Slashdot Mirror
Ghostwriter Reveals the Secret Life of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange
An anonymous reader writes "From the Telegraph, 'He is vain, secretive, paranoid and jealous, prone to leering at young women and making frequent sexist jokes – and that's not the view of one of his many enemies, but of a friend ... A damning picture of Julian Assange ... has emerged in a detailed account by his ghostwriter. Assange behaves ... like an egotistical tyrant interested more in his own self-publicity than in changing the world. Worse still, he turns on his friends with increasing regularity ... Assange describes the Ecuadorean ambassador offering him diplomatic asylum as 'mad', 'fat' and 'ludicrous'. Even Assange's girlfriend, WikiLeaks researcher Sarah Harrison, grew increasingly frustrated at his behaviour. 'He openly chats girls up and has his hands on their a**e and goes nuts if I even talk to another guy,' she says. O'Hagan, who had hoped to find an anti-authoritarian rebel figure worthy of admiration, says he comes to regard Assange as someone who sacrificed the moral high-ground by attempting to evade trial over the rape charges.' — The Scotsman adds, 'Canongate director Jamie Byng yesterday hailed O'Hagan's account of the "impossibility of trying to ghost Assange's memoirs". He tweeted: "Andy O'Hagan's compelling, ring side account of Being (& being around) Julian Assange is smart, accurate and fair."'"
Sounds like much we already knew or suspected. I'm more interested in why some people keep trying to show us what an awful character Assange is, instead of focussing on what he has done. Love him and Wikileaks or hate them; the latter seems a lot more relevant.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Yea a lot of people who do really amazing things aren't always the best people. Sure he deserves some criticism, but we obsess over these take down articles. Clickbait etc
Cue the rape-apologists
If you can't win: Ad Hominem.
I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
Speaking as a ghostwriter, this is not how one operates. This guy is just being an asshole.
- In Soviet Korea, only old people loose all their bases to Natalie Portman's petrified hot grits overlords.
"sacrificed the moral high-ground by attempting to evade trial over the rape charges"
Even if he's a lech, liar, lout, loser... calling what he's accused of "rape" is objectionable to victims of actual rape, as opposed to "victims" of consenting unsafe sex.
I don't think he's lost "moral" high ground by resisting a sham extradition given the demonstrated misconduct by authorities exposed in this whole affair, the contrary.
Those charging them have lost the moral high ground. He may be an egotist, but that doesn't validate calling that "rape" nor his extradition to a US black prison site.
If he were guilty of "rape" that would be an entirely different situation. Repeating this charge only serves to give validity to the notion that he is unfairly persecuted.
Could describe any number of people who are/were successful in public but had feet of clay. Rev. Martin Luther King, Pres. Bill Clinton - the list goes on and on (admittedly King wasn't necessarily paranoid, they really were out to get him).
At this point, with the pressure the U.S. places in governments, publications, or even individuals in order to accomplish his extradition, I wouldn't believe his mother's own word against him.
Everybody should know how much public opinion influences political decision-making nowadays. Money to pay such falsehood should be no objection to the States, when they already sacrificed their moral integrity for the sake of national security.
I've always been a hands on sort of guy myself :-)
That people like Assange and Snowden who are media whores aren't very nice to be around...shocking...
Not being a friend of Assange at all (who jumped bail and now is costing the Ecuadorian government lots of money), but what does that have to do with anything? And everybody can ask themselves what they would look like if someone tried hard to show them in the worst possible light.
Just more psychological warfare/marketing against wikileaks.
How many people would stay "nice" if you found yourself choosing between staying in self-imposed jail or stepping outside and likely finding yourself in real jail?
I have no idea to Assange's personality before all this happened, but a severe case of cabin fever can drive people off the rails.
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
Sorry to post A/C, but there's too much hate for contrarian opinions on Slashdot.
I love how the pro-Assange crowd is already dismissing this. I'm sorry, but it does matter. The "why" someone does something is just as important as the "what". Assange takes a lot of credit for Wikileaks, but the truth is there are a lot of people involved in Wikileaks who are more valuable to the organization whereas Assange's narcissim and poor ethical decisions have not only made him an easy target but have also damaged the brand itself. With what they're trying to do, maintaining the ethical and moral high ground is paramount as the only thing they have to go on for their work to make a difference is their reputation; once that's damaged then the public at large will not trust them and nothing will ever really change. If you truly believe in what you're doing, then you don't put yourself into compromising situations with women etc.
When the ghostwriter has created a legitimate outlet that could save the free world, then he can whine a little. Until then, he and everyone else should just shut the f*** up. We ALL have flaws - at least Assange makes up for them by BEING AWESOME.
