It was largely through Alexa's Twitter exchanges with "Pierre" (we don't know who is actually Twitting for Omidyar, but it is likely not himself) that the world and WikiLeaks learned, much to its amazement, that PayPal was not "blockading" WikiLeaks at all, pfft, what an idea, the very thought of it made "Pierre" shudder. Figuratively. Alexa and WikiLeaks probed and probed, but got no satisfactory response regarding this remarkable revision of history. All "Pierre" would say is that WikiLeaks should try setting up a PayPal account again, because there would be no "blockade." WikiLeaks apparently demurred. So it's on them, if they don't use PayPal, not "Pierre," for he is manfully not -- at all -- athwart the barricades.
In this episode of Jung und Naiv, the intrepid but disinterested Tilo interviews Alexa O'Brien about this and other matters of potential interest. I thought the close was priceless: she has enormous respect for Jeremy Scahill and Laura Poitras. Unmentioned is Greenwald. Skewer thrust, perhaps?
There is also a longer interview with Ms O'Brien mostly regarding the Manning revelations and trial.
Wow. Alexa O'Brien. She's dynamite. I'd never heard of her before, but then, that's not surprising, I guess. But I'm going to follow her best I can. Smart and no bullshit. Thanks for the link to the longer interview with Tilo Jung.
ReplyDeleteAlexa is one of the best working in the business, no bullshit. She was one of the clearest media voices during the OWS occupation, and when she covered the Manning trial, there was no one like her.
DeleteShe's good.
Very good.
Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteHappy new year to you, Ché! Thank you for publishing your ramblings, the reading of which almost always end up astounding me--- the amount of knowledge, experience, thought, and care that go behind and into them...
ReplyDeleteThis episode of Jung & Naiv has pretty much gone viral, and over the past few hours, GG and Alexa have had (another) Twit-Spat -- which I won't link to as I find Twitter an exhausting aggravation much more than it is an informational resource.
ReplyDeleteThe point of it is that GG is apparently lying -- straight out -- about Alexa and the whole WL/PayPal saga and is defending "Pierre" and his (and Laura's and Jeremy's) involvement with "Pierre" by claiming that no matter what an odious jerk "Pierre" may be or may have been wrt WikiLeaks and the whole wide world in general, the media venture he's funding is totally (TOTALLY!) independent of (yuk) "him" -- so stop saying that.
He's flailing.
Alexa has him straight to rights, and if anyone will be able to slap some sense into him, I suspect it will be her. She is more than likely writing it all down for future reference. And if my interpretation is correct, Alexa was offered a desk at the First Look Media World Headquarters, and when she didn't get an answer to the whole WL/PayPal business, she said Fuck Off. The money didn't sway her.
She is showing both strength and integrity in the face of extraordinary propaganda, bile and falsehood.