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RF]ADINGS

tE*qlTACTIN THEAGEOFMKLEAKSBr- Sl4.ni ael, p'.Hjshedn r/re gn'ldD ?0 usueo/ tArLondon Ro iewof etcrls. Zlel sergr "Tot-d.hA..rd,ns t., Hrs Greed"a1>patei the( k'ohr 2@ Rs'i!of H3lrr\ Masa:in..rIn one ol the drnl. 'mirrc ahles ele. ,xJhvW'k'Lcah', VlaJintr Punn and Dmurl Mctl-veder are conpared ro Barman anil Robin.I t s a useful analoey: sn' t Jul ian A$an8e,WiLileakC orsan':cr, a .eal-lilc ctunterlart tothe Joker in Christopher Nolan's lhc l)drlKnrshtl ln the lilm, the disr.ici arrorncy,HaFver t)ent, an upstanding prosccutor who be.corncsdcrangedand himlelf conni is muFJeh. ir l ( i l led hy Batman. Batman anJ hrstrrend JamrsC;ordon, hc lol'ce commi$rm-cr, rc.l':e rhar rh ciryi momle qoulil sutfer fthe incorruprble Denfs murdersqere ma,lcpuhLc, so rhey plot ro prcserle his imise h!hlamrng Batman l;r rhe kilhnss. The lilm 'mersagc r thnr lvinq is necessarr ro su5tarnpuhl,c rnorale.No ut'nder rhe onlr lieure oftnirh 'n rhc t lm !\ rhe Joket,ns rupremcrrl-larn. Hc rnakesclcar that his anacls on Co-than C'rt w'U stop *hen Batman takcs olfhis misk and relcals hrs true idenr ity: ro |rr-leni this Jisclosureand Frotect Barman, Denrtclls the pres rhar he rs B.rm.n another lie.In or,Jer ,r trap rhe loker. Cordon fakes hrsown,Jeath-ycr anotherlie.

The Joker wants to disclose he truth be-nearh the mask,convinced that this will .1c-strol the J(r(ialorder. l4ar shall rt cal l hinlA tcnorrstl The Darl Kn(h! is effectivelr a newversronof thost chssi wesrernsFd' Af,a.[eand Thr Van W'llo S[or l-rl,rr] \'dlare. whichsh(a thit, In ,)rder o civili:e the Wild Wesr,rhe lie has to ht eLlarcJ inro uurh: civilira-tl(jn. In othcr sordj, musr be grounrled on a lie.The tilm has heen cxtraonlinaril y populat.Thcque\tDn is: Vhy. ar rhn precisemoment, istherc rhis renewednced lor a lie to marntainConriJer, kt, ihe renewed opularity of LeoSrraus: the asptct ofhr polrrcal thought thatis r, ' ielcrant rGla! is his clinsr norim or de-mocracy, hc rdca of thc "necessaryie." EliresshouLlnrle, a*rrc ,{ thc actual sta(eofthinss(rh mairri.list logic of power),anJ fecd rhepecrplc rbles to kecp tbem happy in theirhlcsserl gnorancc. For Stfauss, Socmres wasgurlty aschargr:di hilcrophy 5a threat to e1i-et!. Qucsrbnrns the sqis and the ethos of thc(itr unJ.rnrner citi:ens' lc'rahr. and thus thebasr. of normal so.ial lite. Yer philosophy isrlsl rhe hishe{, rhe wo.rhFsr. of human cn-tlrarors. The s,rlutronprolar*J was rhat phrIt'*phen ketp rher reach,nss .{rer, as n facrrhel Ji.l, prs,ng thcm on t\ wrrrins'berleenrhe hnes."The nue, hrJ,len mes$s. contai ned

