@LiberalLibrarian I though the had revealed information about war crimes in Iraq and how going there was illegal. That makes this a very bad thing for whistleblowers.
@Nimthiriel He's not a whistleblower. He's a Russian op, and his publications revealed intelligence assets and got them killed. I feel no sorrow for him, and what he's done has put real whistleblowers on the back foot.
@LiberalLibrarian Yikes. I haven't heard anything much about him in a long time so I wasn't aware of this. Got any sources so I can read in more detail?
@Nimthiriel Here's a good writeup from NPR. But this graf is what stands out to me.
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/12/712659290/how-much-did-wikileaks-damage-u-s-national-security
@LiberalLibrarian Oh, yikes! Fair enough.
@Nimthiriel Nope, not a hero. A very broken man who needs to face justice for his malfeasance.
@Nimthiriel I think at some point he had a purpose. But like with Trump, I believe he got caught in a compromising position by the FSB and Putin had him by the balls.
@LiberalLibrarian @Nimthiriel: He also was extremely selective about who and what he leaked about, to the point his very selective publication of mostly all dirt on the US government and operations, anti-fascist and legit anti-terrorism operations, and left-leaning politicians is what effectively broke WikiLeaks apart. He was leaking stuff damaging to opponents of Putin and his global allies.
@thedisasterautist Exactly. Putinist stooge who existed solely to damage the West and uplift dictatorships. And, of course, in Australia he supported a far-right "anti-imperialist" party. @Nimthiriel
@LiberalLibrarian @thedisasterautist Do you know which party? I donβt remember any of this, one of our major parties (The Liberal Party) is far-right and weβre in power for a long time so his views on that may have been relatively main-stream, wealthy-person views :/
@Nimthiriel @thedisasterautist Dammit, that's what I can't remember, and I wished I'd saved it. But there's this, with his WikiLeaks Party:
@Nimthiriel Although, this may be what I remembered. @thedisasterautist
@thedisasterautist @LiberalLibrarian Damn. What a shithead.
@Nimthiriel @LiberalLibrarian: I wouldn't call him a shithead.
I would certainly call him an enemy of democracy, republicanism, civilization, and definitely one for the gallows or at least life in prison without the possibility of parole or any manner of early release. He should die in someone's prison and be buried in a pauper's grave.
@Nimthiriel And, of course, his DNC leaks helped put Trump in office. Again, no sympathy.