Eek, a Mouse!

The equivalence of the hysterical official American response to WL and (for instance) the hysteria of the Moolies over the Danish cartoons, the call for Assange's death and Rushdie's is obvious. I value the opinion of Stansilav at Mat Rodina on this sort of thing, both because of his (presumed by me, I could be wrong) relative emotional distance, and (again presumed) ability as a Russian to spot authoritarian auto-overeaction indicative of a weak "hand". I would caution anyone saying nothing important has been disclosed to remember that most of what is available has not been released yet, 842 out of 251,287, so it's a bit early to say there's nothing there. Also, Assange has stated that one of the main reasons for releasing these "secrets" is to cause this overreaction and disrupt the internal habits of communication and trust within the conspiracy. The shutting and blocking of websites and even secondary commenting shows that he has succeeded, brilliantly, it seems to me, much like the clownish overreaction by the TSA to the underpants bomber, or the possibility that a prankster with a firecracker could shut down air travel in the USSA. I believe the countrymen of Kasparov and Solschenizyn should appreciate the genius behind wikileaks. If you happen to have a lot of spare time, check out this discussion of Assange's motives and methods.


"The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie. This must result in minimization of efficient internal communications mechanisms (an increase in cognitive “secrecy tax”) and consequent system-wide cognitive decline resulting in decreased ability to hold onto power as the environment demands adaption. Hence in a world where leaking is easy, secretive or unjust systems are nonlinearly hit relative to open, just systems. Since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of governance." Julian Assange