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Maddow on Letterman - Grossly Mischaracterises WikiLeaks

submitted by BoneyD

1 decade 3 years 10 months 3 weeks ago

Rachael Maddow appears on David Letterman to discuss media bias, talk radio and the WikiLeaks release of diplomatic cables.

Towards the end of the interview (~8:05) they begin discussing Assange and WikiLeaks, where she characterises him as a self-describing "hero" who simply thinks information should be free for the sake of being free and an anarchist. She claims that the only information released was either minor or "unsafe" (so which is it?), yet nevertheless displayed inherent weaknesses in US information security protections.

I assume that she considers 'minor' many of the events revealed by the leaks, such as:
* Pfizer's pressuring/blackmail of Nigerian prosecutors to settle over the investigation of illegal tests of drugs on sick children
* US's role in sabotaging Cancun climate talks
* Cover up of US drone strikes that killed innocent civilians in Yemen by Yemeni and US officials
* The revelation that US armed forces turned a blind eye to Iraqi police torture and murder of prisoners
* Shell Oil's boastful admissions of infiltration in to Nigerian govt.
* etc., etc.
* etc.

Her only concern seems to be that the US hasn't been doing a good enough job of covering this all up.

The question surrounding WikiLeaks' actions is not whether a government should be allowed to keep secrets, they most certainly can and I shouldn't need to explain the requirements. What WikiLeaks has revealed is that governments should be careful about what they do without the public's knowledge, since there are conscientious people in the ranks who will blow the whistle when they think what is being done is illegal, unethical or wrong.

via
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/late-show-rachel-maddow
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/21/nyt/index.html