
Assange and Wikileaks – Some basic facts all in one place - lx
https://www.reddit.com/r/WhereIsAssange/comments/5e9v1x/some_basic_facts_all_in_one_place_i_wanted_to/
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SamBam
Not mentioned in the article, but I think pertinent: the possibility that
Assange is deliberately fostering these questions, as publicity.

This is a man who claimed he was going to drop a massive October surprise
ending Clinton's run from the balcony, then cancel the balcony appearance
hinting that his life might be in danger (from Clinton's snipers hitting him
during his speech?) and switched it to a 3 am live-cast from a basement, and
then it turned out the whole thing was just a promotion for his book.[1]

Whether or not it's the case in this situation, I'd say it wouldn't be out of
character.

1\.
[http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/04/wikileaks-t...](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/04/wikileaks-
trolls-trump-world-delivers-nothing-on-hillary.html)

~~~
sanswork
Trying to use the Seth Rich murder for attention by hinting that it was him
that released the dnc mails and that was why he got murdered was basically
where I lost all respect for wikileaks and why I'm leaning towards this being
a publicity stunt.

------
pg314
This seems like a conspiracy theory to me. He was interviewed by the Swedish
prosecutor on november 14:
[https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/nov/14/julian-
assange...](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/nov/14/julian-assange-to-
face-swedish-prosecutors-over-accusation)

Say there is some vast conspiracy involving Sweden, the UK, Ecuador and the
US, and the current administration wanted him to disappear, would they be so
foolish to do it now, with the current president-elect, who will have access
to all classified information and who would be more than happy to expose any
malfeasance of the current administration?

~~~
oniMaker
Is there evidence of the interview actually taking place? Why was his own
lawyer not allowed to attend?

If he's alive, then someone has certainly mentioned to him that the Internet
is going crazy about this. Why doesn't he simply walk a few feet and show
himself on the balcony, as he has done before?

Side note: labelling something a "conspiracy theory" is a way to dismiss an
idea without thinking about it. If you want to refute the facts in the thread,
use better facts.

~~~
resfirestar
It's not "dismissing an idea without thinking about it" when you say "I think
this is a conspiracy theory because [evidence]". The only response to the
position that too many people with widely varying affiliations and interests
have said he's fine, is to say that Wikileaks, Sweden, Ecuador, and the US are
somehow united in wanting to hide the truth and in communication to keep their
lies consistent. I can't think of many scenarios where that happens, and all
of them ought to end pretty quickly with someone whispering to a journalist
under the condition of anonymity.

At this point, I doubt the timestamped video and signed message would convince
the majority of redditors. The RT interview is a perfect example of the
typical conspiracy pattern of grasping at straws to discredit evidence. It's
absolutely Assange's fault for not putting this to bed right away, he's
probably either unaware or enjoying the publicity.

~~~
eternalban
> whispering to a journalist ...

... a member of "free and independent" press? :)

Assange needs to sign a message with his private key. That would be
satisfactory. Ideally, the message can be a video that contains information
that clearly dates the recording. That would be quite satisfactory.

~~~
resfirestar
This is where we hit some ideological barriers. As a leftist, I can see the
perverse incentives that many to most reporters are working with (helping
friends, trying to please execs for promotions, not upsetting sources with
good info), but I don't see them as affecting everyone in the same way. The
Intercept, with its ties to Snowden, would happily declare Wikileaks dead and
lead the charge for a replacement. Aljazeera would probably love to paint
their satellite news rival as blatantly dishonest. Breitbart prints anything
that makes Clinton look bad (Assange dropping dead as he threatened to sink
her campaign would do the trick). And that's just the organizational
component, a CNN reporter with internal clout and incentives to do so might be
able to run this story.

Meanwhile right-wing news outlets sell themselves with the "media is corrupt"
line so heavily that people on that end of the spectrum seem to think serving
Soros and the Clintons is something they teach at journalism school. "Free and
independent press" in scare quotes is probably a message in itself to most
readers of r/WhereIsAssange, but it doesn't convince anyone who doesn't
already believe that a global conspiracy controls everything from the BBC to
the newest online newspapers.

~~~
eternalban
The Intercept is the baby of a billionaire. Al-Jazeera is BBC debranded.
Breitbart's Bannon is ex Goldman Sachs. They all agree on one thing: the
binary political world.

> As a leftist

There are 360 degrees of freedom in the non-binary world. There is also up and
down. I must inform you that I do not subscribe to the 1 dimensional dialectic
hand-me-down space and am ambidextrous.

------
deusofnull
I've been somewhat roped into this anxiety shared by many now. It's key to
remember that all we're asking for is proof of life. A picture of him with
today's newspaper, a trip to the balcony...

------
tomtoise
Strangely appears to have fallen off the front page. Flagged?

~~~
SamBam
Which front page? It has ~600 upvotes on Reddit, so no reason for it to be on
the front page there, unless you're subscribed to that subreddit.

If you mean on HN, it's on the front page for me now.

