Arrogant, Misguided, and Ultimately Not Helpful

“National security of the United States has been put at risk,” insisted Holder, adding “The American people themselves have been put at risk by these actions that I believe are arrogant, misguided and ultimately not helpful in any way.”

Apparently, my understanding of the law is a bit out of date. It appears that it is now a crime to be arrogant etc. (see above) and if one is, then an international manhunt must ensue and the guilty party must be brought to justice. Somewhere near Walden Pond, Massachusetts, Henry David Thoreau, the author of "On Civil Disobedience" must be spinning in his grave. If arrogance were a crime, then impeachment proceedings against our president must begin immediately, followed by the other 535 residents of the Capitol building. Whether Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, is a low-life bottom dweller like John Edwards, for example, is really not the issue. I have heard (on TV) all sorts of comments about how he does not deserve First Amendment protection because he is not a member of the press. Lets see now, who gets to determine if you are a member of the press? Eric Holder? Is Assange any less a member of the press than say... Ariana Huffington? Or Matt Drudge? or Chris Matthews? Some pundit yesterday said that only reporters that work for publicly traded companies like the New York Slimes, I mean Times, deserve "Freedom of the Press" status. WTF?

So, I feel strongly both ways. Assange is a dirtbag, and he deserves freedom of the press protection under our Bill of Rights. In my view, the ultimate arrogance is how the government classifies through some arcane process, everything SECRET and therefore if you really want to know how things work in Washington, you get charged with espionage or treason. Unless you work for a "publicly traded newspaper." Assange is minor-league arrogant compared to even the lowest ranking congressman, or for that matter local politician. His motives may be absolutely "unholy" and he may be a rapist as he is being charged (remember how forgiving Hollywood was of Roman Polanski) but I know that I am uncomfortable when the Attorney General comes after someone for felonious arrogance. Perhaps we would all be safer with Assange behind bars. On the other hand, lets do it for a real crime, not because his actions are "Ultimately not helpful." Oh, and lets find out once and for all who in our government gets to decide which chosen members of society are members of the press. They were so all encompassing about freedom of religion (same First Amendment) in the most recent Mosque controversy but apparently being an internet blogger or a publisher of a college newspaper is not enough to have freedom of the press. Whoops...Blogger? That would be me.