Jacques-Louis David, “The Death of Marat” (1793)
An Australian internet activist named Julian Assange (bio) exposes top secret American diplomacy on an international website.
He’s profiled last June in The New Yorker by Raffi Khatchadourian, photographed by Phillip Toledano, has a warrant issued for rape in Sweden, he’s denial bailed in the UK, and the right-wing American politicians (which is almost all of them, nowadays) want him to be tried for treason.
Yes, this must be the 21st Century.
Why am I reminded of Jacques-Louis David’s “The Death of Marat” (1793)? Probably because there is a faction in the world today who is trying to martyr Assange as a prophet of the new flesh, though so far they’re losing.
This is picky, but American leaders want him tried for espionage, not treason. As an Australian, he can’t be tried for treason against the U.S.
Thanks, and you’re totally right, I should’ve made that distinction but I was poking fun at Sarah Palin and other right-wing nut jobs who have been using the term. http://www.businessinsider.com/jon-stewart-sarah-palin-wikileaks-2010-12
Salon’s Glenn Greenwald had a good response on DemocracyNow.org