Celebrate The Win

Celebrate the win we got—not the win we wanted. And follow your conscience always.

Celebrate The Win

by C.A. Matthews

Julian Assange’s release from Belmarsh Prison was all anyone could talk about online for days this past week. It was definitely good news worth sharing, no doubt about it. Seeing the video of him hugging his father and his wife at the airport after his plane at long last landed in Australia brought tears to my eyes. An evil and corrupt system had keep Julian and his family unnecessarily apart for years. They deserved to be happily reunited.

But then the complaints on various social media platforms started flooding in.

“Why did Assange accept this ass-backwards plea deal? Why didn’t he insist on a full pardon? He should have gone to trial and fought the bastards and demanded reparations for time and income lost while they unlawfully locked him up. He didn’t do anything wrong, and they tortured him by placing him in solitary confinement. He was simply practicing journalism.”

My answer to those complaints are, “Yes, Assange didn’t do anything wrong, and he deserves recompense. So does his family. But the bastards who did this—and still do this to many others unlawfully detained—weren’t about to let him go and say, “We’re sorry. Here’s a few million bucks to make up for all the torture and smearing of your good name.”

Remember these bastards are in possession of nuclear weapons and professional hit men called CIA agents. They waterboarded people and locked them up without trial (and still do) at Guantanamo Bay. They regularly overturn elected leaders in countries worldwide. (They probably attempted—and failed—to overturn the leadership of Bolivia this past week.) What makes you think they wouldn’t squash an individual, no matter how famous or iconic as Julian Assange, like an ant to get what they want out of him or in order to cast a chilling shadow upon journalism and freedom of the press?

Celebrate the win we got—not the win we wanted—for the sake of Julian’s health and the happiness of Stella and the kids. It was hard fought, and our incessant protests did get him released in the end.

And tomorrow is another day. There's nothing to stop Assange for suing for false arrest and violations of his human rights, for instance, which will put the status quo on report. And who knows what may come of our activism? Thanks to us, the bastards squirm every time anyone brings up Assange’s name in conversation. They’re going to cringe every time anyone brings up the very idea of imprisoning a journalist for practicing his trade from now on. Good.

Let’s don’t ever allow the bastards relax or feel comfortable, in other words. The protests for Julian Assange were as every bit for us and ours as they were for him and his. Paint yourself a new sign and get back out there and in the bastards’ faces. Do it for what Julian went through and for what they’re going to try and put us all through. Let them know that enough is enough.

Celebrate the win. It’s our time to set the ground rules for the game, and make them play by our rules not theirs from now on.

Besides, Julian Assange was right all along. He didn’t do anything wrong. He said it this way:

“According to an account by Dow Jones news service in The Australian, [Judge] Mangola asked Assange what he had done to violate the law.

“Working as a journalist, I encouraged my source to provide information that was said to be classified,” Assange replied. “I believed the First Amendment protected that activity, but I accept that it was a violation of the espionage statute.”

Assange then significantly added: “The First Amendment was in contradiction with the Espionage Act, but I accept that it would be difficult to win such a case given all these circumstances.” In other words, I broke the law but the law as written is wrong. (...)

Technically, Assange was right. His actions, as those of any journalist obtaining and publishing classified information, did violate the Espionage Act because the act contains no exception for journalists.” --From Assange: I Broke The Law But The Law Is Wrong

How’s that for winning the argument?

This past week’s “First Debate” (or is that “debacle”?) between Trump and Biden was the clown show of the century that most of us predicted it would be. Nothing new was learned from the comments that the two elderly presidents made. It’s pretty well known that they’re both racist xenophobes, and it seemed both men couldn’t wait to make himself look even more xenophobic than the other while arguing about their golf handicaps like a couple of kids on the playground at recess. How... presidential of them.

Being on camera without an audience begs the question: Does it even qualify as a debate if there’s no audience to witness the candidates in the flesh? How do we know for certain that CNN didn’t edit their responses to present a preordained outcome?

I guess the answer to those questions lie in the headlines of the neoliberal pundits’ op-eds the following morning… Liberals panic about Biden’s decline… ‘Deep Panic’ Among Democrats after Biden’s Debate Performance, CNN Says…

If CNN did edit the video, they did a pretty horrific job of it. Genocide Joe Biden sounded and looked like a zombie. He came across as demented as ever, and now the Democrats are screaming for a replacement candidate—this after their primaries are over with so their party members have zero say-so in the manner. Nothing new there for the Dems, really.

