Chilling is right.
Re: Assange: I think there is a complex play going on here. Pence is posting/saying anti-Assange stuff. IMO that’s a head fake to suck in those who don’t think too far ahead. (Actually, there seem to be a lot of people saying things for/against JA and it seems to me like they are muddying the waters. I think that if a person is just “following” people or taking their cues from people they think are good guys instead of thinking for themselves, many are going to be surprised.) I think this is very similar to the Presidential immunity lawsuits. Get the DS to jump on the bandwagon going full speed in one direction, then BOOM! Have it boomerang back on them and bite them in the butt.
JMO, but I think JA is a big part of the plan. I think all will be well for him in the end. Could I make arguments against some of the things he did? Yes, absolutely. But I also have to admit that I love truth. Does the government have the right to keep secrets? Yes. Do private citizens have the right? Yes. But I think the reason we needed a JA to shake things up was because the goobermint secrets were being kept NOT because of national security or for some reason to protect the citizens of this country; they were being kept to cover up the dirty secrets of the DS.
JA forced the DS dirty secrets out into the open. For that, I will always be grateful.