Some Serious Navel Gazing

The Senate Minority Leader goes nuclear:

WASHINGTON – Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is calling the founder of the online site WikiLeaks a "high-tech terrorist" for releasing classified material from the U.S. government.

McConnell says that the online release of secret diplomat exchanges has done "enormous damage" to the country and to its relationship with its allies.

"high-tech terrorist". "enormous damage". Charges like that against anyone by a sitting United States Senator are serious indeed.

Enormous damage has been done. There is no argument about that. But lets step back a bit and look this over.

There are - at least - two kinds of damage to be looked at here. There is the overall damage done to the image and reputation of the United States by the release of these documents, and then there is the actual damage itself that has been done by the actions and activities of the people these documents expose.

Which is worse? The real damage, or the reporting of it?

But this all may be just the beginning. Julius Assange has just threatened the release of 100,000 far more horrid and damaging documents if he is arrested or his site is attacked again. He has released thousands of encrypted files to thousands of sites worldwide containing the documents. These sites need only the password to unlock these files, and more than a few individuals have the password in case Assange is silenced.

It is a no-win situation for us. But is Julius Assange, a man who admittedly hates the United States, responsible for all this?

No. It is the government officials whose conduct these documents expose who are responsible.

Enormous damage has been done to the United States, but to blame the release of documents for it is to condemn the wrong criminal. It is the people whose actions and activities these documents expose who are responsible.

The United States needs secrecy in many of its activities. Our diplomats need confidentiality and privacy in their dealings with other nations. But we as American citizens should have the confidence in the government that when a man such as Julius Assange surfaces, what he reveals will not be a national embarrassment and cause enormous damage.

There can be no doubt that those new 100,000 documents will be released sooner or later. Julius Assange and the people behind him are enemies of our Republic, our nation and our way of life. They will not stop their attacks. We can only hold our breath as to what new damage will be caused and what new embarrassments will be revealed.

Mitch McConnell - and others - wants to blame Julis Assange. But Assange is just a flea on the elephants back. We need to take control of the elephant... And the donkey.

The thing these people in Washington and elsewhere fear most is term limits. To be sent home after two terms is their greatest nightmare... The loss of power and influence, the ending of that feeling of superior intelligence, the expulsion from that crowd of Washington elites.

We should get to work - all of us in all 50 States - and get a Constitutional Amendment passed for term limits next election cycle.

What would these limits be? Two two-year terms for House members. Two four-year terms for Senators and presidents. Two six-year terms for ALL Judges, including those on the Supreme Court.

Yes, it is time to put our judges back inside a fence. They have all proven beyond a doubt they cannot maintain their impartiality and are not worthy of lifetime appointments.

That would be an enormous first step to fixing our problems.