I had a chance to talk with filmmaker Michael Moore shortly after his personal decision to post $20,000 of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange's $316,000 bail. Joining the list of celebrities that included Bianca Jagger, Ken Loach, John Pilger and Jemima Khan, Moore and his cash had a flagrantly politicized feel.
After all, his films “Capitalism: A Love Story” and “Sicko” have provided outlets for whistleblowers, making his contribution to Assange seem like a simple footnote to a Hollywood career that's made its mark thrashing the power elite and knocking the American government.
But underlying any relish for making the U.S. look bad, Moore reveals an appreciation for the internet. And how it makes us look good.
LW: The rape charges against Julian Assange clearly have to be addressed. At the same time, I can separate the two: Julian Assange and Wikileaks the Cause. By posting bail for Mr. Assange are you blurring the line? To support the cause (and not the alleged rapist), you could have made a donation (somehow) to WikiLeaks, no?
MM: First of all, there are no charges. He's not been formally charged with any crimes in any country. If you call yourself an American, he's innocent until proven guilty. He has a right to due process and justice.
Regarding donations, I wouldn't know how to make a donation to WikiLeaks right now because the American corporations that allow you to make the donations online have been threatened by the U.S. government even though the government has made no charges against Assange or WikiLeaks. Assange and Wikileaks has not said, "We haven't said that. We didn't do that."
They haven't been charged. And as they teach you in law school, truth is your best defense.
Regarding the rape allegations, there seems to be a leap to conclusion on both sides: Supporters have decided the allegations are a ruse to get him extradited and slayers have decided he's a sociopath who is also a serial rapist.
It appears the allegations are being used to sway public opinion. But is the public so gullible?
Rape is one of the most loaded words imaginable. It's one of the most horrific crimes that exists amongst human beings. They decided to throw the mother lode at him by using that word. But if we want to have a discussion about rape we can talk about the percentage of women who are raped in the U.S. military. It's a higher percentage than rape in the general population.
Does the public divide break down into two groups — those who think governments should skillfully engage in covert operations under the banner of foreign policy and the protection of national interests, and those who think governments should get out of the deception business because it leads to abuse of power?
I think that's the wrong dichotomy. The divide is more along conservative and liberal lines. For instance, on the right they'd say there should be all these secrets about Iraq and Afghanistan because they want to protect the truth from coming out.
