Yikes

[Trigger warning for sexual assault.]

So Michael Moore bailed out WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange, and in his explanation about why he posted bail, with most of which I am in total agreement, he inserted this note:

For those of you who think it's wrong to support Julian Assange because of the sexual assault allegations he's being held for, all I ask is that you not be naive about how the government works when it decides to go after its prey. Please -- never, ever believe the "official story." And regardless of Assange's guilt or innocence (see the strange nature of the allegations here), this man has the right to have bail posted and to defend himself. I have joined with filmmakers Ken Loach and John Pilger and writer Jemima Khan in putting up the bail money -- and we hope the judge will accept this and grant his release today.

Oof. Would that he had left it at the right to bail and defense and skipped the rape apologia.

It's eminently possible to not "be naive about how the government works," to acknowledge that the US and other governments use shady methods in pursuit of whistle-blowers, and even to observe that these allegations would almost certainly have been ignored had they been made against someone whom it was not politically expedient to give them attention, and not engage in apologia like "never believe the official story," which second-guesses victims' statements, and dismissing the allegations as strange, as if there is some "right" way for assault allegations to look.

An ally to survivors recognizes that the problem is not investigating Assange in this case; it's the failure to investigate people alleged to have done the same in virtually every other case.

I already recommended this in Friday's blogaround, but I'm going to recommend again reading Jaclyn's piece on this subject here.