Thoughts on where WikiLeaks needs to go from here. Government opacity is a curse on freedom, but terrorism is a curse on life as we know it.

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17 December 2010: WickedLeaks--Beshrew Me

Wikileaks has rocked the world, and rightly so.

The truths revealed to us contradict what the media are telling us.

But we've been told before that they, the media, descended into infotainment long ago. So I go to the progressive Internet to get my truer news. I even passed on some news from the underground (pace MCM) to the Obama administration and am grateful for that opportunity.

History has repeated itself. The Iraq was is parallel to the Vietnam war in many ways, and Wikileaks has revealed to us what should have been a published equivalent to the Pentagon Papers, but the New York Times has shifted gears since then, so disappointingly.

As I implied before, I want a worldwide spread. I'd be even more impressed If WikiL invaded some darker territory, the terrorist network, and whispered some secrets TO governments rather than ABOUT them.

I mean, the curtains of hypocrisy have been lifted before. Are we really THAT surprised? Somewhat, certainly. Lots of countries want to transform Iran into a crater. And what a heritage will sink with that, what a link with the remote past, what a tragedy for all of those wonderful people I've met who want a freer government than the theocracy they have.

But life goes on in the mainstream. The hypocritical network abides after WikiL's brief electric shock. Maybe more glue has buried the communications even lower into the ground. Maybe more communications have been marked TOP SECRET and kept away from martyrs like Pvt. Bradley Manning.

If not, then further leaks are no one's fault but the "intelligence" networks.

Are they so intelligent?

Those who access terrorist plots and stymie them are have my admiration. WikiL can do better and should.

And if they are, my homage to them and, dammit, keep it secret.

Can you picture the CIA publishing a WikiLeaks network that will save so many truly innocent people from terrorist attacks, suicide bombings? Would they, for their own reasons?

Those attacks--beshrew me--betray a brand of heroism and literal self-sacrifice that is awarded in this country with the Congressional Medal of Honor.

But they are violating precepts of the Holy Qu'ran, my Muslim friends tell me--murdering untold numbers of innocent victims, ruining lives, imposing a culture of fear upon the world that is transforming many governments into police states.

Ride the friendly skies where you want to at your own risk, as long as you strip-tease first

--a wave of fear I can't get rid of not only at airports but every time I descend into the Metro or ride on Amtrak through that dark tunnel that separates New Jersey from New York.

If WikiL is doing something about that, homage to them. Don't tell a soul, even us progs, til the deed has been done and the "free world" is truly free, and the press becomes the fourth branch of our government again. Those governments most transparent are also the best in many other ways; [there is a] "striking correlation between press freedom and countries known for their quality of life." [quote from here]

Shall the truth set us free or force us to self-immolate?

Shall the martyrs self-immolate while setting the rest of us free?

Then a fifth figure on Mt. Rushmore will be more than justified, not Ronald Reagan of Iran-Contra infamy (who, like Nixon, didn't know a thing about it but got away with "ignorance," which is so fashionable these days).

I expect a barrage of rotten fruit for this entry, but life will go on and all comments are most welcome.

We do have freedom of the press on our websites, for now. Let's pray it continues and we don't have to endure body searches before reaching the people who need to know, who need to trust, who need to face the truth And act on it,

like those brave souls who stood in front of the White House yesterday until carted off to the slammer.

Glad and unafraid, they smiled--paraphrase of a song I learned in Sunday School a long time ago: "Heroes all, they smiled in pride/glad and unafraid they died"--guerilla fighters (I think that's the reference, the Maccabees) who won, like the Vietcong, despite their diminutive numbers. One mother watched her five sons brutally murdered without giving in.

Let's win, too, despite our diminutive numbers.

In other words, WikiL, Encore and more!!

(c)

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Authors Website: http://www.wordsunltd.com

Authors Bio:

Marta Steele is an author/editor/blogger who has been writing for Opednews.com since 2006. She is also author of the 2012 book "Grassroots, Geeks, Pros, and Pols: The Election Integrity Movement's Nonstop Battle to Win Back the People's Vote, 2000-2008" (Columbus, Free Press) and a member of the Election Integrity movement since 2001. Her original website, WordsUnLtd.com, first entered the blogosphere in 2003. She recently became a senior editor for Opednews.com. She has in the past taught college and worked as a full-time as well as freelance reporter. She has been a peace and election integrity activist since 1999. Her undergraduate and graduate educational background are in Spanish, classical philology, and historical and comparative linguistics. Her biography is most recently listed in "Who's Who in America" 2019 and in 2018 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Who's Who.