Ok I'm a fangirl. I admit it. I actually really dig genius a**holes. I'd bear his children in a heartbeat. He's been a bad bad boy and should be soundly punished (in an entirely recreational and mutually-consenting adult situation). But that's about it.
I'm so f***ing SICK of this obsession media have with cramming people's personal peccadillos down our throats! Didn't the message get sent loudly enough with Bill Clinton? WE DON'T CARE!!!! We need strong leadership and smart people! Not uptight a**-coverers who know how to not get caught.
endit
Not that I don't believe it, necessarily. Merely that it can't be trusted. At all.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
I am not interested in his character but his results.
I see what you did there.
ironic captcha: consults
He's self centered and likes to flirt with younger women. Oh no! Our faith in the very integrity of wikileaks must be revisited!
Meanwhile an enormous personality cult continues around an asshole who regularly destroyed the lives of people working for him (Steve Jobs).
If I were going to pick someone to have a beer with, I would pick Assange any day. I don't give a fuck if someone has personality flaws. That means he is the same as every other human alive. What I care about is their effect on the world around them. Assange has had such a net positive impact with wikileaks that no amount of aggressive flirting or being-a-dick-sometimes(tm) is going to burn it.
Maybe, just maybe, he did assault the woman. After all, it is the "seriousness of the charge" that counts.
Conservative, mod down for violating
An arse? Ooo eye scalding text. why is that bleeped?
If your ghost writer turns on you, of all people, is it really fair to say one is paranoid? Sounds like his belief that people are out to get him is fairly confirmed.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
more like self appoint, failed and bitter biographer.
"[When Assange would not cooperare with the writier]... Assange's publisher, Cannongate, releases its own version of the autobiography, after Assange allegedly fails to honour the terms of his contract. The book flopped, selling only 700 copies in its first week"
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Silly question: what does a**e stand for? :)
Ignore this crap. It's either directly from the US government, or some minion of the US Government.
Not to mention being totally irrelevant. Assange could be Satan himself and still be a hero for what he has done.
From TFA: "In a 45-page essay chronicling the collapse of a $2.5m deal for Assange’s autobiography, O’Hagan..."
tch, tch.
The second the rape BS comes up it should be a dead give away this is not a legitimate source. Somebody who knows the situation because they have close contact and work with him (at least since he got on the CIA's radar) clearly must know the obvious facts about the Rape BS. But instead decides to act like a CIA operative and push the government's propaganda 110%?? Paid operative before or after is still a paid operative (that doesn't mean spy and who knows what secrets the ghostwriter has, except the NSA...) No, this isn't paranoia, it is common sense. Hell, to say Assange is paranoid is totally idiotic if you have any sense of what he is involved in.
American media is extremely obsessed with the cult of personality; far more than other nations. This is an indirect assault upon Americans by shooting the messenger in ways that highly effective and distracting in the USA (more so than other nations.) The whole point is to make life a living hell on earth as visibly as possible, including thinly veiled BS character assassination so anybody with half a brain can see what is going to happen to anybody who threatens the USA with truth. It is Terrorism plain and simple. The legal system can be made into the punishment (which is why the founders put in that part about a speedy trial in the defunct 6th Amendment ) and if he gets into the USA it'll be the punishment BEFORE conviction and after exoneration he'll still be stuck in Gitmo for his retirement.
Ecuador isn't spending as much as the USA or their bitch, the UK.
It doesn't matter if he is a kiddie fiddler, courageous acts are not exclusively done by saints. If anything it should be more impressive when a "'vain, secretive, paranoid, jealous, rapist" does something that people "above reproach" are too cowardly to do. You'd think Americans would be wiser given how many grow up watching the popular redemption theme in their movies; which has gone to extremes in making everything dark and flawed.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
Remember, the NSA's stated M.O. is to publicly smear Julian Assange in order to get people to divert focus away from the crimes commited by the U.S. Federal Government.
Julian's character is an irrelevant distraction, so don't get drawn into a debate over the messenger. Stay on message: The U.S. Federal Government has committed crimes against its people, and will do anything to cover it up.
1) The publications of the Manning and Snowden documents is properly and appreciated. In the case of Mannning, it is apparent to me, "they" wanted the information released to the public. HRC was slammed by the release. The Snowden documents show the USA Federal Government and POTUS Obama as law breakers. Every American now has the facts that support any belief that the Federal Government is out to get us/me.
