• My name is Bruce Hedrick; I am an American Patriot, a strong conservative with libertarian ideals. I am a proud former U.S. Marine, former U.S. Seabee, former U.S. National Guardsman, and current Reserve U.S. Army Soldier. I am a strong supporter of America’s republic and believe the American Empire is the republic’s No. 1 enemy. I believe in the verbatim interpretation of the Constitution and in strong local and state government.
I support freedom of thought, open government, and my right to know.
• I support Julian Assange and wikileaks.com in their current struggle to keep government “open” and honest, and I wrote the following article in that context:
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
IF YOU LOVE LIBERTY WIKILEAKS IS YOUR FRIEND
I understand the concern for national security and can “feel” the outburst of patriotic emotion from my fellow conservatives. I also hear and understand the powers-that-be and their fear of being brought out into the open with some of their previously private conversations. And I am very concerned if anyone working in the best interest of the United States is being compromised; I am a former Marine, a former Navy Seabee, and a current Army Reserve Soldier healing from an active duty overseas injury, which means I have skin in this game. I feel the want to protect our great Flag, but also to preserve what it stands for- Liberty, and a unique bona fide republic. I don’t care what Assange’s intended consequences are; I am seeing a much greater potential for the unintended consequences of weakening the American Empire**, thus assisting in reinvigorating the republic.
You think those who have skin in this Wikileaks game just might have their own skin to protect? Some, who look clearly, suggest “putting lives at risk” just might be a bit of an overstatement:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/28/104404/officials-may-be-overstating-the.html
There are no battle plans being released; no locations of covert operations have been exposed; no names of families back home have been mentioned- so where’s the potential of risk to “soldiers overseas?” If this MSM repetitive phrase is a reference to fanning the flames of hate among our enemies I say THAT’S GREAT. Let them get mad. Let them decide it’s their turn to rise up and confront us in Iraq or Afghanistan or the Philippines, or wherever they’re in mortar shot of our soldiers; let them be mad as heck and come out of the woodwork- that’s why we are fighting; to find the enemy, confront them and kill ‘em dead! That’s why we are called Soldiers, combatants.
There has to be more to this story, much more; a low ranking enlistee, Pfc . Manning, got his hands on something that would not have been otherwise accessible to the intelligence community? Really? The military and Congressional mouthpieces recently blamed loosened regulations for the leak, but isn’t that a little like blaming the stove for burning your finger? Pfc. Manning is a .. Pfc .. an E-2, the same rank of many when they graduate from bootcamp. Giving this young untrained man access to controlled documents is akin to giving a four year old access to candy and saying don’t eat it!
Don’t get me wrong- Pfc. Manning is (perhaps) a traitor and should be prosecuted accordingly. But the outcome of allowing him access was a certain accident waiting to happen. You cannot blame regulations- It is this Congress, this Pentagon, his immediate superiors, who shoulder the brunt of this blame. My military gut tells me this kid accessed info that foreign intelligence already sorted through; if the nippernet (military internet) was so “broadened” that Manning (and 500,000 others) had access at his terminal that info was way too close to the enemy already.
I hold this Administration accountable for the ease of leakiness.
So what about Jullian Assange? The MSM and political-powers-that-be has done well with their smear campaign; defenders and accusers of Assange are found all over the political spectrum. The filtered news outlets are raging mad and scared of and at Assange- progressive politicians are afraid, preparing for any case in which their job and legacy might be made in jeopardy.
He was never on the run from the law. Never was his whereabouts a secret to the U.K. police or to our government. Our media regularly made hay about him being in hiding, but did not explain that term to mean he was hiding from the media and from OTHER crazies who wanted to kill him- the media wanted to give us a false impression to disparage his reputation and teach others to not go around the known and established Giver and Censor of all that is considered news- the NY Times leading the way. They are upset because Assange beat them at their own game.
So what law did this foreigner break? How can we try him for treason? Treason of/to what?, he has no allegiance to our flag/Constitution, he’s an Australian. And what about the timing for these sex related charges? “Sex by surprise” is a charge on the books in Sweden, but not in the U.K. or America. It’s alleged he is guilty of using a cheap condom that broke during sex. In Sweden it can be a crime if you have irresponsible sex that could lead to an unwanted pregnancy- that’s where these charges come from. Initially, a reviewing Swedish prosecutor read through the evidence and dropped the charges. Then later, a more senior prosecutor, who may very well have political connections due to his senior-ness, refiled the same charges using the same evidence. Something stinks in Sweden and in our Hillary Department in my opinion.
The left has been crying for years that we are not at war- that war has not been declared. But now they (some from the Left and the Right) want to execute a foreign non-combatant for war crimes? Civilian espionage? Treason to America? Careful what you ask for America; if we can prosecute a non-American for publishing information dropped in his lap, what is going to happen with Hannity or Rush, or that funny man, Glenn Beck? Andrew Breitbart!, pack your bags- I have a cabin way up in the mountains in …
Wikileaks has not been merely sitting on info that was handed to them in one big bunch. Materials released through them have been clearly censored of certain harmful material; they’ve been decoded and white-washed- all of which takes time. The materials released have been cleaned and prepped just like they would have been had the NY Times acquired them. The only difference here is that the NY Times is mad at Assange because the NY Times is use to being given the lead- because they weren’t able to sensor out materials harmful to their political friends.
Much of what I’ve seen is materials that are useless in nature or are of interest to any patriotic American who wants a corrupt, bloated, egoist, imperialistic government to be exposed for what it is. Among other things, I am seeing words from elitists, driven by a kind of imperialistic mentality, and I am supportive of such info coming into the light of day in such a direct manner- not “interpreted” through some author of the latest book or the rhetoric of a career politician who has a good-ole-boy social club to protect.
