Challenging the Empire

Julian Assange will likely go down in history, no matter what happens to him now, as one of the most brave and insightful people who singlehandedly challenged power and the empire. Unlike the compliant, ignorant, and obsequious mainstream journalists, he has deviated from the "line" and was courageous to expose the lies and crimes of the empire. He is slowly exposing the reaches of the hegemony and its obsession with domination and power. Empires and the elites hate being exposed for they rely on deception and newspeak to manufacture consent. Dissent is never tolerated and the press knows this. The initial counter attack is to smear and discredit you. They will try to fabricate a story about terrorism, communism, child pornography, rapist, drug addict, etc. If that fails, they will apply outside pressure, like financial, spying, and infiltration. If that fails, then they will send in the jackals (assassination), as the author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman states. For the US, he is too well known now to try anything obvious but never doubt the elites when they are desperate.
The empire is slowly decaying, not because of Julian, however. Julian is simply exposing its entrails which the empire knows but wants to keep the public in oblivion and rather occupy them with their ipods, tv sports, idiotic hollywood movies, and consumerism.
This only the beginning for other websites are starting similar projects around the world. If the US succeeds in destroying Wikileaks, I am confident others will simply replace it, for it is human nature to resist oppression and enjoin justice.