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Assange Stands 'Real Chance' of Election In Australia
Okian Warrior writes "Various new sources are reporting the results of a recent Labor Party poll, indicating that Julian Assange would be elected to the Australian senate, should he choose to run. From the Sun Daily article: 'Controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stands a real chance of winning an upper house seat in his native Australia if he presses ahead with plans to stand for election, a poll showed Saturday. A survey conducted by the ruling Labor party's internal pollsters UMR Research and published in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper showed 25 percent of those polled would vote for the whistleblowing website chief.'"
i will sell everything i own and move to australia because it is the last western nation with a little redemption left in it
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Because they'd never lie about his chances in an attempt to drum up support. Oh no, that would never happen.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
Would be nice, but I would think he has a real chance of getting arrested again before that happens.
Would this grant him political immunity? ;-)
If he becomes part of the Australia gov, then future Wikileaks exposés on governments that are Australia's economic/geopolitical competitors would be more easily called into question. Releases on China, Japan, NZ, Indonesia, even the US, would at the outset be accused of having pro-Australian political motivations behind them.
your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
So how long before OpenLeaks posts the real poll results?
Australias puppet government is controlled by the US - if Assange goes back there he is on the next plane to gitmo.
As compared to the current anti-American political motivations behind Wikileaks exposés?
If he's such a champion of truth, why doesn't he take on Russia or China?
He would have a very hard time serving in office from his cell at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Because WikiLeaks can only publish material it gets. If they don't get material about Russia and China, they can't publish it. WikiLeaks doesn't actively go for material, they just offer a platform to publish it.
If you want something about Russia and China published on WikiLeaks, go, get the stuff and publish it!
Perhaps because no one from Russia or China is sending him leaked documents?
I Hope they would make him Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Fuck you U.S.A.; Diplomatic immunity.
I know it would never happen, not even sure if that position has Immunity. Leave me with my dreams....
Residents of the U.S.A. elected George W. Bush; how could he be worse than that....
And you call us 'batshit insane'?
He would never release anything meaningful from Russia or China. Russia and China would have no problems just killing him if he released anything they considered state secrets. As it stands now the US has not did anything to him. If the US wanted him dead or in US custody he would be. The man has an agenda and frankly is just a plain weirdo based on his behavior when he was negotiating with other news outlets like the BBC or New York Times. His tries to stage manage the release of data to support his own agenda. He also claims to "own" the data and requested payment from others before he would give them access. Wiki leaks and similar companies serve as a place where people can submit information while preserving their identities. Any data they get their hands on should be released in whole without any commentary or political manipulation. Release the data and let the general public draw their own conclusions. There is a reason a majority of key people quit working for him because of his behavior and policies.
from memory he has a criminal record for hacking in Australia yeah?
you cant be in parlment with a criminal record...
Nope, only a handful of convictions (treason, bribery, etc.) are disqualifiers from Oz parliament. His main problem would be he'd have to renounce any dual citizenship.
If they do vote him in, the beauty of democracy is that it thoroughly rewards masochistic voters.
This story just highlights not how good Assange is (as he has done virtually nothing to win) but just how bad the people are who are running against him.
Awesome, i'd vote! At least he discloses information unlike most Australian Politicans.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2010/12/turn_yourself_in_julian_assange.html
Then I would vote for him!
As for the rape charges.. To me it's not "rape" to
1) initiate sex with a sleeping sex partner or
2) to not notice that a condom broke.
The first Swedish prosecutor apparently refused to prosecute. Then an ambitious prosecutor, inferring perhaps that Hillary was a premium victim of Assange, realized that a horrendous crime had been committed.
Can't blame the Swedes. They probably have no power to restrain their (probably independent) prosecutors.
There couldn't be a more appropriate job for a unctuous, hyper-vain, womanizing publicity whore who's always looking for other people to fund what he wants to do.
And more importantly, he'll have a first-hand chance to see - behind the scenes - exactly why some government communication has to be kept out of public view. Everyone who gets elected to such positions gets a big fat wake-up call about security matters they used to blow off as irrelevent.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
I'm not Australian, but I'd vote for him if I were.
Why is it that this guy can be a serious candidate for the Australian Senate and the Pirate Party can win seats in European Parliaments, but we can't even get f-ing single payer health care in the United States?
The world really needs Democracy 2.0, badly. This autocracy/oligarchy/crony capitalism thinly disguised as democracy crap has got to go. We need a system were the sociopaths who currently comprise our "leaders" are expressly barred from any position, of any power, ever.
If not us, who? If not now, when?
Release the data and let the general public draw their own conclusions.
