American hegemony certainly has its warts but it’s also prevailed over the most peaceful period of world history with staggering numbers of people being lifted

American hegemony certainly has its warts but it’s also prevailed over the most peaceful period of world history with staggering numbers of people being lifted from poverty. We shouldn’t blanket trust anybody of course, but it makes more sense to put your faith in the one advocating for free speech and democracy if you believe in human rights and equality. It’s really easy to point out where we’ve fucked up, but a lot harder to appreciate the regional conflicts that just plain didn’t happen because of the “big stick” as Teddy Roosevelt would call it. Just as an aside, I have no idea how I feel about this particular case against Assange. He doesn’t seem like a great guy, but the “helped Manning hack” charges seem pretty trumped up. I’m a little surprised the justice department is even pursuing it considering how much the current administration loved Wikileaks during the election. Any precedent which hampers the press’s ability to publish whistle blown information is, of course, a step back.