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The defense of democratic rights
The growth of social inequality is incompatible with democracy. The new aristocracy brings with it the aristocratic principle of government, in which the state functions ever more openly as an instrument of class rule. From ancient Rome to pre-revolutionary France and Russia and up to the present, those who have accumulated great wealth will use any means to keep it. Basic democratic rights in the US established by the American Revolution and Civil War—including the rights of free speech and political association, the right to vote, the right to due process safeguards in criminal proceedings, and protections against illegal searches and seizures—are today under relentless assault.
Related Articles:
Obama and Guantánamo
Written by Barry Grey on March 10, 2011President Obama’s order Monday resuming the drum-head military tribunals at Guantánamo and institutionalizing indefinite detention is but the latest demonstration of the continuity between his policies of militarism and authoritarianism and those of his predecessor.
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TwitterFree Bradley Manning!
Written by Patrick Martin on March 4, 2011The decision by the Obama administration and the Pentagon to file 22 additional criminal charges against Army Private Bradley Manning, one of which carries the death penalty, is a brutal demonstration of the vindictiveness of American imperialism. In targeting this courageous young man, the US government is at the same time seeking to intimidate all opposition to the war policies of the corporate and financial elite.
Defend Julian Assange
Written by Robert Stevens on February 26, 2011The ruling by Judge Howard Riddle at Belmarsh Magistrates Court in London that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited to Sweden represents a grave threat to his liberty and even to his life.
The decision is only the latest episode in a massive, internationally coordinated campaign headed by the Obama administration and US intelligence agencies to discredit and destroy WikiLeaks.
Julian Assange and the defense of democratic rights
Written by Joseph Kishore on December 21, 2010Over the past several months, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been the target of a state-orchestrated campaign based on trumped-up allegations of sexual misconduct. He was named in an international arrest warrant, detained in a London prison, initially denied bail and held in isolation for nine days. Assange’s lawyers are fighting extradition to Sweden while he remains under virtual house arrest.
The New York Times and WikiLeaks
Written by Joseph Kishore on December 16, 2010In the ongoing campaign of persecution against WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange, the New York Times, the principal voice of American liberalism, has played a particularly filthy role.
Free Julian Assange! Hands off WikiLeaks!
Written by Bill Van Auken on December 8, 2010Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was jailed in Britain Tuesday on charges that are nothing more than a pretext for an act of political repression dictated by the US government.
The aim of this judicial travesty is, in the first instance, to punish Assange for having made public secret cables exposing crimes and conspiracies carried out by US officials.
