Assange Deserves Freedom

Many people have a lot of takes on Julian Assange.

The most pedantic and unreasonable, in my view, seems to be the argument that somehow Assange was not a publisher and, as a result, should not receive press freedoms.

Much of this stems from the idea that Assange himself participated in obtaining government documents which were top secret, which is illegal.

In my view, this is a weird and narrow way to interpret press freedoms.

We clearly have a right to know what our government does. That’s an important piece of democratic legitimacy.

True, timing and impact of information have given us concerns that have led to creation of a National Security carve out. But assume we say that is reasonable, can it include the government covering up of its own crimes to escape accountability?

That conclusion sounds categorically absurd for a democracy to believe in.

But then again, beyond the almighty dollar — I’m not sure what the US really does believe in.