Julian Assange, scapegoat (the Clintons and their coterie are even less forgiving than the Deep State Julian so offended by airing their filthy laundry).

The dismemberment of Julian Assange is a symptom of our times, not a cause, Prometheus revisited, a reflection of how little we value truth, indeed, of how much we despise what it mirrors. Allusions and illusions, even delusions are preferable, plausible deniability much more of an art form, metaphors that distort rather than illustrate preferable than mere similes.

Julian believed we’d value the light he shed on the realities we lived, that we only accepted being participants unwittingly, and that if we became aware of the consequences of the actions of those who tortured and killed in our names, our reactive revulsion would change the world in which we live; if he demonstrated to us that we too were being recorded and deceived, we’d turn on our rulers and their enablers and attain the promises reflected in founding documents we claim to revere. Unfortunately our reverence too is illusory, as in the case with our great Western religious tomes, we honor them much more in the breach than the observance.

We are the offspring of sheep and lemmings, and we’ve inherited the worst characteristics of each, calves happily fattening for the slaughter. Not lions or tigers or bears, oh no! Julian thought that we were, more the fool he. A real journalist has no place in today’s world of spoon-fed propaganda, reality shows and pay to play news, and of course, those most averse to a real journalist popping up are the highly paid jackals who pass for reporters and analysts (although perhaps that’s unfair to jackals), the Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddows and Jim Accostas, the ‎Shepard Smiths and Sean Hannitys; and, of course, their employers, the mega corporate news sources like the New York Times and Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN and Fox News.

Julian thought we were better than that and staked his life on that supposition. Now he’s paying the price for that mistake. First, through the long term torture and attempted murder of his reputation through calumny, today’s favorite “reporting” technique, but, soon enough, that murder and that torture may become all too physical. The fetid scent of Guantanamo Bay hangs heavy in the air.

“Truth”! What an archaic concept, anachronistic. Boring and lacking in creative value. And it doesn’t even sell.

One wonders how many pieces of silver it cost to buy Lenin Moreno’s honor. Now there’s a hero for our times.
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© Guillermo Calvo Mahé; Manizales, 2019; all rights reserved. Please feel free to share with appropriate attribution.

Guillermo Calvo Mahé (a sometime poet) is a writer, political commentator and academic currently residing in the Republic of Colombia although he has primarily lived in the United States of America (of which he is a citizen). Until recently he chaired the political science, government and international relations programs at the Universidad Autónoma de Manizales. He has academic degrees in political science (the Citadel), law (St. John’s University), international legal studies (New York University) and translation and linguistic studies (the University of Florida’s Center for Latin American Studies). He can be contacted at guillermo.calvo.mahe@gmail.com and much of his writing is available through his blog at http://www.guillermocalvo.com.