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The DNC's Lawsuit Against WikiLeaks Is an Attack on the Freedom of the Press
It's a large world, filled with felonies big and misdemeanors small. And so I prefer to write long columns. But sometimes a short, sharp word is necessary. The Democratic Party is suing WikiLeaks and they shouldn't. As Glenn Greenwald wrote last week in The Intercept:
The Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit this afternoon in a Manhattan federal court against the Russian government, the Trump campaign, and various individuals it alleges participated in the plot to hack its email servers and disseminate the contents as part of the 2016 election. The DNC also sued WikiLeaks for its role in publishing the hacked materials, though it does not allege that WikiLeaks participated in the hacking or even knew in advance about it; its sole role, according to the DNC's lawsuit, was publishing the hacked emails.
As Greenwald points out, the Dems' claim that "WikiLeaks is liable for damages it caused when it 'willfully and intentionally disclosed' the DNC's communications ... would mean that any media outlet that publishes misappropriated documents or emails (exactly what media outlets quite often do) could be sued by the entity or person about which they are reporting."
After the Manning releases in 2010, the Obama Justice Department wanted to sue WikiLeaks. However, they couldn't prove that anyone from WikiLeaks had actually stolen documents. They knew that suing WikiLeaks would have infringed on press freedom. Sue WikiLeaks, and you have to sue the Washington Post as well.
The DNC has no such qualms now.
Also at Al Jazeera.
See also: Why the DNC Is Fighting WikiLeaks and Not Wall Street
(Score: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Thursday May 03 2018, @12:38AM (3 children)
It should also be mentioned that the Affordable Care Act, which was trumpeted as Obama's main left-wing accomplishment, was really a right-wing idea that functioned at least as much as a giveaway to the insurance industry as a way of granting access to health care.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 03 2018, @01:41AM (2 children)
The Democrats had a supermajority for a few years and yet didn't seriously try to get single payer or even a public option. Both things were mentioned briefly, but they gave up instantly. That tells you all you need to know about where their interests lie in general. It's not all because of Republican obstructionism like some people claim.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Thursday May 03 2018, @02:18AM (1 child)
Dennis Kucinich, the last congressman trying to hold out for a public option, recently talked about trying to negotiate with Obama about it. Basically, Obama made it abundantly clear to Kucinich that there was no way, no how, any kind of public option included in the ACA.
The "Oh, the Republicans wouldn't let us" argument is almost always complete hokum.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Friday May 04 2018, @12:39PM
Excellent sub-thread, guys. You're both dead on. People like you should form the core of a real progressive party. You'd get my vote.
Washington DC delenda est.