The best part of this debacle-debate is that it happened early enough in the election season that it has given American voters a chance to stop and reconsider who they’ll vote for in November. This is definitely a “win” for alternative party/independent candidates because now more voters are anxious to find out more about these lesser publicized candidates. Voters will do their research of the candidates’ platforms and discover who they genuinely support. No more voting in a knee-jerk reaction for one side or the other of the uniparty’s coin, as it were.

Informed voters and voting: This is definitely a win for our collective sanity!

Jill Stein LIVE: Debate Response https://www.youtube.com/live/jvCB-OHOC5k

The overall winner of this event is the Green Party’s Jill Stein, in my opinion. Her after debate commentary that evening and her interview on Rising the next morning introduced her and her platform to a whole new group of voters who up until that moment were leaning toward Biden. Their fears of the Orange Man and the senile current president who expresses the same xenophobia and genocidal support of Israel as his predecessor does have been overcome by rational thought and careful consideration of Dr. Stein’s strong platform which puts the people’s needs well before golfing handicaps.

Added bonus: Dr. Stein is a refreshing and intelligent candidate who readily answers questions put to her in complete sentences. Her willingness to be transparent with voters brings a smile to your face. Her compassionate and moral support of behalf of the Palestinian people during this horrendous genocide by Israel (now called an “extermination” by the United Nations) inspires confidence that the reputation of the US can be redeemed by a president who is willing to put the planet’s needs for peace above the needs of the military industrial complex’s profit margins.

“People, planet and peace” is Dr. Stein’s motto after all. Health care, housing, clean water and air for all, as well as an end to America’s endless wars for resource grabs will go a long way to heal our suffering peoples and the world. This debate-debacle might just be the push that puts Jill Stein over the top to become the first third party president win since Abraham Lincoln.

Celebrate the win indeed!

We can’t forget that even with these two pieces of good news that many human beings around the globe are still suffering and dying because of US imperialism. Assange may be free, but is our press free to report on what’s really happening in Gaza and the West Bank? We’ll see.

Already there are those who would shut down our flow of information about the numbers of Palestinian who have been murdered by Israeli occupation forces. A bill passed in Congress states that the US will outlaw information on the number of deaths coming from the Palestinian Health Authority. No numbers must equal no deaths? No deaths mean no genocide? No more worries, right?

How evil can you get!

It’s not clever to think in this day and age of internet news that most Americans don’t know that there has been over 100,000 dead or injured Palestinians already. Most polls show that Americans overwhelmingly want an end to the genocide and to stop arming Israel. How is passing a law to outlaw information from one agency going to change millions’ attitudes overnight?

Is pretending and lying about how there’s nothing happening in Gaza (and please don’t listen to your Palestinian-American neighbors who are in touch with family back home) really all that clever a ploy to keep funding a genocide? Censorship doesn’t engender trust in authority, at least it doesn’t work that way for normal people. Most will find another venue to get the information you’re so desperately trying to censor. Congress’ manipulations will not keep protesters from taking it to the streets, protesting against the mass murders in Gaza being committed in our names.

This isn’t a “win” in the classic sense of the word, but we are “winning” in the fact that the genocidal maniacs haven’t turned all of us into heartless sociopaths yet. Most Americans still have a conscience.

Celebrate that win by continuing the protests, the boycotts of Israeli products, the organizing of general strikes, the upcoming rally against Netanyahu entering Congress to preach his racist, hate-filled Zionist agenda on July 24.

We’ll win by not giving up, not giving in to the corrupt system. Follow Julian Assange’s example of how to do journalism and tell the truth no matter how painful the oligarchs find it. Follow Jill Stein’s example of fighting against the corrupt, rigged system with a campaign platform centered around people, not corporations. And follow your conscience always.

Related Articles and Other Interesting Links

Assange: I Broke The Law But The Law Is Wrong https://popularresistance.org/assange-i-broke-the-law-but-the-law-is-wrong/

Julian is Free! https://stellaassangeofficial.substack.com/p/julian-is-free

Julian Assange Is (Nearly) Free: Live Coverage https://scheerpost.com/2024/06/25/julian-assange-is-free-live-coverage/

Hell, Maybe ANYTHING Is Possible https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/hell-maybe-anything-is-possible

Assange Is Free, But Justice Has Not Been Done https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/assange-is-free-but-justice-has-not

A Family's Torment, A Dying Empire's Rage https://matthewhoh.substack.com/p/a-familys-torment-a-dying-empires

