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Julian Assange is finally free.

For over 14 years, I have fought for his freedom and his rights as a journalist to share the truth as he uncovers it to the public. On Monday night, we learned that he would be set free and be allowed to return home. He would face no further harassment or threats from the American government. Although 14 years of his life were stolen from him by a government of, yes, war criminals, they were never able to lay a hand on him.

On the day I posted $20,000 in bail money in 2010 to help get him released, I wrote the following statement about why I did so and why I believe he is owed our eternal thanks for exposing the truth about the American invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. Hopefully, someday, this country of ours will apologize to him for this torture. In the meantime, let us all draw from him the kind of courage that is needed during our darkest times of aggression and the funding of foreign slaughter with our tax dollars. It is also my hope that we will sometime soon return to having a vital and vibrant press that exists to uncover the lies and protect us, the citizens, from those who would seek to end our democracy.

For now, this is, indeed, a happy day. Be well, Julian. And know that the good people of this world will never forget your sacrifice.

*******************

Why I Posted the Bail Money for Julian Assange

By: Michael Moore

[ First posted on December 14, 2010 ]

Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000 of my own money to help bail Mr. Assange out of jail.

Furthermore, I am publicly offering the assistance of my website, my servers, my domain names and anything else I can do to keep WikiLeaks alive and thriving as it continues its work to expose the crimes that were concocted in secret and carried out in our name and with our tax dollars.

We were taken to war in Iraq on a lie. Hundreds of thousands are now dead. Just imagine if the men who planned this war crime back in 2002 had had a WikiLeaks to deal with. They might not have been able to pull it off. The only reason they thought they could get away with it was because they had a guaranteed cloak of secrecy. That guarantee has now been ripped from them, and I hope they are never able to operate in secret again.

So why is WikiLeaks, after performing such an important public service, under such vicious attack? Because they have outed and embarrassed those who have covered up the truth. The assault on WikiLeaks and Assange has been over the top:

**Sen. Joe Lieberman (Gore’s Democratic running mate in the 2000 election) says WikiLeaks "has violated the Espionage Act."

**The New Yorker's George Packer calls Assange "super-secretive, thin-skinned, [and] megalomaniacal."

**Sarah Palin claims he's "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands" whom we should pursue "with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders."

**Democrat Bob Beckel (Walter Mondale's 1984 campaign manager) said about Assange on Fox: "A dead man can't leak stuff ... there's only one way to do it: illegally shoot the son of a bitch."

**Republican Mary Matalin says "he's a psychopath, a sociopath ... He's a terrorist."

**Rep. Peter A. King (R-NY) calls WikiLeaks a "terrorist organization."

And indeed they are! They exist to terrorize the liars and warmongers who have brought ruin to our nation and to others. Perhaps the next war won't be so easy because the tables have been turned — and now it's Big Brother who's being watched ... by us!

WikiLeaks deserves our thanks for shining a huge spotlight on all this. But some in the corporate-owned press have dismissed the importance of WikiLeaks ("they've released little that's new!") or have painted them as simple anarchists ("WikiLeaks just releases everything without any editorial control!"). WikiLeaks exists, in part, because the mainstream media has failed to live up to its responsibility. The corporate owners have decimated newsrooms, making it impossible for good journalists to do their job. There's no time or money anymore for investigative journalism. Simply put, investors don't want those stories exposed. They like their secrets kept ... as secrets.

I ask you to imagine how much different our world would be if WikiLeaks had existed 10 years ago. Take a look at this photo: