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Constantibne Markides impressed me with this poem about Julian Assange, and the apathy and cruelty he faces. Consequently, I'm going to share it on a handful of pages.

See the eagle

over the mountain,

wheeling down,

blotting out the sun.

The pale man with the white

beard chained to the rock

winces

as the talons

anchor upon his thighs,

the bird of prey perching

upon its daily bread—

a man unforgiven for his

trespasses.

The head cocks,

its blank murderous eye

reflecting the cold will

of its lordly bidder,

then the curved beak

begins to jab,

stabbing at his guts,

digging for the

liver.

All day the pale man

on the mountain writhes

in agony unrelenting

as the bald eagle,

that stately emblem of authority,

disembowels him,

gingerly, delicately,

excruciatingly,

relishing its daylong feast,

fiber by fiber,

meting out the decreed

punishment for this heretic,

this bringer and starter

of fires.

Only at close of day

when the sun wearies

of this grisly theatre does the eagle,

sated from its bloody orgy,

retreat through the reddened sky,

leaving the wrecked man

to heal in darkness,

the liver regenerating overnight

until his torso,

that accursed cornucopia of organ meat,

is replenished by dawn,

just in time for

the next feeding.

So it goes.

Day in, day out,

for in matters of power—

whether you are the founding mortals

tasting forbidden fruit,

a luciferous angel refusing to serve,

or a firebrand publishing state secrets—

disobedience ever remains

the supreme crime.

Far below this mountain,

in the

polished halls of privilege,

the servants of the state,

identifying as journalists,

scurry about

freely.

Flushed with their proximity to power,

they fete and self-decorate

at correspondents’ dinners,

backslapping

over their professional integrity,

descrying the jailed dissidents

of official enemies.

Yet they never mention the pale man,

never glance up,

never ask why

a publisher is chained up

on their mountain.

And why should they,

these stenographers of empire?

They know their role,

just as a gimp knows how to submit,

a courtesan how to please,

and a goon how to

obey.

Why sabotage their high standing

when the accredited have

declared the pale man guilty

of espionage?

Why sleep poorly

Over a traitor’s chains?

No need to shirk from mirrors,

for they have

dutifully internalized,

as festooned lackeys do,

that this “journalist”

(rabbit ears required)

is a criminal,

a pawn of hostile states,

an abettor of lawbreakers,

a threat to national security,

a bail jumper,

a sexual delinquent!

Why should these handmaidens of the court

worry and risk disrepute?

They are too busy caterwauling

the imprisonments and injustices

by the latest enemy.

Too busy doomsdayering

unironically

over impending threats to press

freedom.

Too busy fussing

with the ruling

orthodoxies of the day.

Too busy to consider that

up there

on the mountain,

beyond their vision,

beyond the fireglow of hearths,

a Titan of their trade

is chained

to the rock.

https://www.mostlymyth.com/p/prey-for-assange

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All this means, for us the living, is that we have to step up our organizing and reach out to others who have been distracted by fake news and false flags for too long and are ready to fight for the truth like their lives depend on it because it does.

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You appear to be struggling with reality. Also your ramble lacks any fact, detail or evidence.

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If Donald Trump would commit to pardoning Julian Assange and Edward Snowden his re-election would be a lock. Their contributions to democracy should not only warrant pardon, immunity or refusal to prosecute but in my opinion they should be awarded the highest medals of honor bestowable by our country.

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I’ve compiled a comprehensive timeline of Wikileaks and Julian Assange to help educate people about this immensely important story.

Take a look and share widely.

https://issuechronicle.substack.com/p/the-final-push-to-save-julian-assange

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Superb factual and should be a warning to all of us that we are on a slippery downward road of rule by power

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All these wars are really started intentionally, willfully like from a ring of organised criminals. They own the media corporations, they "donate" obscure NGOs to write benevolent reports. And now they unleash even bio weapons and blame it on the Chinese. sometimes it is getting too tough to swallow all this meanness. If Julian is being extradited Jon also you need to make preparations for a tighter security.

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Feb 25Liked by Jonathan Cook

Thanks for your excellent work!

May we crosspost this essay on Nevermore Media Substack?

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author

Yes, of course. Thanks!

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Feb 25Liked by Jonathan Cook

Thank you, Jonathan, for your insightful analysis of the Assange case and the parallels with the genocide that is being allowed to happen in Gaza. Please keep up your honest and courageous reporting. It’s what we need more than ever in this dystopian world where all norms have been inverted and we are expected to meekly go along with everything.

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I think all politicians should be given a plastic bag and instructions on how to pick up body parts from rubble. Barb

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Another lucid and morally clear assessment by Mr. Cook. I am grateful

It's high time we admit out loud the reality staring us in the face. We are ruled by crime families.

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If we are talking about “Western rules based order”, isn’t it expected that Assange would be charged for leaking classified documents and cables? The largest leak of classified information in U.S military history surely breaks the “rules” in question we all live by in the West. Thus charges / fair trials / sentencing brought regardless of the purity of the motive. Commuting a sentence or pardoning used as a way of fairly “getting around” these rules.

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Feb 25Liked by Jonathan Cook

Dear Mr. Cook ~

I am so glad I discovered your work. You give us information which we rarely find ~

written so clearly and so beautifully. Thank YOU!

I am a subscriber.

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author

Glad you found me, Miranda. And thanks for subscribing!

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This popped up in my substack suggestions. What a bunch of half- asked huey. Never read such nonsense in my life. Do people actually fall for this? Comparing South Africa's Iran funded embarrassment of an attempt to call out Israel who is responding to a Holocaust level attack of pure evil and even then, following humane laws of engagement, while ignoring the hostages, the brutality and the war criminals throughout the middle east, Africa and Asia who truly should be being investigated for war crimes.... it amazes me the creative ends to which disi tenuous jew haters will go to weave their twisted, illogical narrative. Israel and the Palestinians have nothing in common and any stretch to pretend there's even a metaphorical connection is pure unadulterated propagandist s%^tstirring.

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Feb 24Liked by Jonathan Cook

I use your excellent article to write to my mp! She is woefully ignorant of the facts…thanks. Barb

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Excellent analysis. I agree that what's being done to Assange and Gaza are linked in so many ways.

Thanks for another great piece of writing.

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