Julian Assange: "The International Manhunt"

Many important people have been brought up this week in AIS, all of them having to do with civil liberties.  One man who has played his role in history is Daniel Ellsberg.  For those of you unfamiliar with Ellsberg, he is the man who released the Pentagon Papers to the public in 1971.  To learn more about Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, click here.  So, it's a Saturday night, and I feel in the mood for one of my favorite shows, The Colbert Report (if you're out there reading this, Stephen, you just got the Kolbe Bump).  Anyways, it just so happens that in the episode I am watching, (from 12-9-10), Stephen interviewed Ellsberg.  To watch this interview, go to this Colbertnation video.

Stephen and Ellsberg spent most of their time talking about Julian Assange.  If you have not yet heard about Julian Assange, he is somewhat of a modern day Daniel Ellsberg.  Assange founded the WikiLeaks website in 2006.  On November 28, 2010, WikiLeaks leaked information about United States diplomatic cables.  The White House called Assange's actions "reckless and dangerous".  For some brief background detail on Assange and WikiLeaks, click here to see Assange's Wikipedia page.  Anyways, back to the interview...

Stephen and Ellsberg spent the majority of the time talking about how Assange should be viewed.  Ellsberg thinks that Assange is a hero, and the public deserves to know this information.  Others, though, are on the complete opposite end of the spectrum.  If you watched the interview, then you saw how some people say Assange should be assassinated.  One man, whose name i frankly do not know or care, said "I think Assange should be assassinated, actually, I think Obama should put out a contract and maybe use a drone."  Someone who is more known, Newt Gingrich (Speaker of the House from 1995-99), called Assange a "terrorist".  I personally take a more neutral side on this debate; I neither applaud his actions, nor do I think he should perish for them.  If I had to choose one side, though, I think that I would personally tend to agree with Ellsberg, because the public has the right to know these things.


Julian Assange