I confess to a bit of schadenfreude in the case of Julian Assange, refused bail in London while he fights extradition to Sweden on charges of rape and molestation. Of course his fanboys will see the evil hand of the CIA behind all this. One could only hope! It's pleasant to think of Sweden, determinedly neutral for nearly two hundred years, suddenly revealed as a sleeper cell of the CIA!
It's tempting to think of Mr. Assange as another Osama bin Laden, bent on destroying the United States. In truth he more resembles Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, who sent letter bombs to people in order to draw attention to his crackpot ideas. Mr. Assange sends document bombs, again to draw attention to his crackpot notion about the Conspiracy that is America's place in the world. No doubt he will make our lives less comfortable, just as bin Laden and Kaczynski did--or if not less comfortable, then less efficient. (The Unabomber is the reason you must take a package to the post office if it weighs more than thirteen ounces, rather than leave it in your mailbox for the carrier, if the package has stamps on it.) Diplomats will be less honest than they already are; they'll miss more opportunities than they presently do. More static, more fog. It's hard to imagine, however, that a diplomatic corps forced to do business on the telephone is such a disaster as to threaten the nation's security.
In the meantime, Mr. Assange, enjoy your Christmas holiday in London Gaol. Do they have internet access? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford
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