Steven Spielberg's 'The Post' and Julian Assange

During Covid 19, and our self isolation shutdown, there's not much to do aside from reading and viewing a few films on Netflix. Scrolling through the menu, Spielberg's wonderful movie, The Post, appeared, so re-watching this great story about The Washington Post in the early 70's with Ben Bradley at the helm, was a no brainer. A story about the leak of The Pentagon Papers, and the Supreme Court ruling, siding with the First Amendment, freedom of the press, along with Spielberg's gift of pathos, brought a few tears to my eyes.

As the credits rolled, I thought, 'What the hell has happened to our world?'

The Pentagon papers revealed that a slew of presidents from Truman to Nixon all lied about the Vietnam War. The CIA rigged elections, played both sides, and most importantly, knew from the beginning that it was a war that could never be won. In order to save face, and avoid humiliation, playing politics, the president(s) and government remained in the war; thus thousands of American lives had been lost, all because of a few men's egos and political aspirations. For many American's, this was simply unforgivable.

From the film and my memory of US history, the arguments and counter-arguments, boiled down to a primary point, counter-point. The publication of US government secrets was a matter of National Security. (How many times has the public heard this excuse) That American lives would be lost if the leaked documents were published. The counter-point was a Constitutional argument in line with the first amendment – freedom of the press. On a 6 to 3 majority, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the press. The purpose of the press is to inform the governed, the people, and do not serve the few who govern. Soon after this, The Washington Post revealed Watergate, resulting in the resignation of President Nixon.

Oh my, how things have changed.

The majority of Americans and people around the world, have no confidence in the MSM. Recent polls have shown a drop in confidence with the press, and find them mere servants to power. That said, however, there are certain independent news organisations and single journalists, who continue to carry the First Amendment mantle, informing the public, and informing the world of the truth.

When Wikileaks hit the world stage, the amount of sheer corruption in governments around the planet was rampant. This came with a drastic consequence, mainly in the beginning, a coordinated smear campaign against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Unfortunately this pounding of disinformation worked after the 2016 general election. Many mainstream journalists began a disinformation tirade that Assange was not a “real” journalist, etc. So many people bought into this propaganda, and interestingly, right at the same time, the Russia-gate disinformation was unrelentingly, bombarded on the world against Assange. Now he's in solitary confinement 23 hours a day, because he revealed the War Crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. These leaks have not resulted in a breach in “National Security”. All evidence shows no deaths have occurred from these publications. Despite The Pentagon Papers precedent, set by the Supreme Court, those currently in power, are trying to kill Assange, along with the First Amendment of the United States.

What the hell happened is since the early 80's, media outlets have been bought-up by billionaires, including The Washington Post. All these main stream outlets, including the television media, are beholden to their owners, in terms of what to write and what NOT to write or broadcast. Those pundits within the corporate system will deny any influence, but many of us have read Chomsky's 'Manufacturing Consent', and have observed the crumbling of real news over the decades.

Julian Assange is our 21^st century Daniel Ellsberg. And by the way, Ellsberg is a on the record, loud supporter of Wikileaks, and Assange.

Re-watching 'The Post', today, showed me that whistle-blowers and the free press are so important as the 4^th Estate, keeping power in check, in a functioning democracy.

Once the free press is gone, all we have left is totalitarianism.

For me, that's why independent news stations and journalists are so important.

And that's why Julian Assange must be exonerated and set free.