2) Sometimes, Jerks like Assange are the only one arrogant enough to do what needs to be done. We own Snowden and Assange a hardly and heartfelt thanks for alerting us/me to the dangers that the USA Federal Government poses to its Citizens and the citizens of other countries.
I love my country, the USA/America. It is the USA Federal Government that I fear (and hate sometimes).
Right. Well, the TSA folks have been putting their hands on my a**e too, only they don't have the decency to chat me up first. So...
How much has NSA paid to dice for this paid publication?
I know a woman in America who, when told a sexist joke by a Russian, dutifully was seriously offended. Two months later they were fucking. A year later they were married.
Meanwhile, passive, cowed-down, well-trained American betamales got none.
Assange will "get some" more easily from American women being sexist, than not being. This doesn't even account for his fame. Yes, you. Lie to yourself in the mirror if you wish.
Why are people trying to make excuses for this guy's personality? "What would you be like if you were in self-imposed lock up?"...what's that got to do with being obnoxious to women and your current girlfriend? I understand that the general personality of Slashdot is equivalent to a 15 year old teenage male, but grow up already. Women aren't objects, they certainly like to be looked at but there's only a minority that like to be 'leered at' and only a small number of them that as girlfriends that won't care if your hitting on another woman in front of them...and grabbing someone's ass when they haven't given consent is assault!
Face it, Assange is an asshole, that doesn't also mean that his idea of Wikileaks isn't work while or useful, the two aren't mutually exclusive. In fact embracing his character would make it irrelevant to the overall marketability of Wikileaks. Separate the 'man from the message'.
..... DUH *DERP*
Paul Revere used to butter the milkmaids with his baby-batter.
Philippides, the courier of Marathon used to drink too much, and then screw the serving boys.
However, they are NOT discounted as messengers.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Comment removed based on user account deletion
The DOJ prepares a secret indictment of Julian Assange last June (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/05/julian-assange-attorney-indictment_n_3386793.html) Ecuador grants Assange asylum (http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/aug/16/ecuador-julian-assange-asylum-anniversary) so the storm-troopers can't nab him without creating an international incident.
Now a writer pops up with character-assassinating portrayal of Assange as a sex-crazed asshole.
Hmm..
Nothing to see here folks - move along.
You clearly didn't read the entire article or you would know that Assange signed a contract for this book and chose the ghostwriter. But keep drinkin' that Kool Aide - who needs critical thinking skills (or reading comprehension for that matter), right?
Uh, it's perfectly possible to be a sociopath and also do good and important things.
The personality part is interesting because it shows that Assange's personality is both what enabled him to accomplish all he did with WikiLeaks, and what sabotaged his efforts to make WikiLeaks into something even bigger and more powerful. His fallings-out with other WikiLeaks people predates much of the external pressure. Based on many sources, he strikes me as a deeply flawed individual who has accomplished great things. It's sad that he has not been able to accomplish more.
My guess is that history will show him as paving the way for Snowden and other future leakers. He'll be remembered more for the way his actions changed the discourse and environment for transparency than for his actual technical accomplishments. His personality will be an afterthought.
Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachtani?
www.fogbound.net
I know I live in a basement and haven't ever actually talked to a girl, let alone put my hands on her a**e, which is good, because I don't have a fucking clue what her a**e is.
Be seeing you...
I knew a girl in high school that didn't like to be touched on her ankle. Something about her height and being stuff into waste bins or something.
I'm sure he's all of that stuck in a room by himself at the embassy for the past few years. Maybe five years ago, not today. Sorry, it doesn't pass the smell test.
Excellent observation! The manner in which (some) people are obsessed with "Saint" Jobs just makes me want to hurl or worse.
Frankly, J. Assange sounds pretty much like every guy I've ever known or would choose to get to know, and exactly my kind of guy. Perhaps dangerous, flawed like any other human being, but he knows the difference between wild and evil--and he's not an evil person.
I am not interested in whether Julian's socks smell bad or other tidbits that mean next to nothing. The fact is that he managed to release information that the world needed to know about and I can only hope that many others do the same all around the world. The truth is more inportant than the trivia.
... Assange revealed to be exactly like all the other guys working in IT right now. Real shocker.
What are the chances that next step for mr O'Hagan would be writing a "tell-all" article series, followed by a book "revealing to the public the intimate details about one of modern day most controversial characters". I bet that would pay a heck of a lot better than a ghostwriting job for a fugitive stuck at a 3rd world country embassy.
Seems like Assange isn't particularly savvy about choosing his friends.
prone to leering at young women and making frequent sexist jokes
This pretty much describes every Australian man I've ever met.