What is happening now is a vilification of a few people (properly so, to a degree) by our officials who are torn over what to do with those responsible and whether they should stop it or not. Many are in a fright, and they come from all sides of our political spectrum- did you hear the panic –maybe even disdain- in John Bolton’s voice in his recent interview as he calls for charges of treason? Bolton is no friend to conservatism; did you hear his endorsement for TSA’s groping. At best, he is a fascist Progressive. He has shown admirable strength in the past – but so has Holder as he continues knocking down our republic.
True to form, our expected reaction from those who have secrets is to immediately react with character assassination, in concert with the MSM. And the MSM is more than happy to cooperate fully with such authorities in this matter because their “job” of delivering news FIRST is in jeopardy. The powers in the news media are threatened because this information is being released without their approval and without their preferred timelines. So what do they do?, “First and foremost, let’s get all the emotion we can into the media’s “air” so we can control what the people really hear and what they think,” a quote from Bill Ayers that was “cleaned” from the interent.
I know the media are not the check and balance they were hoped to be by our founders- no longer can we trust them to act independently of political motivations, and I like this so-called leaking from a rather untouched source! Unchecked killings overseas by our government are a step fascist regimes all go through just before those same killings happen at home. Do you really support the plucking of foreigners off of their own streets and ram-rodding them through our courts? Let’s think this through, first.
Don’t you think its best we the people know about the helicopter attack that killed unarmed people on the street below? The info released on that attack claimed that the “terrorist” in the van had AK-47’s and rocket launchers- but the Wikileak docs proved the helo pilot was foaming at the mouth, wanting to kill indiscriminately! Turns out the van had two unarmed reporters in it. At most, the van should have been handled directly with boots on ground- I want to know this stuff. Why? Because it is the well informed people who keep their government honest!
Isn’t it nice to have confirmation, and have our government’s face rubbed in it, that the Saudi’s are in fact the biggest financiers of international terrorism? These are complicated times, and Wikileaks is serving Liberty by exposing corruption. Be not deceived: Wikileaks threatens the American Empire and NOT America the Republic. If you don't know the difference YOU are part of the progressive problem.
And this is where I take a step back and first, as always, look at this from step 1. I put my head into the Declaration of independence, the Constitution; quantify the positions of the people-at-large and the positions of our government. I internalize the opposing forces of liberty and safety, and then look at the basic facts by way of some questions:
1. WikiLeaks has not stolen any documents and is generally a kind of clearinghouse for whistle blowers who otherwise fear reprisals from large corps and governments that act badly.
2. Have you been following the espionage news lately? What was it, something like 400 known Russian spies in America right now, and hundreds more for China; lost stolen laptops with vital information, known to have been taken by foreign agents with inside help. Ever hear of SIPRNET? Hundreds of critical documents, far more sensitive than anything WikiLeaks has published, have been filtered through SIPRNET, but it isn’t as significant as WikiLeaks because it’s a government-controlled bureaucracy.
3. Who is responsible for putting these documents on a government server accessible to a Pfc? It is those same people who love the fervor we are now experiencing, directed at a messenger, as it minimizes the heat on them. That’s whose true intentions we should be questioning!
4. What if the New York Times would have come into possession of these documents? Should we be calling for their assassination?
5. Did we not hear about supposedly countless lives being at stake weeks ago from the first WikiLeak leak? Has anyone died since that time?
6. Most of these leaked documents read like a soap opera- government operatives talking dirty about other foreign operatives; discussions about so and so being a jerk or a**hole- is this to be the cause of modern wars? I think not. But what we do have here is a chance for statist to create a flavor of panic, then use that panic to embolden more and more government power. Government/media is creating a problem within itself then using that problem to embolden its authority by bullpooping the people with desires of safety- hmmm, that sounds familiar.
7. Are we sure we want to shut down a source of information that Obama and his progressive friends are frightened of? It is the exploitative desires of the American Empire that is most in jeopardy, not the constitutional republic where the people live.
8. Something stinks here; the timing is awfully coincidental: there’s been a lot of recent/current talk about rejuvenating the Fairness Doctrine. What is likely to be the fate of free speech if government is allowed to gain further control over the dissemination of information? Careful what you ask for- if you wish to silence someone for saying something you don’t like you better be sure you never change your opinion. Free speech is only free speech when unpopular speech is protected.
9. The info was leaked before it got to the hands of Assange and WikiLeaks; they are merely the messenger. Sloppy? Yes. Irresponsible? Yes. Criminal? Maybe. But for one, I am glad it is happening, at this time, in this place, and aimed at this Administration. I want this Empire weakened because as this government wanes, the power of the people grows; as the ”national” government absorbs this slap in the face, my state government looks better and better.
10. This issue is way early on and we need lots more info, and time, for honest details to surface and emotions to roll back.
As always, when government is involved, liberty must trump regulated safety.
Anything requiring Mrs. Clinton to apologize is likely to have my approval:
http://www.metrolic.com/hillary-clinton-apologizes-for-diplomatic-cables-leaked-to-wikileaks-149932/
Here’s a similar government intrusion:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/12/realtime/
Is this the power you want to give to government?
Notes:
** If you’re mad (upset/confused) at me for identifying America as an Empire, perhaps you should read Bruce Fein’s book, “American Empire; Before the fall.” Read it, if you have eyes willing to see the truth, because I want my republic back and only you can make that happen. If you like or dislike what Assange is doing, whether or not you agree with his desired goal, depends on where you fall in determining who has the greatest power to come out ahead in a revolution; I still believe liberty and justice the old fashioned way has the upper hand. SO GO TO IT ASSANGE- knock down the Empire; our republic shall live again!
*** originally posted at http://www.madashecc.com on December 7, 2010
