1/7/11 - Jon Cowan, President of the Third Way Think Tank, on Julian Assange

[Zorra]

First, check out this, IMO, disturbing (PDF) memo advising Third Way propagandists how to word Third Way propaganda relating to the Army Chief of Staff General Casey's statements of the need for the military to leave Iraq:

"As we have noted in earlier memoranda, this should be the fundamental point about why America must end our military involvement in Iraq. War opponents must be very clear that they seek to end the war not because they pity the troops or want to stop the flow of American blood and treasure. Rather, they seek an end to the war so that we can re-sharpen the spear and fight terror more effectively."

It is important to emphasize that General Casey was not saying that this situation is grave simply because our troops are overworked or at risk, though he obviously believes both to be the case. His main concern is that the security of the United States is at risk because the Army is unable to function as it should.
Third Way party President John Cowan, 9/27/07

"Capable, generous men do not create victims; they nurture victims."
....Julian Assange

Julian Assange and the WikiLeaks Attack on Progressive Values
January 7th, 2011
by Jonathan Cowan, Nancy Hale, and Matt Bennett

That’s why it is so distressing to see well-known progressive voices like Moore’s taking up the cause of Julian Assange. The WikiLeaks leader should have a status more in line with the self-important, misguided, rigid and ideologically blind Charlton Heston, who Moore exposed so brilliantly in his film.

We hope that Moore and other progressives will reconsider this support. The left should not be backing a man or an organization that is so clearly inimical to American security interests and to so many progressive values. Assange’s actions as head of WikiLeaks should install him in the annals of infamy, not offer him hero-worship.

Jon Cowan is Co-Founder and President of Third Way; Matt Bennett and Nancy Hale are Co-Founders and Vice Presidents of Third Way.

Cowan is, well, being disingenuous, to put it nicely, and is obviously shilling for the 1%. If you recognized the old "hero worship" talking point (and other) propaganda so prevalent on DU this past week, re Julian Assange...I'm just sayin...

Transcript: Interview with Julian Assange, on why wikileaks is important.

CA: But are there risks with that, either to the individuals concerned or indeed to society at large, where leaking can actually have an unintended consequence?

JA: Not that we have seen with anything we have released. I mean, we have a harm immunization policy. We have a way of dealing with information that has sort of personal -- personally identifying information in it. But there are legitimate secrets -- you know, your records with your doctor; that's a legitimate secret -- but we deal with whistleblowers that are coming forward that are really sort of well-motivated.

CA: So they are well-motivated. And what would you say to, for example, the, you know, the parent of someone whose son is out serving the U.S. military, and he says, "You know what, you've put up something that someone had an incentive to put out. It shows a U.S. soldier laughing at people dying. That gives the impression, has given the impression, to millions of people around the world that U.S. soldiers are inhuman people. Actually, they're not. My son isn't. How dare you?" What would you say to that?

JA: Yeah, we do get a lot of that. But remember, the people in Baghdad, the people in Iraq, the people in Afghanistan -- they don't need to see the video; they see it every day. So it's not going to change their opinion. It's not going to change their perception. That's what they see every day. It will change the perception and opinion of the people who are paying for it all, and that's our hope.

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