Friday, October 14, 2016

Two Wrongs

From reddit

I like Greg Gutfeld on the Fox talk show, The Five. He very often has outside-the-box humorous comments on current events. But his position on e-mail hacking has me conflicted. He believes that, since the Wikileaks revelations were stolen, they are tainted and should be ignored ... a variation on "two wrongs don't make a right" thesis. I understand this stance and almost agree with it. However, the first wrong was committed by a third party who can be punished separately. This does not mean the the raft of evil so uncovered should be ignored IMHO.

Law enforcement officials often use what, under normal circumstances, would be illegal or immoral to nab criminals ... wire taps,  scams, informers, surveillance, stings, even 'enhanced interrogation techniques'. If these procedures go too far, then oft times the criminal walks. Thus, the distinction I draw. The illegal methods used at Wikileaks should be punished. But we, the public, are not guilty of this transgression and should not feel required to ignore the revealed dirt.

Does this encourage others to try to outdo Wikileaks? Probably, but then it might just also encourage politicians to be more law-abiding ... or at least to cover their tracks better. The Clinton crime family has been acting with reckless impunity ... witness their private e-mail server. Perhaps being forced to cover their tracks better might just slow down their sleazy activities just a tad. A small benefit.

2 comments:

  1. Your argument conflates Wikileaks with law enforcement officials. Despite the angst that everything is rigged, Wikileaks is no more "official" than something presented by The Onion or Putin. Provenance matters...

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    1. To me Wikileaks is genuine. Creating tens of thousands of e-mails that reference dates, times, people, places and events which can be cross checked would be an impossible task to pull off.

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