McCain Calls WikiLeaks' Disclosures 'Harmful'; Palin Says They're 'Treasonous'

[Turborama]

Source: NPR

The Republican ticket from 2008 has weighed in on the latest WikiLeaks disclosure of information the U.S. government didn't want to see disclosed.

— Sen. John McCain, the '08 Republican presidential nominee:

"Latest Wikileaks doc disclosure is harmful & unacceptable and inhibits any confidential conversations w/ friends & allies around the world." (Twitter.)

— McCain's running mate (and possible 2012 presidential contender), former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin:

"Inexplicable: I recently won in court to stop my book America by Heart from being leaked,but US Govt can't stop Wikileaks' treasonous act?. (Also on Twitter.)

Read more: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2010/11/29/131671593/mccain-calls-wikileaks-disclosures-harmful-palin-says-they-re-treasonous

---

NPR poll about the leaks at the link.

Results so far...

... Right. The public has a right to know and governments need to be kept honest. 52.42% (1,095 Clicks)
... Wrong. Some of the things it discloses put lives at risk. 47.58% (994 Clicks)

DU poll about the leaks here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9650315



Seeing as Julian is Australian, it looks like Palin has to be taught what "treason" really is by using some of her actions in the past as examples...

[Raschel]

1. It looks like 'inexplicable' is her screen name. That makes sense.

[saigon68]

13. A distinct vacuum between her Ears

[Plucketeer]

30. She makes a box o' rocks look smart!

Palin - charter member: Dunce of the Month Club. :dunce:

[JBoy]

2. Palin: I can turn any subject into something about me.

[tomm2thumbs]

3. hahahaha - it seems that way - too funny and yet too true

[AspenRose]

10. SCORE!

:applause:

[onehandle]

4. STFU you ............ nt

[notadmblnd]

5. Not treason Barbi bimbo, Julius Assange is Australian, not American

nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

14. Maybe some American gave Assange the documents

So that person might face a treason charge.

It's also possible that someone in U.S. intelligence is feeding Assange a lot of misinformation. If not, I don't know why he hasn't met with an unfortunate accident.

:hi:

[Very_Boring_Name]

6. How is it treasonous if its being done in another country by an australian citizen?

To quote keith: that woman... is an IDIOT!

[YOY]

7. I know a few DUers in interesting company!!!

n/t

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

8. Why care what Palin thinks, best to ignore her.

[eleny]

9. _

[Smarmie Doofus]

11. Well, I say they're harmLESS and... er.... REASONOUS!!! n/t

[Eric Condon]

12. This should tell us everything we need to know about these leaks nt

[Botany]

15. Hey McCain & Palin

Did you say one word about the outing of Val Plame?

You know the CIA agent who was working undercover to stop real
WMDs and that her cover company "Brewster Jennings" was rolled up
and God knows how many CIA agents and contacts were killed after
Dick Cheney and Karl Rove thought it was a good idea to out her
because her husband .... a real life American hero who saved
American hostages before the 1st gulf war .... had the unmitigated
temerity to say the truth that Iraq had no WMDs and that we were
led into a war based on lies?

That was real treason right there and i heard nothing from either of you.

[Andy823]

16. So let me see now

If the facts come out at a later date that it was some of the leftover Bushies in the government that have been doing the "leaking", they the idiot Palin is saying they committed treason? I hope she remembers this if it comes to be that this was all a right wing "leak" trying to make the president look bad!

[truthisfreedom]

17. Dog whistle alert: palin accuses Obama of not stopping leak.

Yep.

[GentryDixon]

18. Why do we care what this half-wit

has to say? She is about as credible as her loser running mate.

[Tx4obama]

19. Article link and excerpt below from Mother Jones: Sarah Palin's WikiLeaks Fail

SNIP

Inexplicable? Does she not understand the difference between apples and nuclear reactors? The two instances she links have little in common. In the case of her book, she managed to get a judge to order Gawker to take down a post showing portions of her book after the website had put them up. And the judge in this case was following precedent established when The Nation magazine was successfully sued by Harper & Row in the 1970s after publishing excerpts of former President Gerald Ford's memoirs before the book was released. The Supreme Court, deciding the case in favor of the publisher, said media outlets could not, under a claim of fair use, publish a significant portion of a copyrighted book (accepting the argument that this could weaken the commercial value of the book). Palin's lawyers took advantage of this ruling, in demanding that Gawker not show the actual pages of her book.

Stopping a media leak involving government information before the fact is not the same. The grand-daddy legal decision on this front comes out of the famous Pentagon Papers case, when the Supreme Court ruled that the government could not block newspapers from publishing the secret Pentagon history of the Vietnam war leaked by Daniel Ellsberg to The New York Times and other papers. The guiding principle here: the government does not have the right to impose prior restraint on the media.

SNIP

Full article here: http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/11/sarah-palin-and-wikileaks-fail

[fascisthunter]

20. That Means We Should All Read EVERYTHING

and we should all thank both for bringing attention to it all.

[Spiderzumbie]

21. Umm.....

We care what she thinks?
Really?

It's a sad day when we heed the advice and "wisdom" of Mrs. Palin.

[Joanne98]

22. Idiot Sarah Palin!

[TheCowsCameHome]

23. That describes the 2008 GOP presidential ticket.

[CJvR]

24. Aussie or not.

Harmful - certainly.
Treasonous - possibly, at least by the original leak.

Stupid - absolutely!

[Turborama]

25. "Wikileaks' treasonous act" is what she said. Julian is who she's referring to.

By the way, her correct use of a possessive apostrophe (Wikileaks') proves it wasn't written by her.

[Iliyah]

28. Well isn't

Murdoch an Aussie too? The dude who is supporting Palin? Hey, after these leaks, get the documents from the GOP. I want to see them!

[Frisbee]

26. If I had any doubts about the wisdom of releasing all...

of these documents, knowing where McCain and Palin stand makes me feel pretty much certain that releasing them was the right thing to do. I mean, when have those two morans ever NOT been on the wrong side of an issue.

[stray cat]

27. Cheney was heroic!

[Marnie]

29. Sarah you ass

Julian is not an American citizen and can't be a traitor to a country he is not a citizen of.

And since when is "truthiness" an act of treason?

[liberalmuse]

31. Meh. Anyone have a fly swatter?

I really love to think that 'Wikileaks' is karma for the airport nudie cameras, as many have already said (and Tweeted).