I had not realized quite how crucially important and extensive the impact of the Wikileaks disclosures were globally, until I read about the testimony of Clive Stafford Smith. It was a real eye-opener reading the latest of Craig Murray’s post on the Assange hearing, so if you haven’t read it do take a look now. Craig must be of a similar vintage to me, so I have no idea how he manages to maintain the stamina to be up at ‘sparrows fart’ in the morning to get a place to enter the court, keep pace with the note taking throughout the day in Court and then still have the energy to write his blog posts for us as well… I really appreciate his herculean efforts in support of Julian Assange and keeping us all informed. I hope he has a great team of logistical supporters down in London to keep him going like the Eveready Bunny so he doesn’t wear himself into the ground. In a more light-hearted vein I want to offer an Ausie jingle for Julian dedicated to:
“THE OLD BAILEY KANGAROO COURT”
Tie me Kangaroo Down Sport,
Tie me Kangaroo down,
Kangaroo Justice in this Court,
So tie me Kangaroo Down…
A Kangaroo ruling proceedings,
Let’s Kangaroos wallop defence,
No chance to bound away free now,
Julian’s tied-up inside the fence!
Here to see Assange bound over,
Bounced to torture in the US!
Kangaroo Justice in this Court,
They tied me Kangaroo Down…
There is a glaring connection between what I wrote yesterday with regard to the US targeting the ICC. I don’t doubt that Julian Assange would be willing to cooperate with the ICC and elaborate on many US atrocities in Afghanistan and elsewhere. This is a significant political reason that the US wants to take Assange out and do so in such a horrific way that it scares all investigative Journalists into silence for fear of the horrendous consequences. Nothing from the tabloid press, after all they have no need to fear reprisals if they continue functioning as the Tory mouthpiece here in the UK. So while Johnny Depp’s dirty dobie got done to death in the tabloids only a few short weeks ago, the demise of UK freedom of the press is not an issue of public concern; nothing to see here… so let’s move on! The press were not just excluded from the proceedings, but they were happy to be excluded, thus totally removing them from any serious obligation to report the case that the UK Government wants to keep well and truly under wraps.
While a couple of the mainstream news outlets managed to briefly mention the atrocities disclosed in the shocking Wikileaks files back when they were published almost a decade ago, they made no coherent connection to the massive social upheaval that the exposure of war crimes precipitated. For young people this was not their news; they fail to comprehend the relevance, although the determination of the US Government to prosecute and incarcerate Assange well beyond one hundred years of his life expectancy should prompt them to question why? Trump wants Assange’s head on a pike or the most sadistic modern day equivalent; this will act as a terrifying deterrent to shut down investigative journalism and silence dissenting voices worldwide, consolidating dictatorial US strength of aggression. The global bullying power of the America is under threat if Assange cannot be gagged, discredited and disempowered: all of Journalism will feel this lethal hammer blow on freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Take note of my new abbreviation for Tory Government: Tor-Ment! Hey, tell it like it is! As if it were not hard enough to broadcast the truth, otherwise known as ‘progressive or alternative news;’ the Tor-Ment are using Covid 19 as a feeble excuse to shut down all public protests with restrictions to gatherings of less than six people, unless in the close vicinity of a cash register or a workplace time-clock. Apparently such iconic features miraculously confer special immunity protection from Covid 19 to all workers or those actively engaged in spending money! While the Tor-Ment distract us with news of parties so they can blame young people for the Government initiated surge in Covid cases, we need to be concerned about the real vectors spreading infection. The children, who although asymptomatic, will pass Covid on to vulnerable adults in poverty stricken three generation households are ignored. Those forced back into workspaces that aren’t Covid secure, travel to work on cramped public transport: the poor are meant to die!
How can we protest and still be heard? When we were clapping for carers it was highly visible and the sound carried to increase the cumulative impact. If we can no longer join protests without being punished and dispersed by the police we can chose a much louder and more effective alternative that no one need leave home to join. It could be “Tin Pot Tuesday,” “Tin Pot Thursday” or both when we go outside to bang pots; it could be “Sing Along Saturday” when we all go outside our front doors all over the UK and sing songs that represent how we are really getting shafted by this Tor-Ment! Small family groups of six people or less could record their rendition of “Lost hope and past glory” sending the PM into apoplectic dismay! How many can make it down to a protest in London under the current restrictive rules enforced to shut down protests? Those who can make token protests in key places need to carry an inflatable cash register to highlight the sheer hypocrisy of current regulations; the masses can create YouTube videos to post and share online.
The Government are hoping that restrictions on protests threatening huge fines will shut down all protest, but if we bring the protest right to peoples doors, every single home in the UK, it will engage huge numbers throughout the entire country with no one feeling excluded because they cannot travel or just cannot get down to London. We can see the Tory-Ment restrictions as strangling our right to protest or just moving protest into a more inclusive participatory format where no one is excluded from taking part. Create a huge press release to announce this triumph and thank the Government for offering a new way forward for those wishing to express their views! Extinction Rebellion should take Sunday with candles and death of the planet themes. There’s still “Morning Monday” for those who have lost family members; “Frugal Friday” for those who have lost jobs and been forced into destitution; leaving “Woeful Wednesday” for the homeless, Asylum Seekers Gypsies and the dispossessed! Either Tuesday or Thursday could megaphone the Brexit crisis.
We cannot be deterred by the Tor-Ment rules to shut down protest; we must embrace this change as a triumph that makes protest louder, more effective and inclusive nationwide. The Tories will wish that they had driven us onto the streets to protest when the daily cacophony can no longer be ignored. All I can offer is the Link to Donate to Craig’s Legal Fund which I was thankfully able to use without being sucked into a PayPal membership page; an obstacle encountered with the regular donate button on Craig’s site. I wanted to set up regular direct debit, but had my donation thwarted by PayPal: I detest PesterPal! But this link does not request PesterPal membership although they do handle the transaction. This represents Corporate giants muscling in to coerce people into unwanted PayPal membership and it’s not on, so I have contacted my bank to set up a PesterPal free direct debit. Those who have the means will find a way to chip in; the link to the Julian Assange Legal fund is here.
Until we remove this Tory Government, I do not believe that any of the most burning issues of the day will be addressed. From the criminalization of investigative journalism with the targeting of a prominent Whistleblower, to Extinction Rebellion, Grenfell Tower, Windrush, Black Lives Matter, humanity towards migrants, the persecution of Palestinians to our lethal arms trade bombing Yemen into oblivion will all be ignored. Covid 19 is a useful tool to help the Tories consolidate a new era of extreme oppression under the Johnson/Cummings dictatorship; the hardship accelerated by crash-out Brexit will finalize the dystopian nightmare that lies ahead. Poor people will be hit with fines while the elite remain immune, but we must shout out now, every one of us collectively in a safely separated chorus. Cummings remains a volatile wrecking ball ordering mayhem, but he is the grenade; oust him and you pull the pin! We have to rebel to demand just reversal of the Covert 2019 Rigged Election, Investigation, inquiry: regime change, jail time! DO NOT MOVE ON!