While this is not uniquely an Australian trait, in my experience the percentage of Australian men that exhibit it are damn near 100%.
And yes, I know this is an unfair stereotype so I apologize, but flame on Bruce.
XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
Why the hell do you think the US wants him extradited? They wouldn't charge him with anything because there's nothing to charge him because he was a "journalist." They don't want his ass. Putin supposedly said Snowden was an unwelcome Christmas present. Assange would be that tenfold over. The US would find any reason they could to keep his ass away. Can you imagine Assange doing the NY morning show circuit? There isn't enough room even in NYC for an ego that size.
So just like every other guy then?
This behavior is all in line with those who have Borderline and Narcisistic Personality Disorders. Most highly motivated people with the drive to be leaders have them to some degree. Some worse than others. That's why all of our elected officials are essentially pricks motivated by self gain rather than true public service. Their behavior drives away the decent people who might otherwise want to participate but can't tolerate interacting with such people.
While not the most admirable traits to have, it also isn't a crime to be a backstabbing asshole. It seems like someone is on a character assassination agenda.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
"Assange describes the Ecuadorean ambassador offering him diplomatic asylum as 'mad', 'fat' and 'ludicrous'."
Author of Slashdot post quoted half of this sentence.
Assange is an asshole womanizing narcissist, Manning was a transsexual on the brink of a gender change with (understandable) anger issues, Snowden is... weirdly normal aside from some seemingly irrational choices in countries to hide in.
Of course you have to take a hatchet piece by a "ghostwriter" with a grain of salt but we already knew Assange could be sleazy from his behaviour that led to the rape charges (regardless of whether you think the charges are legit).
At the end of the day to be a prominent activist you have to believe your issue is so important that it's worthwhile provoking confrontations and stirring up trouble, you need an ideology strong enough to motivate you to throw away a normal life and career to pursue your issue. Normal well adjusted people generally don't become dedicated activists.
I think WikiLeaks is a great idea but nice normal people don't make things like WikiLeaks.
I stole this Sig
I find it highly suspect that the most damage being done to Assanges reputation is by his erstwhile friends and colleges.
.. The e-mails also suggested that the company could pressure some of WikiLeaks' more public and vocal supporters (primarily journalists) by threatening to sabotage their careers." ref
"Wikileaks.org uses trust as a center of gravity by assuring insiders, leakers, and whistleblowers who pass information to Wikileaks.org personnel or who post information to the Web site that they will remain anonymous. The identification, exposure, or termination of employment of or legal actions against current or former insiders, leakers, or whistleblowers could damage or destroy this center of gravity and deter others from using Wikileaks.org to make such information public." ref
"Some enemies of WikiLeaks are not afraid to play dirty. Pro-WikiLeaks hackers (but not the organization itself) gained access to internal e-mails from HBGary Federal, a California-based security company that was allegedly offering to help companies like Bank of America (the rumored target of the next WikiLeaks dump) discredit the organization through falsified documents
Is anyone really surprised that Assange is a womanizer? This whole thing started with him having unprotected sex with two different women in the span of a few days. He always has his hands on the arses of women?
Oh, the humanity!!
How do the women react? Since we haven't heard of any new sexual harassment lawsuits, I'm going to guess they did not mind. We have known that he's an asshole and a womanizer since before the whole scandal started, and women still flock to him as if he were a sex god. Sucks to be his girlfriend, but that is hardly a criminal offense.
I've never read a single article describing him as nice. Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are rarely described as nice either, but that didn't stop them from achieving great things.
Remember, the NSA's stated M.O. is to publicly smear Julian Assange in order to get people to divert focus away from the crimes commited by the U.S. Federal Government. flash action game
Can you imagine Assange doing the NY morning show circuit?
Only if they do them from Quantico.
The summary reminds me of JFK and of this indirectly related article The Double Standard That Lets Elites Survive Even Catastrophic Failures:
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
Late to the party so I suspect all y'all will miss this but it's important to realise that The Telegraph is a very right-of centre, capital "C" Conservative news organisation. In the UK it's often called the Torygraph for it's unquestioning and unalloyed support of all things associated with the Tory (Conservative) party. For a different spin, try the Guardian's coverage, here.
Even better would be to actually read the LRB article which actually is a detailed, nuanced piece which says both good things and bad about the guy.
taped recordings of this stuff? You could, ya know, record him doing it and present that instead of hearsay.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?
SPOILER ALERT: At the end of the book, the main character is executed by the government.
__
Men with no respect for life must never be allowed to control the ultimate instruments of death.
GW Bu
For /.ters anyone?
