EVERYWERE (Rixstep) — WikiLeaks have announced production of a television show starring Julian Assange. Arranged by Quickroll Productions, the show will be syndicated to various outlets. First on board are the popular newscasters at RT.
'Through this series I will explore the possibilities for our future in conversations with those who are shaping it', says Julian Assange. 'Are we heading towards utopia or dystopia and how we can set our paths?'
'This is an exciting opportunity to discuss the vision of my guests in a new style of show that examines their philosophies and struggles in a deeper and clearer way than has been done before.'
Ruffled Feathers in the MSM
The announcement was met with bewilderment by the MSM. Obviously something was upsetting them deeply. Alyona dealt with them in her early evening spot.
It was also entertaining to see how the dirty crew at the Grauniad reacted. To claim they were shocked, caught with their knickers down, and outright jealous would not be going too far out on a limb.
Everyone's favourite smear artist David Leigh is keeping a low profile, limiting himself to 'retweeting' what other rabid twitters burp out.
Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, ranked as the 358th richest person in the world, went off the deep end with the following.
Shame on you, Mr Assange! Hard to imagine more miserable final for 'world order challenger',than employee of state-controlled 'Russia Today' [sic]
David Leigh lapdog Jimmy Ball tweeted the incredible:
I find it hard to reconcile being a champion for free expression with being a TV host for a channel known for Kremlin propaganda.
Saving the best for last: universally reviled plagiarist Luke Harding tweeted twice. This:
Unbelievable! Julian #Assange's new TV show to be hosted by Russia Today, Kremlin's nutty propaganda channel
And this:
Question of the day: how much is Russia Today - financed by Kremlin - paying Julian Assange for his new TV show?
Save for Harding who clearly has his own agenda, the people and publications cited above and by Alyona have one thing in common: they have no clue how popular RT is. RT has become - along with Cenk's Young Turks - one of the premiere shows for audiences to get the truth.
No one in the lamestream media wants to cover things like that. Wee Jimmy Bee covers Ascot, Fox covers Kim Kardashian - nobody gives a flying hoot about what people really want to know. No one except the likes of Cenk and RT.
But now back to our third tweeter. Someone who redefines 'persona non grata'.
World Meet Luke Harding
One might be tempted when reading Luke Harding's tweets to think he's just as dimwitted as James Ball. Not really.
Harding is an accomplished manipulator just like his crony Leigh. Harding and Leigh wrote a book together about WikiLeaks that attempted to deliberately undermine the whistleblower organisation by publishing an encryption key in the clear and thus precipitating the sudden release of all remaining cables in an attempt to save lives.
Neither Leigh nor Harding cared they might have blood on their hands. Particularly Harding.
Luke Harding played a number of 'dirty tricks' with the cables before the rift with WikiLeaks blew wide open. The strict procedure for publication of cables entailed the local media partners getting the raw data to redact, then returning the 'safe' redacted versions to WikiLeaks for publication, then publishing themselves.
Luke Harding took a particularly sensitive cable where he saw a lot of names were going to have to be redacted. He redacted the version to be used by the Grauniad but kept the original from WikiLeaks. Then he pulled the old 'switcheroo': he returned the unredacted cable to WikiLeaks, had the Grauniad immediately publish the redacted one, then went on the warpath against WikiLeaks for exposing names. Anyone who'd come to understand the editorial process was of course not fooled.
But things went further. Already notorious for his plagiarism and vitriolic slants when on assignment in Russia, Harding began removing entire sections of cables that didn't concern personal safety, this in violation of the agreement with WikiLeaks.
Grauniad Issue an Apology
A lot's been written about the Russians supposedly not wanting Harding back in their country. What that coverage fails to touch on is there's not many in the international community that want him back either.
To the right is a retraction the Grauniad were forced to publish when yet another act of plagiarism by Harding was discovered.
Note the mention of who Harding stole from. The eXile are most famous in recent months for their hilarious DDB article 'The Revenge of the Second Banana'.
Here's another example of how Luke Harding works.
2 February 2007: Kevin O'Flynn writes for the Moscow Times.
Moscow Residents Urged to Shed Their Furs
It may seem a futile request, like asking the French to give up wine or the English tea, but as winter has finally gripped the city, one organization is calling on Muscovites to cast off their furs.
Vita, an animal rights group, is mounting a campaign to convince people that, as the well-known slogan goes, 'fur is murder'. It has created a hotline to field calls from people eager to give up their furs.
5 February 2007: Luke Harding publishes for the Grauniad.
Getting hot under the collar over Russia's fur coats
It sounds like the world's most hopeless crusade, a bit like trying to persuade the British to stop talking about the weather or the Spanish to give up their siestas. But a campaign is being launched in Moscow next week to persuade Russian women to surrender their fur coats.
Harding doesn't stop at plagiarism. He's also notorious at sloppy or nonexistent research and at skewing facts to suit an agenda.
In one famous case from 2007, Harding was found to be deliberately going out of his way to paint a bleak picture of Russian pensioner prospects. He was trounced on here.
There might be those who suspect Harding's a spook. They don't need to be wearing tin foil.
After a few months back on British shores to work on sabotaging Cablegate and to help David Leigh write a Rottweiler tome on Assange and WikiLeaks, Harding is again off 'on assignment' for Universal Exports the Grauniad. Anything can happen.
Luke Harding is still out there. Luke Harding lives inside of each and every one of us. It is our task to be aware of our inner Luke Harding, to recognise it, and to treat it. This is a long-term task, folks. It takes a village. - The eXile