Surely I can’t be the only one who’s noticed that John Walker Lindh was released from prison the same day as Julian Assange was charged under the espionage act.
NPR assures me the FBI is watching Lindh. It’s hard to believe it’s been 8 years since 9/11. Lindh of course wasn’t a terrorist, just an idiot who joined the wrong cause at the wrong time.
Ever once in awhile I think about Steve Earle’s great song about Lindh.
What to say about Assange. Clearly he’s a right winger of some sort. But does the American ruling class have the right to extradite him to the United States and lock him up in solitary confinement for life (which, let’s face it, is what’s going to happen) under the Espionage Act? Well, the Espionage Act was first used in 1917 by Woodrow Wilson to smash the anti-war movement. Back then the evil Russians were the evil Germans and our dissidents (like Eugene Debs) seemed of an altogether higher quality. Some things never change. Some things do. Clearly Assange is going to jail for life, not because he stole information, but because he stole information the American ruling class considers its personal property, not the property of the American people.
Writers Without Money 