Julian Assange Is Finally Free, But Let’s Not Forget the War Crimes He Exposed https://truthout.org/articles/julian-assange-is-finally-free-but-lets-not-forget-the-war-crimes-he-exposed/

What happened to Assange can never be allowed to happen again https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/what-happened-to-assange-can-never

Julian Assange: Freedom this time, no thanks to the media https://www.declassifieduk.org/julian-assange-freedom-this-time-no-thanks-to-the-media/

Chris Hedges: You Saved Julian Assange https://scheerpost.com/2024/06/25/chris-hedges-you-saved-julian-assange/

“They tried over and over and over to destroy him. They failed. But Julian was not released because the courts defended the rule of law and exonerated a man who had not committed a crime. He was not released because the Biden White House and the intelligence community have a conscience. He was not released because the news organizations that published his revelations and then threw him under the bus, carrying out a vicious smear campaign, pressured the U.S. government.

He was released — granted a plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department, in spite of these institutions. He was released because day after day, week after week, year after year, hundreds of thousands of people around the globe mobilized to decry the imprisonment of the most important journalist of our generation. Without this mobilization, Julian would not be free.”

Joe Biden's Chances of Winning Election Plummet After Debate https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-chances-winning-election-plummet-debate-bookmakers-1918586 https://www.youtube.com/live/jvCB-OHOC5k?si=12kHZTmivKUJzeOK

Jill Stein Interview on Rising youtu.be/k85G6d-5c-k?si=I_nUUDUh_yxNYEr_

Jill Stein LIVE: Debate Response https://www.youtube.com/live/jvCB-OHOC5k?si=12kHZTmivKUJzeOK

Really Think About What It Means That The US President Has Dementia https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/really-think-about-what-it-means

Israel’s Leaked Plan For Annexing The West Bank, Explained https://mondoweiss.net/2024/06/israels-leaked-plan-for-annexing-the-west-bank-explained/

House Votes To Bar State Department From Citing Gazan Health Ministry https://news.antiwar.com/2024/06/27/house-votes-to-bar-state-department-from-citing-gazan-health-ministry/

US/ISRAEL SLAUGHTER OF CHILDREN: Over 20,000 Children Missing In Gaza, With 'Unknown Number' In Mass Graves: Report https://mark192.substack.com/p/usisrael-slaughter-of-children-over

Israeli Officials Hiding Data About Forced Starvation of Gaza Prisoners: Report https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-starving-prisoners

The Collapse of Zionism https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/the-collapse-of-zionism

Aaron Bushnell Was the Tip of the Ice Berg. Now US Troops Are Quitting Over Gaza youtu.be/cWdPNABjAqk?si=yvOBue1tL0sknNL8

The Bolivian people defeated another coup https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/06/26/the-bolivian-people-defeated-another-coup

The impending collapse of the American empire https://www.declassifieduk.org/the-impending-collapse-of-the-american-empire/

CNN: Biden Will Pay US Military Contractors to Work Inside Ukraine https://news.antiwar.com/2024/06/26/cnn-biden-will-pay-us-military-contractors-to-work-inside-ukraine/

New evidence US blocked Ukraine-Russia peace deal, and a new Ukrainian excuse for walking away https://www.aaronmate.net/p/unlocked-new-evidence-us-blocked

UN warns Earth ‘firmly on track toward an unlivable world’ https://apnews.com/article/climate-united-nations-paris-europe-berlin-802ae4475c9047fb6d82ac88b37a690e

Small, well-built Chinese EV called the Seagull poses a big threat to the US auto industry https://apnews.com/article/china-byd-auto-seagull-auto-ev-cae20c92432b74e95c234d93ec1df400

Breaking: Supreme Court Overturns Chevron Decision

Imagine a missile massacre on a Florida beach on the Fourth of July https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/06/28/imagine-missile-massacre-on-florida-beach-on-fourth-july/

‘Doomsday Weapons’ – Israeli Official Speaks of Extreme Measures amid Regional Escalation https://www.palestinechronicle.com/doomsday-weapons-israeli-official-cites-extreme-measures-amid-regional-tensions/

Eugenics and Ethnic Cleansing: The Values that Unite the US and Israel https://www.palestinechronicle.com/eugenics-and-ethnic-cleansing-the-values-that-unite-the-us-and-israel/

What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? https://teachingamericanhistory.org/document/what-to-the-slave-is-the-fourth-of-july-2/