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It seems Assange's enemies win, whether he's in the embassy or in custody of some state hostile to him. He's becoming harder and harder to trust given the menta

It seems Assange's enemies win, whether he's in the embassy or in custody of some state hostile to him. He's becoming harder and harder to trust given the mental stress he must be under. It's not very difficult to imagine him being persuaded to support some agenda, as long as it's hostile to his enemies, while before all this, he at least had a fairly believable aura of indiscriminating antiauthoritarianism.

AnimalMuppet 9y ago
> ... while before all this, he at least had a fairly believable aura of indiscriminating antiauthoritarianism. He had a claim of indiscriminate antiauthoritarianism. I never really believed it, though - he always seemed to be releasing information that was targeted at specific axes he wanted to grind. (It's possible that he was just releasing what he got, indiscriminately, but I never got that impression.)
- gt_ 9y ago
  What is the need for making one’s mind up on these things? It’s tough to explain or justify much of how Assange has chosen to live his life in merely common terms.
IntronExon 9y ago
He really seems like his own worst enemy, not in the least because his claims are at odds with his behavior. I also don’t really buy that he’s avoiding Swedish justice out of fear that the Americans will get him. That seems especially unlikely with Trump in office, given that they seem more or less aligned. He just seems to be an egotist and a bit of a scumbag, who says one thing and does another.
- EmilStenstrom 9y ago
  There is no longer any Swedish justice after him. Case was closed because he couldn’t be reached.
  - IntronExon 9y ago
    And his assertion on Friday that Sweden had cleared his name for a crime he has denied was disputed by Sweden’s chief prosecutor, Marianne Ny. Sweden was dropping the inquiry, Ms. Ny said, because she simply saw no way forward and “we don’t make any statement of guilty or not.” Should Mr. Assange enter Sweden before August 2020, when the statute of limitations expires for the last remaining allegation, of minor rape, she said, the investigation could be reopened. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/world/europe/julian-assange-sweden-rape.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/world/europe/julian-assan...
- rurban 9y ago
  It's only the US and british governments which are after him currently. Publishing annoying state secrets doesn't go well with them.
  - lucozade 9y ago
    The British government are after him because, after he was allowed to enter the country and having gone through due process, his European arrest warrant was upheld and he absconded. That has nothing to do with state secrets and, so far, the US haven't asked for him to be extradicted. As the US has the concept of a closed warrant,it's not currently possible to know if he's wanted by them. It's not exactly inconceivable.

AnimalMuppet 9y ago

> ... while before all this, he at least had a fairly believable aura of indiscriminating antiauthoritarianism. He had a claim of indiscriminate antiauthoritarianism. I never really believed it, though - he always seemed to be releasing information that was targeted at specific axes he wanted to grind. (It's possible that he was just releasing what he got, indiscriminately, but I never got that impression.)

gt_ 9y ago
What is the need for making one’s mind up on these things? It’s tough to explain or justify much of how Assange has chosen to live his life in merely common terms.

IntronExon 9y ago

He really seems like his own worst enemy, not in the least because his claims are at odds with his behavior. I also don’t really buy that he’s avoiding Swedish justice out of fear that the Americans will get him. That seems especially unlikely with Trump in office, given that they seem more or less aligned. He just seems to be an egotist and a bit of a scumbag, who says one thing and does another.

EmilStenstrom 9y ago
There is no longer any Swedish justice after him. Case was closed because he couldn’t be reached.
- IntronExon 9y ago
  And his assertion on Friday that Sweden had cleared his name for a crime he has denied was disputed by Sweden’s chief prosecutor, Marianne Ny. Sweden was dropping the inquiry, Ms. Ny said, because she simply saw no way forward and “we don’t make any statement of guilty or not.” Should Mr. Assange enter Sweden before August 2020, when the statute of limitations expires for the last remaining allegation, of minor rape, she said, the investigation could be reopened. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/world/europe/julian-assange-sweden-rape.html https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/world/europe/julian-assan...
rurban 9y ago
It's only the US and british governments which are after him currently. Publishing annoying state secrets doesn't go well with them.
- lucozade 9y ago
  The British government are after him because, after he was allowed to enter the country and having gone through due process, his European arrest warrant was upheld and he absconded. That has nothing to do with state secrets and, so far, the US haven't asked for him to be extradicted. As the US has the concept of a closed warrant,it's not currently possible to know if he's wanted by them. It's not exactly inconceivable.