Whatever you views are on government, and not even getting into types of government, it has been made quite clear from the treatment of Julian Assange in the past few days that anybody who comes along and threatens from the outside will be have all the forces of judicial hell flung after them. Yes, the allegations are serious, and whether the honey trap theory is correct or the Mick Jagger of journalism who couldn't get enough satisfaction is correct, it makes no difference. In the eyes of most observers, the sexual allegations will of course go hand in hand with the release of the documents - from one angle, JA has been stung. From another, those damn liberals are all perverts! But I see this firstly as a mistake of wikileaks - how could they ever have expected not to be attacked for what they are doing. it is as plain and simple as that. Do you think that you could just hang out all the dirty washing and no one was going to complain. That is not to say that what they did was wrong - in my view, good government should be open government (best government would be no government, but that is a story and revolution for another day perhaps) - and should be held accountable for its mistakes - something that unfortunately has not happened enough in recent years (but should that be government of individuals?) - but come on wikileaks - the moment JA became the public face of the organization was the moment the duck began to fly and the hunter had something to aim for. If, on the other hand, wikileaks had of stayed somewhat faceless, it would not have garnered the respect that is bestowed upon it now - by supporter and foe alike. In fact, I would hazard a guess to say that it would have been attacked something along the lines of the faceless terror organizations dotted around the world today - faceless, cowardly, moral less etc etc - hide in the reeds and have the hunter gossip about you and let your credibility seep away - or fly and take the flak. ( will be interesting to see the circus surrounding the arrest of the 16yr old hacker in the Netherlands - the "evil face" of anonymous!). Must we fight from the shaddows at times? In some obscure way, I think it comes down to trust. Trust for your enemy, and in yourself, that you know the fight is on, and you know dirty tricks will be played, but at least we can look at each other in the same playground.

ramblin ramblin....