I am growing mightily weary of the Julian Assange show. I am tired of this self-important egotist and his deluded flag-wavers and look forward to him being dispatched to Sweden to face the charges against him. Is he innocent? Is he guilty? I don’t care either way. Please just get this over with.
I am also tired of the conflation of charges against him by his fanbase: he’s wanted for sexual offences in Sweden, he hasn’t been charged with anything to do with the information leaks, stop making out this is some enormous underhand conspiracy. Yes, there is a chance that the US will try to have him extradited but this would be a lot easier to do if he is still in the UK, so stop implying that the plan is to get him shipped to Sweden so they can hand him over to America. That is illogical. The US would much rather he stay here where they can request extradition without the need to present supporting evidence. They would not have that luxury if he is returned to Sweden. In fact, it would seem that US lawyers are doubtful that they have a strong case in either location.
In another life I suspect Assange would have been a cult leader. He has the look and character, the messianic qualities. Equally he has also been embraced by all kinds of cranks and custard-brains as a ‘hero’. He’s not a hero or anything even close to it. As I have said before, his organisation leaks almost exclusively against Western governments who are the easiest targets of all. He leaks against the system that allows him to exist. If our political system were run along the same lines as China he would have been imprisoned a long time ago and would probably never be released. Russia? He’d probably be dead. Iran? Belarus? Burma? I think we can all guess.
He’d be closer to a hero if WikiLeaks went after targets like these, rather than pissing inside the tent. I look forward to him being acquitted of the sexual charges (there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of evidence) and subsequently not being extradited. Perhaps then everyone will cease claiming he is the victim of a globally orchestrated conspiracy. I think if this happens both he and his supporters will actually be terribly disappointed.
Centrist. Atlanticist. Dry liberal. Anti-totalitarian. Post-ideological pragmatist. Child of The Enlightenment. Toucan.
Citizen Sane 
I suspect that Assange could easily be a cult leader, which does make him attractive to all sorts emotionally flaky people – including women who no doubt are happy to worship him with their bodies. No doubt this is one of the major perks of the job, but this time he has been caught out by what appears to be Sweden's draconian laws concerning matters sexual (if the reports are to be believed).