Not a whistle-blower with the intent to help people like Manning or Snowden. He’s just an asshole.

          • OneOrTheOtherDontAskMe@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            I dont consider the release of any government secrets that SHOULD be public to be ‘tattle tale’-ing.

            Can you detail his agenda, so that I can know what you’re meaning?

            • deft@lemmy.wtf
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              8 months ago

              Wikileaks and Assange have both tried to sell themselves as whistle blowers fighting for truth and while they have revealed evil and wrongdoing. They utilize Russian information networks and specifically place focus on the US.

              In anyone reasonable’s eyes you would tell Assange isn’t a whistle blower, he is a player in the game and WikiLeaks is literally just another propaganda outlet like the rest of them that tries to act differently.

    • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      He’s an absolute scum bag and is directly responsible for Trump’s election.

      How so? Everything released was genuine. Maybe the Clinton campaign shouldn’t have been so shitty.

      Don’t shoot the messenger.

      • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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        8 months ago

        As you well know, the release was timed to maximise the damage to Clinton’s campaign. Assange’s hatred of Clinton was well established long before.

        • Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          maximise the damage to Clinton’s campaign

          No. Timed to maximise the exposure for wikileaks, to encourage more leaking.

          Assange’s hatred of Clinton was well established long before.

          More because she hates him. She was pushing to indict him after publishing the 2010 diplomatic cables showing complicit spying during her tenure as secretary of state. The same ones he’s now being held in prison for.