What is Julian Assange doing? I listened to many of the supposedly "damning" voicemails, and, unless I missed the voicemail saying not to forget to rig the voting booths, too, I found nothing new to be incensed about or disturbed by. In truth, I was only troubled by the familiarity I felt while listening to the messages. While the subjects of my voicemails are drastically different than the subjects in the messages released by WikiLeaks, as I write this, I can't help think of the trove of undeleted messages on my own iPhone (ironically, my listening device of choice for the leaks), many of which start and end with the same effortless, banal blubbering of, "Hey, it's (insert my name). Call me back..", that can also be heard on the leaked messages. I kept waiting for the career destroying portion of the voicemails and, instead, the only thing that was destroyed was my desire to snoop, and Assange's credibility.
Let's unpack it a bit, shall we? A few messages discuss various dinners with President Obama; Gloria Allred calls in once, a bit too early for her 2:30pm call - don't worry, she'll call back; some have vague references to conversations the caller needs to have with the recipient, and one in particular, which I am sure will be thoroughly masticated on and regurgitated out by the end of the week, mentions the need to discuss what is happening in Philly and whether they should still advise (though it's never mentioned to whom and of what the advice is for). None of these really peaked my interest, with such little information given I had no real context and, as I've never cared much for guessing, I grew a bit bored - these were clearly DNC members leaving quick messages in their political shorthand. Nothing to really stew over. And then, about 7 voicemails in, I found a message that gave me pause.
The voicemail, left by a Hilary supporter, was a masterpiece read, detailing her absolute destain for Bernie's socialist views and his supporters. It's clear that the only change she cared for happened in 2008. She's has 3 of her private messaged leaked by Assange; in all of them she scolds the DNC for, what she perceives as, letting Bernie hijack the Democratic Party with his radical views, and while some hold a harsher spanking than others, each message is it's own gem. On her final and most memorable message she utilizes some colorful language, tearing into the DNC for allowing Bernie's naming of Cornel West to the Democratic Platform Committee. Unencumbered anger bleeding through every cord in her voice, she reminds whomever this message was intended for that Cornel, who is "absolute trash," has called Obama, "A N****rized President, and a Republican in Blackface." For her, this is an absolute disgrace. As I listened to her raw emotions laid bare, knowing they were intended for a specific someone or someones, oddly enough, created a sense of intimacy, intimacy that I knew was being stripped away as every word hit my ear drum. My skin began to crawl.
She didn't call into a talk radio program to voice her opinion to unfamiliar ears, she called to talk to someone who, from what I can surmise, would understand, maybe even quell her frustrations about donating money and, consequently, going over her budget for a political party she was no longer sure had her interests at heart. Sound familiar? Everyone who listens to these messages - whether just hers, all of them, or someone else's - will do so with ears and intentions that may be wholly different than my own. I can say I came to listen and I listened to her; because of her fire, her disappointment, her disillusionment it dawned on me: if her number remained unlisted, and if we bleeped out any references to specific politicians or political parties, she could very well be any voter in America right now, on any side of the aisle. She could be on the opposite end of the spectrum, and yet, if I didn't know the details, I may completely agree with what she was saying. And this is why this leak is as much an issue of national identity as it is an issue of national security. And it is here where Assange losses me.
As a one time journalist and a frequent criticizer of American politics, Assange should know better than to let his own hubris bleed so far and so openly into Wikileaks - a website once largely lauded and trusted by those seeking information sourced without a political agenda - that he would find this woman's cry over her lost nation as a tool for vindictive, sophomoric revenge shows a severe lack of judgment. He didn't release this in the traditional Wikileaks vein of things we deserve to know, he held it and is still only dropping morsels of information when he sees fit so that he will continue to have strong hand in steering the tide of political discourse towards Clinton well into November. He's admitted this and, in doing so, he's effectively taken everyone's secrets, and, with waif-life judgment, turned it into his own political Burn Book, dropping pages when and where he sees fit. And, in doing so, he has effectively become the type of political animal that American's hate the most, a dictator. And, if I know anything for sure about American politics and elections, it's that dictators don't belong in in them. So stay out, Julian!
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