He's fully qualified to hold elective office.
I don't know if anyone has pointed out the difference between the secrets someone has in their private life and those which are carried out by public officials during their service. There is a fundamental distinction between the two, and drawing parallels between Assange's will to expose government secrets and his unwillingness to have his own exposed is an ill-conceived comparison. This is because of the nature of the role of a citizenry who supports the actions of its elected officials: citizens have every right to demand integrity from those who hold positions validated by its authority, we find a very different question when it comes to what citizens demand of each other. While it is true that we vilify individual actors within official agencies for the infractions we find in their practice, and while it is also true that some of the criticism leveled at Assange deals with his interaction with people in a capacity more closely aligned with an "official" role (e.g., as a boss at Wikileaks), this article is still an intellectual decreptitude in trying to justify the culture of public secrecy (because that IS what it is trying to do) against which Assange has railed, by calling the value of his personality into question. From what I've heard, I'm not a fan of the guy personally, but I'm far more concerned with the actions he exposed than those being exposed about him, mainly because my citizenship results in the US military and government acting as my representatives. Between myself and Assange, there is no such relationship. Until we can get past a politics dominated by a fascination with personality and a mindset which equates ethics to morality, we remain prey for those who would happily lead the blind.
You don't judge a man by his art, and you don't judge the art by the man? Something like that.
Aside from that. I find it ironic that this "friend" is accusing Assange of being a backstabber as he makes a public assault on his character behind his back. With friends like that, who needs enemies. Really, you're faulting the guy for having "wondering eyes"? Seems this "friend" could do to be a little less "vain" and a little more "secretive" himself, you know, seeing as he's making condescending statements about a private relationship in public. I'm starting to wonder if this isn't all just projection.
As for his girlfriend, she seems to be making the argument that "talking is talking is talking". There isn't anything wrong with "chatting someone up", but there definitely something wrong with having a sexualized conversation or sharing your lover's personal info with people like she's doing. How much could she have really loved him if she's now doing all she can to ruin his reputation?
He isn't really paranoid, as it's obvious they really are trying to get him. I bet I would seem very paranoid if I was in a similar situation. I would also be very secretive. Geez. Don't know about vain and making sex jokes. They don't actually seem so bad to me. There are like 1 billion people that are vain and/or make sex jokes.
Yeah, we won't find out because the point is not to find out, but to keep the false accusations alive.
The people working for the Swedish judiciary system could just travel down to London, interview Assange there and then be done with this whole spectacle.
Travelling to meet the accused is not without precedent, they have done it for other people in other countries (e.g. Serbia).
The same politically-motivated manhunt goes on and on and on. Right now Assange is in a de facto jail, he can communicate and meet people but cannot move about freely.
I remember one of his friends. they wanted to take WikiLeaks and was rebuffed, therefore started up a "better WikiLeaks" run by rules they thought were better and then trash talked Julian and WL to drive people to give HIM stuff, not pass it on to WL.
Is this the same "friend"?
And the only one alleging a case is the prosecutor, NOT ONE of the two women supposedly involved.
How lame is it when "I know better than you women whether you were raped" is fine when
a) it's a woman saying it
b) it's saying "you were raped, you just don't know it"
Done the other way round? "RAPE APOLOGIST!!!!!"
And you don't have to be there in custody to be charged, you have to be there in person to be *arrested*, but that's not being charged. You can be charged in absentia. You do not have to go to the police station to answer questions, you only have to go there if you're arrested.
Not even the women involved believe it's rape.
So who are you to claim you know better than the women what happened?
Sorry, that doesn't make the Torygraph any more reliable when the UK government, whom the Torygraph adore and worship, want Assange removed from existence.
Torygraph exists to help the tories get their way.
Grauniad doing the same for the left (what's left of it) has no bearing on it. By claiming it, all you've done is confirm the report of the grandparent: The torygraph cannot be relied upon here.
my headline is the comment
It's been public knowledge for years that he's basically an asshole and a pain to work with. Wikileaks is necessary and requires support, and in so far as his work is essential to Wikileaks, so does he, but that doesn't make him personally worthy of respect. The heroes in this piece, if there are heroes, are sources like Breanna Manning and Edward Snowden, and journalists like Glenn Greenwald.
Ass. Buttocks. Hindquarters. Rear. Plot. :P
Julian's seclusion at the Ecuadorean embassy = Napoleon's exiled on Elba Island.
The one thing I do know about this guy is that he has courage, probably several orders of magnitude more than the Telegraph article auithor.
...couldn't have said it better.
just more NSA BS