There are so many open secrets that everyone knows but isn't allowed to acknowledge publicly.

The world's most famous journalist was just deprived of a visit from Reporters Without Borders because the British prison he's being kept in "received intelligence that they are journalists," and yet all we ever hear about is how Russia and China mistreat journalists. Julian Assange is the world's greatest and most famous journalist and he's in prison solely for the crime of doing good journalism, but sure, let's all spend our time shaking our fists at far away "authoritarian regimes" for imprisoning journalists.

Assange is not only the world's greatest living journalist, he is the greatest journalist who has ever lived. There's really no valid argument against this. Seriously, name me a superior journalist. You can't. Assange began his journalism career by revolutionizing source protection for the digital age, then proceeded to break some of the biggest stories of the century. There's no one who can hold a candle to him, living or dead.

And now he's in a maximum security prison, solely and exclusively because he was better at doing the best kind of journalism than anyone else in the world. That is the kind of civilization you live in. The kind that imprisons the best journalist of all time for doing journalism.

You'll never convince me it's an organic phenomenon that the population always splits itself into two equal oppositional political factions which always leaves them in a deadlock unable to get anything done, and it always deadlocks in a way that benefits the rich and powerful.