Like to the New York Times, The Guardian, and der Spiegel? Oh, he did! Huh.
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
Looking at the choice currently facing the Australian voter, a three legged sheep would stand a "real chance" of election.
"Rape". You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Assange and Controy would likely be in the same state (Victoria) and competing against each other.
Conroy is from the Australian Labor Party has tried very hard to impose stricter censorship on us, last election there was a campaign encouraging people from all parties to put conroy last on the ballot (preferential voting). He is not well liked by the people, well, excpet for when hes doing NBN stuff.
With Conroy and Assange on the same ballot, it would be difficult to not think about censorship when voting.
Aside from having a person who's willing to "chap a few (or a lot of) hides" in order to do what he thinks is right, in government, it would certainly make it a LOT harder to extradite him if he were to become a senator. Just how many world leades get extradited? Not many, I recon.
As an American, I won't claim to know the intracacies of Australian government/politics, but at least on the surface, running/getting elected sounds like a smart thing for Assange to do...assuming nobody assassinates him for it.
There's no such thing. You are thinking diplomatic immunity. Diplomatic immunity is granted to any accredited diplomat working in the host country. It also can be, and is, granted to politicians visiting on official state trips. However it isn't something that happens by magic. It is granted by the host nation, meaning the nation the person is in.
What's more, it can be waived. If a diplomat commits a crime the host nation can ask the parent nation to waive immunity. Depending on the relationship between the nations, this can happen. An immunity waiver isn't up to the diplomat, it is up to their government.
So even if immunity applied (it wouldn't since he was never granted it) Sweden could ask the Australian government to waive immunity on the rape charges. Australia probably would.
It is not this magic shield that protects any politician people seem to think.
Government watchdog is one thing. Watchdog government is entirely different. I'm not sure how he can continue what he's doing while holding actual power.
Here is a fact, the two women reported the rape MONTH before the controversy was even started. Then the serial rapist used the controversy as an excuse no to stand trial.
Your so-called "facts" leave much to be desired. "Serial rapist"?!? For consensual sex? After it all blew up in his face, he asked the prosecutor if he was free to go, and they said yes. He left. Then the second prosecutor started the current situation. Now, he's just trying to avoid being crucified by a stupid Swedish definition of rape. Yo girls, IT'S ALRIGHT TO SAY NO. Really. Honest! Say no if you want to! REALLY, damnit!
You are an imbecile.
But since idiots around the world believe whatever piece of human trash there is as long as they say something bad about the US
Poor baby. Do you feel the same way about Daniel Ellsberg and Thomas Drake?
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
Pauline Hanson was the last ideologue to mishandle campaign funds, she was jailed for it. This is not the US, the guy with the most money is not the automatic winner here. Our politicians benifit greatly by pointing out fraudulent behaviour by their enemies to the federal police, if they are not prepared to take it to court then they are simply preaching to their own choir and nobody else takes it seriously.
Having seen the bombardment of political ads in the US I was stunned as to how nasty they get. At least the politicians here put some effort into their bullshit and attempt to make a reasonably civil and coherent argument in their advertising. I look at some of the attack ads in the US and think to myself; "the attacker must think I'm an idiot", I thought the same thing when they put Palin up for VP. Republican's treated their suppoerters as morons by selecting a village idiot as a VP candidate, they deserved to lose.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Consensual sex according to the rapist ..... with a woman who said NO. Only a complete imbecile thinks that is consensual sex.
You must be Swedish. "So, here we are, in bed, and we're both naked. We've already (earlier) fucked each other ragged. Do you want to have sex?"
RAPE!
I mean, come on. No one but the Swedish legal system thinks that's plausible.
BTW, I will NOT be vacationing in Sweden in the forseeable future, despite the respect I have for that country otherwise.
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
Or just setup a site that contains the raw information for public consumption. And he did not release all the data he received at one time. Was he just spell checking the documents? Organizations such as this should serve only as a conduit for releasing the raw information as widely as possibly while protecting the identity of the person who provided the information to them. And pray tell why he demanded money from other news sources for access to the data? Why does it take millions of dollars to provide this type of service? An Internet connection, small staff, and a few servers should do the job just fine.
Or just setup a site that contains the raw information for public consumption.
No, raw data needs to be sanitized to protect the innocent.
Organizations such as this should serve only as a conduit ...
... which is why people like you are not in charge. It's not as simple a thing to do as you wish it to be.
And pray tell why he demanded money from other news sources for access to the data?
I assume he was trying to figure out how to do it. He was inventing. I've been there.
I don't think he's our saviour. I do think he's just another guy. I think he had a bright idea and he's doing his best to run with it. I haven't seen him do much that I'd consider "evil" (and I'm fairly picky in that area). To my mind, so far, so good.
