The Dissenter is a Firedoglake blog that covers civil liberties, digital freedom issues. It also features regular coverage of the torture scandal and the ongoing US government war on WikiLeaks. While the blog name correctly suggests that the writers here often dissent against the government (as one has the liberty to do in America), the name also stems from the fact that the right to dissent is one of the most important civil liberties to defend in this country. As dissent becomes more and more objectionable to a government and society, a country becomes less free.

US history has seen repeated attacks against civil liberties, usually in the name of defending the country against some national threat, whether it was the Palmer Raids targeting immigrant leftists after World War II, the McCarthyist blacklists and loyalty oaths of the Cold War, the COINTELPRO attacks against leftists, antiwar activists and civil rights leaders in the 1960s and most recently, as Will Potter has reported, the transformation of animal rights and environmental movement group leaders into terrorists.

In the past ten years, in the aftermath of 9/11, a bipartisan consensus has formed among mainstream politicians and once again presented the nation with a calculated assault on civil liberties in the name of national security. This blog will not only track that continued assault but also champion those who are challenging this trend and working to reclaim civil liberties that have been lost.

Kevin Gosztola

Kevin Gosztola is a writer and publisher for “The Dissenter” at Firedoglake, who regularly covers WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, transparency, whistleblowing and other various civil liberties issues. He is the co-authored the book “Truth and Consequences: The US vs. Bradley Manning,” with Greg Mitchell. The book features a thorough account of the legal proceedings Manning has endured thus far.

In 2011, he served as an intern for The Nation Magazine and worked closely with Mitchell, helping him to maintain his daily WikiLeaks blog. He also helped Mitchell produce “The Age of WikiLeaks” and “Bradley Manning: Truth and Consequences.”

He’s appeared on CounterSpin, Democracy Now!, The Alyona Show, Sirius XM Left and The Young Turks. He is a speaker and has presented on WikiLeaks, Guantanamo Bay and other topics related to civil liberties and the “war on terrorism.”



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Email: kevin.gosztola@firedoglake.com