'n rhc srear rradrion" of rhilosophr rromPlart ro Hobt'esanJ L

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in $ppon of tlre frte&nn of inbrmatisr, of rhcpeoplcb ight to tnoqr,(x i! it a rerrfii$ acr hatpoaes threac o stablc rnemaiional Elacior$lBucwhar if rhis isnt ihf real iseuc?What if th.aucial ideologicalard potitical banle is goingm wthin Vihltab itself bctrGn dE ndical*t of Frblilhing sclrt statedocumtntr and*remy rhisact ha bcn liff.ribcd into tlc political dirourse by,amongotherr, qililcals it$lPThi! reinscriptin doesnot prinanly cor|ccm"ctrporat collusion" (k., rh dal Wililcalsmadewith { r big rEsTep6s, givingd'qn tlErisht to 3.L6irrly F$lish dE &rrrrncnts).Mrrh

more ihponaft i! ihc cdrspitatorial modc ofWililcals: a "gaod' secrtgro{rpattacling s'b*.l onc io *r 6tn of drc US. StaE DEer.ment.Ac.rx\-ling o thi5qayof leing l ngn tlEemny is drce U.S diploma* $ho corE aI tlEErrtL manb'laic dE Frblic, arxl umili*e rira[i5 in dl. tul'hss pursit of dEir oryn nE*!."Foq,E1! tFld by th hd suF at the r.p ard isnot concciveda! somerhing lrat pcnneateshemtirc locial bqly, delcrmining how we rodqd'inl, ard (dtsllne. Thi! di$cG.d potE vasondispla ulEl l,fandcard, Vi!a, ad P4&l join dftrcer wth rk *aa o sabctagc rr&iltals Th.priorE pars or engaginsn d|e cqrlpiratdalmodc s to bc tnat d &adding to iB L8ic- (No$oodcr dni: aborrndabdt wlto i5 Elt t "hind Vikilcakr--rhe ClAl)Thc corupiratorial mode is complencntcdb' its appamr opposite, he lficral appmpria,tion of lvilileal(s a! anothct chapta in thcglorious history of the srruggL fo. rhe .frccfow of inbrmation" and thc 'citizcns riSht toknow." This eicie rduccsVikilal

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about rs acnvrie\ thar soesw.rv6.rond liherilconceprions frhe ice now oi into.narion. weshouldnl lok f,r rhcs diftrncei r rhe leleloic,rntent. The,rnll surpnsins h,ns lbL'ut the\(/rkrleaks roel,rrlons is rhat the\ contain nosurl)rises. iJnt we lcarn exacrlywhat *e ex-pected t,r lurnl The real drsturbancewas atrh. le\rl ofipFo.ancesr ee can no LrnecrFrt-rcnd we dont know *hat ercrlone knou' rcknow.Ths is rhc paradoxofpublic space:Erenrf c!rryone knows ao unple.int fact, salinE rtrn publc chrngcs cvervrhing. L)ne of rhe lirvnrarures raten bl the nerv Bolshevikgorcrn-mcnl in l9l7 rrs t , r make puhl 'c rhe cn .ccorpusof irari\t secrerdiplomacr al l ihe *-crct asreements, he secrct clausesof publicgreements, tc. There, (,o, the ra.8et $as rheltrre attaratua5 or to$er.Wh.n wik,Le,rks rhrearens ! rhc l i ' rmalfunenooLngoi poutr . Tbe trrgers wereni tltedrrti Jetails rn.J rhe indrvidlrls responsihleirthemi rn inh(r lvorJs, not those in po$(r so

much as powcr rtseltlWe shc'ultlnt iryet thatpo$er...tpn5cs not onl_vnstiruoDns nd thcirrulesbur also cgnrmate normal) qaF ofchi'I.lenSrns ir (an rnJependentFres, NCOS,ctc.)-as tbe Indian academicSars Giriput rt ,wikileaks "challengedpower by challenginsthc normal channelJof challengrngpowerandre.eahng the nuth " The arm $a\ not Jusr oemharrasshose n p,r*cr but t,' lelrtlus c' nc.b,l,:e ,u5etras Rr hins abour a drfferent unc-t ionrn! oi po$er, onc that might rcrchbcyond the t inrts df represcn-f rrrre JemuL,r.\!I t ' . . . , ' t "1". h"uorr. to a

