Short ‘n’ Stubby: Ms. Manx smells fish in the Wikileaks pond

I know how many of you love the Stumpy Cat, and the feeling is mutual. Ms. Manx loves you all too–so much that she overcame her fear of water, plunged headlong into the Wiki-waters and found…

…that Naomi Wolf is awesome on the whole “espionage” angle! Now do you believe me, those who doubted when I said that she was mocking the inane Interpol manhunt for a man accused of some pretty minor-league sexual assaults, and not the notion of rape itself? I’m telling you: this is a feminist who is not only serious on women’s issues (and specifically, sex and body-wars stuff; look up her oeuvre sometime) but also on her own country’s history, and more darkly, its flirtations with fascism. She knows her onions, and Ms. Manx has never doubted her or lost respect for her take on things, even when it gets a bit too flippant for some.

…that there are historic parallels for the sexualized smearing of Julian Assange. Ms. Manx would have you know that normally she NEVER references flibbertigibbertarian publications, but in this case, she makes an exception, because the parallel is that of Daniel Ellsberg, who has come out steadfastly in defence of Wikleaks. Henry Kissinger tried to smear Ellsberg as gay–something I’m sure came as a terrible shock to the latter’s wife, who obviously had no idea. (Ms. Manx sniffs disdainfully and says rats are for eating, not fucking. She would have Mr. Kissinger know that the Immortal Cats are waiting to consume his soul, come the fateful day.)

…that the Pentagon Papers, in turn, reflect something else: Eisenhower’s abiding concern about the military-industrial complex. How prophetic and true his words turned out to be! And no wonder: he mulled over them for two years before giving that farewell address. As a former military officer, he knew full well how serious the charges were that he was making. A pity he was not also an intelligence officer, or he would have foreseen the dangers of the espionage-industrial complex that hid in the military-industrial complex shadows. Which leads us nicely to our next point…

…that the snake bites its tail when we see how the CIA had a “honeypot” set up–a fake Wikileaks site. Strange coincidence that, eh? And if you really believe it is a coincidence, Ms. Manx would have you know…

…that however well-intentioned as Jessica Valenti’s attempt to link the Assange case to “rape in America” is, it just doesn’t make sense in this context. The incidents in question did not take place in the US, they occurred in Sweden. At most, they point up, as Valenti notes, the contrast between the two legal systems. What Valenti fails to note is the filthy, highly sexist motives of the US intelligence sector, and its willingness to cynically use them as a means of entrapping a man they could get no other way. (Ms. Manx says, with regal feline contempt, that it’s reprehensible–downright ratty!–of the CIA to hide under women’s skirts and Swedish laws.)

…that “intelligence” can be really, really stupid–and that whistle-blowing women are pointing out just how dumb it can be. Susan Lindauer, a former deep-cover agent, spills some absolutely fascinating beans, and says she wishes she’d known someone like Julian Assange during her career; what she knew was utterly at odds with what the general public was allowed to see, hear and think. Her contention, that secrecy makes for bad intelligence, doesn’t stop with her. A former Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year, Coleen Rowley, the FBI agent whose repeated warnings of terror suspects at flying schools were ignored, wonders if a Wikileaks-type operation would have prevented 9-11. Knowledge is power, replies the Stumpy Cat. And if you want to empower a whole country to save itself from attacks, the best thing to do is disseminate knowledge, however embarrassing, to the citizenry. After all, it’s apparent that the CIA can’t do it alone, and they’re sure as hell not gonna co-operate with the FBI.

…that Iraq is not the only victim of a foreign conspiracy to fabricate intelligence against it. Did you know that Haiti is, too? No? You do now. And here’s something for Brazilians and Canadians to hang their heads over: Our governments were in on it.

…that the world takes a dimmer view of the US than it did before the cables came out. Ugly suspicions have been more than confirmed. South Americans in particular have nothing but contempt for the secrecy; Lula has shattered his “good left” docile image for good by saying Julian Assange should not be prosecuted for publishing the cables, and it made me smile to see it. Europe, too, has no sympathy for the US government and wingnuts’ attempts to censor Cablegate. Could it be that they are just as tired of being under Uncle Sam’s thumb as Latin Americans are?

…that while Visa, Mastercard, Amazon and Paypal are all big fat corporate cowards, smaller fish are bravely swimming in to take up where they left off. Even Facebook and Twitter, though they’ve made some cowardly noises, so far haven’t succeeded in censoring the pro-leak messages flooding their systems.

…that the international human-rights and civil-liberties organizations are stepping up to the plate. Amnesty International, PEN and the UN have all chimed in strongly on Wikileaks’ behalf.

The Stumpy Cat yawns and retires, satisfied that all is unraveling as it should. The case against Wikileaks is as shoddy as a cheap old acrylic sweater, and Ms. Manx, who has all her claws, can’t wait to sink them in again…later…