Assange and Magic. Magic and Assange. Kind of a tossup. Like a tossed salad. Not very exciting. At least not to me. But perhaps an 
apt comparison nonetheless.
As I have often said, I’ve never cared for Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, who has been living at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for the past several years in order to avoid extradition to the U.S. to face criminal charges for publicly leaking classified material in violation of U.S. national security laws.
As I have also often said, I’ve never been much of a fan of Earvin “Magic” Johnson either—other than when he was playing basketball for Michigan
State and then for the Lakers. When he was fantastic. Not when he was coaching the Lakers, at which he was a complete bust. So bad, that the players threatened to walk out if Buss didn’t get rid of him. And not now that he’s maybe running the Lakers. If he is.
I think Assange is arrogant, egotistical, and narcissistic. He believes he is way more important than he is. If Ecuador wanted to display it’s might and enmity against the U.S., I’ve always thought it could have found a far better cause than Assange.
Similarly, I think Johnson is arrogant, egotistical and narcissistic. He believes he is way more important than he is. Instead of helping to make the Lakers the news, Johnson spends too much time trying to make himself the news—but, of course, without admitting that. In that respect, he is smoother than Assange.
Seems like Ecuador and Assange deserve one another. How has Assange shown his gratitude to Ecuador, which has saved his ass? By living like a pig in its embassy and expecting Ecuador to provide him with free maid service to clean up after him!
Ecuador has been complaining about Assange’s refusal to maintain the living quarters they have been providing him free of charge in a tidy manner, to clean up after himself. Looking a gift horse in the mouth, horse’s ass that he is (with apologies to the horse), Assange actually sued Ecuador, claiming it has been violating his “fundamental rights and freedoms!” What unmitigated horse pucky! (What has the poor horse done to deserve all this attention?)
The judge in Ecuador ruled that Assange must in fact clean up after himself and keep his quarters tidy. Imagine that! Someone displaying a little common sense in all of this.
One wonders why Ecuador doesn’t just evict Assange (after alerting British authorities) so that he could be picked up and extradited to the U.S. The answer is because Ecuador obviously doesn’t want to compromise its defiance of the U.S.
Ecuador and Assange deserve one another! The U.S. must be laughing at this Felix and Oscar Odd Couple development. Fact is sometimes stranger than fiction!
And what about Magic? Aside from always being in the right place at the right time—give him that—he recently showed his true colors when he called Luke Walton on the carpet and totally abused him. Not privately, which would have been bad enough, but so all those in earshot could hear him. At his worst. Walton didn’t deserve that. He’s doing fine. At least he is dignified. And Johnson, not at all very magic, had no right to do that. In a way that was inevitable that Magic would—once again—become the story. The news. Only this time, Magic flopped, as badly as when he tried to coach the Lakers. What about Magic’s promise to be patient? Anyone who follows NBA basketball knows that all the talent in the world needs at least a year to figure out how to play together. To make the whole equal more than the sum of the parts. Which is what it takes. Magic didn’t just embarrass Walton. He embarrassed himself. He embarrassed the Lakers. And, worse still, for all those fans patiently waiting for Phoenix to rise up from the ashes, Johnson may have seriously jeopardized the ability of the Lakers to land another top superstar and climb back up to the top of the NBA.
If the Lakers make it back to the top, will it be because of Magic or in spite of him?
Assange and Magic. Magic and Assange. It’s no wonder that they have both been in the news of late. At the same time. When you peel back the onion, aren’t they just the same kind of guys?
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