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I t, L. l.,ociorow ncc remarlfJ rhar aplar,I ances re al l w have,so we should reatI rhcm wirh greatcare.We are ofren old rharfrivacy is disapp(aring, har rhe mosr nri.mate scretsare open to public probing. Butthe reality is rhe opposite:what is effcctivclydisappcarings public spac,with it! attm-daot disnity.Cass bound n our daily ivcsin whihnot tellins all ir the piopcr hing todo. n the 6lm Baiscrscks, thlphrnc Scyrigexplainso heryoung ove. he difiercncc c.tweenpolitcnssnd ac.'A visitinggntle.man accidenral lv rtns a bathron door anddisoversa woman completcly nude. Hcquickly takcs a stcp back, closes hc door,and says: Pardon, Madan.!' That i! polit-ness.Thc samegentleman,pushinS hc samcdmr. dixovcring the sarncconplctcly naled*oman, rhco 5ays, Pardon, Mmicur! Tharis tact." It is only in thc *ond case, ry prt-tending not to have sennough cvcn tomake out thc scx of thc person n the showcr,that onedi6playsruc rac!.A supremeaseof tact_inpoliticswas hcsecretmeetingbctwenAlm.o Cunhal, thcleadetof the Portuguese omnunist Party,and Ernesto Melo Anrunes, a go-democacynrcnber of thc army grouprcspon-sibletx tMcoup that ovcnhrc thc authoritarian rEgimcin 197{.Th lituation wascxtrenely tmse ononc sid, rh Crmmunist Partv was rcadr rostan the real socialist rewlutioo, t.ling ovcrhcroncsand andGms had aleady hcendrs.trrbuted o rhepeoplc)rn rheorher, on*rva-tives and litreralswere eady o stop he revolu.tion by any means, ncluding rhe intervcntionofthe arny. AntunesandCunhalmadea dcal*ithout statingt: thcrewasno agreernenre.tween them-on thc faceof thinss, they didnothing but disaglee-but they lefi the mect,ing i,ith an understanding hat the C-ommu,nists llould not start a rcvolution (thrb al-Iowing a normal democraticstate to comeabout) and rhar thc antisocialist militarymuld nor utlaw the Communist Pany. Onecooldclaim that rhis discRt meetinssaeedPortugal rom civil *?! And rhe parricipantsmainraincdrhcir discretionmn in rrm{ctiwhenasked bout hc meetins by a oumalisrfriend of mine). Cunhal said hat he wouldconfrm it took placeonly if Aniunesdidn\denv it-if Antunes did denv n. then it nevertml placc.Antunes, or his t'art, ilteneJ ,i-lendv as mv friend told hrm what Cunhal hadsaid.By not denyins t, h mt Cunhal! condi-rion snd impliciily confrmed it. This is hosgendemen f the lefr act in politics.lnsofar as one can rcconstruct the eventstoday, it appars hat the happy outcome ofth Cuban MissileCrisis, oo, wasmanaged

rhrough act, the polite ritualsof prerendedignorance. Kennedyt stmke of gcniuswas toptctnJ rhar a lerterhad not arrvcd, a strat-egct! that wo.Ldonly bccausehe scnder(Khrushche) sent alons with ir. On Octo.ber 26. 1962.Khrushchcv scnr a lettcr toKcnneJy confrming an offcr prevrouely urlcrhrough intcrmediaries:Thc Sovir Unionwould rcmove tr mi6silca rom Cuba if thcUnitd Stater issueda pledgc nor to invadthe island.The next day, however,before rheUnrtdStates rd ansstred,another, anl.er lrter arrived from Khrushchev,ad,trngmorc condrtrcns. t 8:05 r.r. that day,Ken.nedy! responsc o Khrushchev wasdeliverec.He acccptcdKhrushchev! Ocmhcr 25 pro-posal. ctinBas fthe O