Assange and Wikileaks and All
Dec. 20th, 2010 02:40 pmFirst of all, while I do care about Wikileaks, I don't particularly care about Julian as a person, except that I think that he should be treated the same as any other rape suspect -- and he hasn't been. See, for example, this post about the treatment of Polanski by comparison as well as some other points worth reading.
I think that people are entitled to a good defense, no matter how reprehensible a person they may be or how reprehensible a deed they may have committed (purportedly or actually).
I'm never one to assume that someone is either guilty (or innocent) of a crime until the case has been ruled upon -- that said, I generally have an opinion. On
rm's comment, "[I] am somewhat uncomfortable with the social requirement that we pronounce him guilty outside/prior to legal proceedings to which we are not party" -- I'm almost always very uncomfortable with that, especially in cases that could constitute libel per se.
I've found some of the timeline peculiar, particularly alterations of Twitter after the fact, and I note them as odd, perhaps significantly so.
That said, Julian does seem narcissistic; it is perhaps an unfair bias that I consider narcissists more likely to do things like that which Julian is accused of.
tl;dr: I wouldn't call anyone a rapist until they're convicted -- unless I was the victim or had personal knowledge of the situation. Which I do not in this case.
I think that people are entitled to a good defense, no matter how reprehensible a person they may be or how reprehensible a deed they may have committed (purportedly or actually).
I'm never one to assume that someone is either guilty (or innocent) of a crime until the case has been ruled upon -- that said, I generally have an opinion. On
I've found some of the timeline peculiar, particularly alterations of Twitter after the fact, and I note them as odd, perhaps significantly so.
That said, Julian does seem narcissistic; it is perhaps an unfair bias that I consider narcissists more likely to do things like that which Julian is accused of.
tl;dr: I wouldn't call anyone a rapist until they're convicted -- unless I was the victim or had personal knowledge of the situation. Which I do not in this case.