that he will face lawsuits and criminal charges is not
unlikely or unexpected or bothersome or even of any
import.

claiming that there is a “conspiracy” is also
unimportant and perhaps dull-minded.

providing proof that there are people who are
persecuting Assange without cause might be interesting.

The illegal conspiracy against Assange is vast and groundless.  He will be litigated against until the day he dies.

well, i’m just certain that Assange has documentary evidence to back up his claims
of illegal conspiracies against him…..

although, I’m sorta uncertain about which legal system

jo6pac, October 25 at 7:49 am

The real pity is that your own brain has not been taken over by one who would actually put it to use.

Out on bail already,Joe?

Galileo was also the subject of false charges, he was also put under house arrest and prevented from publishing. He was persecuted and pursued by the Inquisition and that’s exactly what’s happening to Assange. But in those days there was somewhere to go. Descartes, in France, was so shaken by what happened to Galileo that he stopped publishing his work and eventually fled, guess where? To Sweden. But Sweden is no longer a beacon of democracy and has gone over to the dark side. Galileo was persecuted by the Vatican for telling the truth: that the sun and not the earth was at the centre of the universe and that the earth revolved around the sun and not the other way round. This is where the word ‘revolutionary’ comes from. The witch hunt against Assange might seem like a new story but it’s all happened before. All that’s changed is the name of the Fascist power trying to prevent the truth from being told. The desire to crush the truth and prevent it being told is one of the most consistent characteristics of Fascists and of Fascist states.

It would seem that the primary connotation of the word “muchraker” would logically be “one who rakes muck” and the primary connotation of “muck” would be “dirty stuff”, “nasty stuff” etc., generally speaking.
  The word comes through to students of journalism as primarily “positive” in connotation as the
“muckraker school” of journalism consisting of a number of newsmen and women who became famous for uncovering “dirty stuff” going on in politics. They were lauded for it, NOT put in jail, victimized in solitary confinement for months as traitors, but not yet tried or convicted; and one man further accused of rape by two women who originally “didn’t particularly want to bring charges” but were apparently “persuaded” to do so, etc. etc..
  To the general reader, “muckraking” suggests
“raking muck” but the facts revealed by the cable releases, while many are hideous in the extreme, cannot be dismissed as no more than bits of gossip or shocking scandal, as they reveal no more and no less than the truth of much of what passes for “international diplomacy”. The difference is one of scale, as well as degree of aftereffects, I suppose. Certainly, however, both situations involve the struggle to preserve freedom of information.

This site must have been taken over by npr

Thank you Ardee, exactly the comments I was going to express. ‘muckraking’ is a snarl word, a perjorative word, a workd which implies the lowest standards and an intent to throw much about. He was releasing information which was hidden to the public so as to further democracy. A very different sentence.

Can the editor of TrutDig please explain why this expression was used and what is going on here?

It isn’t the accuracy of the usage that forces protest, Sebastian Lawhorne, October 24 at 2:13 pm, it is the negative connotation that word invokes,the word, by the by, which appeared not at all in the original article ( I wonder why that was, or rather you should wonder).

Also muckraking applies to a form of journalism, while Wikileaks simply outed cables and conversations that put the light of truth upon the lies and distortions of our government and military.

How high is that horse you ride anyway?

An addenda to the sleeze operation on the WikiLeaked cables, Assange, Manning etc., is that doubtless the NYT, Guardian, Der Spiegel et al (plus all the online videos around the world, TV and radio) all made a heap of money out of re-publishing the leaks, plus still more money following the sad slanders and imprisonments perpetetrated against Assange and Manning, plus the dubious behavior of the German hacker/competitor who reportedly started up another leaking site, and on and on.  How much of their profits are they going to put up to protect their source, Wikileaks. by paying a fair price for some of the loot?  Or have they already ante-ed up? And is it just more convenient to let the big issue—freedom of information—go down the drain and criminalize whistle-blowers?

TPTB have wikileaks effectively muzzled by now and any sensationalism derived from continuing to kick a dead horse is a disinformation campaign financed by your tax dollars.

Like cutting off a head of a hydra, many more will grow in its place.

While the article purports to cite a Guardian news release I noted that nowhere within the Guardian article does the word “Muckraking” appear.

Someone please proof read this stuff before TD loses all credibility.

As to the facts themselves, it is certain that Assange should have anticipated that the American Empire would certainly use any and all means at its disposal to silence those who expose its seamy underbelly. Piling up legal fees is a tried and true method one understands.

Absolutely, Montymouse. Anyone would think that Wikileaks was in the business of discussing Lindsay Lohan’s latest brush with the law. Some of the stuff these people write on Truthdig boggles the mind. And we all know the reason that the money has been cut off is because ‘America’s friend’ Paypal was not a pal to Wikileaks at all. And then there’s the little matter of America and Sweden, working as a tag team of devils, having succeeded in having Assange put under house arrest in Britain and both of them still dangling the fake rape charges in Sweden over his head and longing for the day they can drag him to America and lock him up in maximum security for ten years for daring to expose America’s war on democracy. America used to be a big country with lots of ideas but it’s become a very small country, morally speaking, with only one idea - how to profit from war and injustice.

Muckraking!!!!! What site am I on now???? Democracy Now? Has Truthdig been taken over by Wall Street. Julian Assange in a genius. I might boycott this site after such a trashy comment.

MUCKRAKING?  WHAT?  I can’t believe it! So bringing truth to light is “muckraking:? Who’s responsible for this faux pas?

“WikiLeaks’ days may be numbered [...] if the muckraking site Julian Assange built doesn’t sort out its money issues soon.”

“muckraking”? Really? That’s the best description Truthdig can offer its readers of the most vital and courageous journalistic enterprise in modern history? One has to wonder if you folks know your elbow from ear. Or news from propaganda.