I think it would be seriously cool, on many levels, if Australia's PM was Julian Assange. I hope he enjoys the ride.
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
I've long fantasised about a politician running for office on the platform of complete openness; all conversations with other ministers, their own advisers, business leaders, lobbyists and community groups are recorded and made available for the public to peruse.
In the case of Assange his Wikileaks background makes this almost plausible. I'm not naive enough to believe he won't use the same old tactics of networking and backroom deals, but it's a dream...
...waits for his arrival.
If he becomes part of the Australia gov,
There is a big difference between being in parliament, and being in the government.
No he was looking for the information that would support his political ideas the most.
Sanitize the data to protect the innocent? That's a complete load of shit. And why is he entitled to determine who is innocent or guilty? The guy is a plain weirdo when off his meds.
"... which is why people like you are not in charge. It's not as simple a thing to do as you wish it to be." It's simple if you know what the hell you are doing. Evidently your knowledge on the subject is lacking in the extreme. And I most certainly do not want to be in charge of anything of this nature or any other government related operations.
"I assume he was trying to figure out how to do it. He was inventing. I've been there."
He didn't invent anything. All the encryption and other technologies have been is use for years. And I could care less what Australia political position he obtains and I don't consider him "evil".
Sanitize the data to protect the innocent? That's a complete load of shit.
You really don't have any clue as to what we're talking about. Clue: raw data from $somewhere contains the *real names* of *real people*, whose names should not be disclosed to the $badguys. Those real people may be CIA operatives or confidential informants or *our people* who have jobs with *their gov't.* We don't want to compromise people who're helping us by supplying us with intel or doing *other nice stuff that we want done.* Duh. Go read some Sun Tsu, ffs.
If that doesn't make any sense to you, think of WWII and William Stephenson (Intrepid) and French Maquis behind Nazi lines. Secrecy was paramount to them, and whole towns could be decimated in retribution for a successful op.
I assume he was trying to figure out how to do it. He was inventing. I've been there.
All the encryption and other technologies have been [in] use for years.
Inventing *the process of leaking info* (wikileaks), not inventing tech. And no, leaking info is not that simple. Look at the mess he's in right now if you don't believe me.
Bradley Manning's considered a traitor by many for what he's done. "Whistleblower", chyaaa, right.
You appear to be avoiding the obvious and so far appear intent on remaining ignorant. I wonder why. Open your eyes.
"Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit
Listen dude I know exactly what raw data is and the ramifications of releasing such data. When Assange got his hands on the US related data he personally declared that no one would be excessively harmed by the release of the data. Of course all his sycophants immediately jumped on the bandwagon. When the criticism increased they changed their mind and stated that they would look through the data to make sure no one gets harmed. But here's the thing, how do they know who might be harmed? The sheer amount of data to analyze would take years to make some of those determinations. They released diplomatic correspondence that raised the level of tension and distrust between nations. The release of all the Afghanistan after action reports were a gold mine to those looking to profile US military responses under certain scenarios. Tactics, troop numbers, and weapons data were all there for the taking. I think the release of the Windward and Bernstein Nixon tapes would count as leaking data even though the Internet was not used. So claiming Assange "invented" leaking data is absurd.
Manning allegedly violated military laws. When you join the military you voluntarily acknowledge that some of your rights are limited and that fact is not in the fine print. Leaking commercial data might get someone in trouble if they signed an NDA or signed other privacy agreements with their employers but releasing that type of data would give you a chance to justify your actions under the "Whistle Blower" laws. The military on the other hand is not as pliable. Plus the guy was a moron based based on how he decided to distribute the data. He chose to confide in someone who he had few e-mail communications with. I don't beleive he should be charged with treason or espionage. Both charges carry life sentences or potentially the death penalty on conviction. There was no top secret level data released so that should be taken into account. The chance of him not being judged guilty on the charges leveled against him are pretty low but the penalties should be moderated too match the actual impact of his actions (which was really nothing). If convicted of the charges he will still most likely receive a jail term of 10+ years.
If you are going to operate a system to distribute data previously unknown to the public it should be the same data you receive. In Assanges case he made himself the gate keeper of the data. His actions are no different than any other news outlet that stage manages data releases to support a particular editorial line. Who appointed him the god of truth and justice? He allowed his personal opinions to dictate how he handled the data and while he is entitled to his opinion he should release the data as is. If someone gets killed I am sure he wouldn't personally give a shit but at least it would make people understand that there are consequences for your actions and right now the world is drowning with people who never take personal responsibility for their decisions.