tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post8038419185728455912..comments2024-03-21T03:55:51.565-07:00Comments on Omniorthogonal: WikiLeaks and Open Governmentmtravenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02356162954308418556noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post-73824483767036120702010-12-07T16:25:32.773-08:002010-12-07T16:25:32.773-08:00What is interesting about the latest Wikileaks doc...What is interesting about the latest Wikileaks documents is how flustered so many typically left-wing folk are about them. When it was just military information, that was "ho-hum, not much here to see." Now that it is State Department cables, we witness adverse commentary on NPR, and Dianne Feinstein foaming at the mouth in today's Wall Street Journal about how the Espionage Act of 1917 ought to be used to prosecute Julian Assange and others. <br /><br />Naturally when people of such a deeply pink shade start making a fuss about something, I wonder if there might not be merit in it.<br /><br />I think what we're observing here has to do with the content of these documents, as opposed to the previous military ones. The left has always regarded the U.S. armed forces with a mixture of suspicion, hatred, and contempt. They view it as a fount of reaction, its officer corps as characters out of "Dr. Strangelove," and its enlisted personnel as low-IQ rednecks who might as well be killed off to reduce the white Christian element in the American electorate, the more swiftly to replace them with third-world immigrants. Thus, revealing military information that might lead to losses or humiliation for the armed forces is not to be regretted, but applauded.<br /><br />The State Department and diplomatic corps are quite another matter. Here it is useful to make reference to Moldbug's concept of "The Cathedral." The military are but its outer guardians, grudgingly accepted while despised and mistrusted. They never enter the hallowed space beyond its porch, or at most its antechambers; they are easily dispensable. The State Department, on the other hand, is the sanctum sanctorum, wherein only the high priesthood are permitted to enter. Their secrets must be defended at all costs; little does it matter that soldiers or sailors might die, but that a high-ranking official at State might be embarrassed - why, that's quite another matter!<br /><br />The banality and obviousness of much of the gossip about foreign officials in these 'diplomatic' cables is remarkable. An eighteenth-century international intriguer like Casanova de Seingalt, the chevalier d'Eon, or the comte de St.-Germain, would have been ashamed to turn in such work product to his employer. It's on the order of "TMZ" or "People" magazine. This sort of thing requires an Ivy League education? We ought to be underwhelmed. No wonder people like Feinstein are upset. <br /><br />It would be much more curious to know the secret thoughts of Sarkozy or Berlusconi about Obama, Hillary Clinton, and others of the American governing class. Now that would be worth reading!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15644559.post-6289067010835240382010-12-06T20:02:48.033-08:002010-12-06T20:02:48.033-08:00Thanks for the mention. Maybe I'm turning into...Thanks for the mention. Maybe I'm turning into a grumpy old man and I would hate that, so I'll go and think about what you say.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com