also: I've been surprised at how bloodthirsty the media coverage has been here. I suppose I shouldn't be but calls for execution or worse, assassination are unusual even for fox news etc. and if it's not that it's politicos talking about making up new laws in order to have something to convict him of. I wonder if it was as bad for ellsberg - I think not, I know he was in a lot of trouble and went underground (though only for a couple weeks if I remember) but he was also very much a dissenter from within the establishment; american, former marine, longtime defense analyst and a player in those circles - he was actually a hawkish, cold warrior type before the war. in other words, someone who couldn't just be written off, and also someone who played by a well-defined set of rules, even if he chose to break them. whereas assange is pretty much straight out of a William Gibson short story, a hacker with that ethos & mindset, and targeting leaders of leaderless, faceless movements is the utmost futility. he was stupid to make himself a target, that was a bad mistake, but chop one head - hopefully not literally - and a thousand more will spring up in its place, as already demonstrated. it might be amusing watching folks try to shove everything back into pandora's box if it wasn't so alternatively depressing and infuriating. it's like all the hounds baying for assange's blood have just slept through everything that's happened since about 1998 or so. whatever, I'm sure all this has been said more eloquently by others elsewhere, I haven't been paying close attention, but I needed to get off my chest the feeling of watching this bloody absurd spectacle unfold.
and even tho focusing on assange himself is a distraction from the actual issues at hand, it will be a black mark against 10 downing if it colludes in this sham of an extradition.