As I'm sure many people have read in the news, Gary McKinnon lost his appeal and it is looking like he will be extradited.

While I do feel very sorry for Gary, I have some other thoughts in mind too. Like in a certain way this could turn out to be a good thing. Yeah -- let's drag it all out in court. Let's talk about why those files were so unprotected, but more importantly -- let's bring out in a very public forum (the courts and media) exactly what McKinnon claims was in those files.

Will that happen or is there some sort of National Security blanket they can throw over the trial? Likely there is.

Of course, everything Gary found in those files is recalled in statements he has already made and interviews he has done. Unless he possibly held something back as a bargaining chip, which I kind of doubt. Will the US mass media cover this or are they just going to ignore it? Will they listen to the BoA: Audio interview with Gary McKinnon, will they do any research or reporting? I would guess not, but I am interested to see and always hopeful that they will in some way change my opinion of them for the better.

Another strange thing about this whole mess is that if the US government didn't work so hard to have McKinnon extradited, if they would have just left him to be punished in the UK, his story would actually have less creditability and would have got very little attention. Nobody has any real reason to believe McKinnon. That is not to say that UFOs don't exist, just that nobody would believe that any info about them would be that easy to hack in and get. The US government has actually added creditability to his story by such a public display of "catching" him and wanting to punish him.

Although, I tire of people blaming only the US government for this. If I were McKinnon I would be far angrier with my own country that is willing to turn me over to a foreign power for trial and punishment. I suppose if he were a serial killer or something I would understand, but even to call him a hacker is really a vast exaggeration. To call him a terrorist and extradite him under such laws in totally unbelievable and if there were not a real person involved, it would be laughable. Being a terrorist would imply that he wished some harm to The United States. There is no evidence of that.

Nor is there any evidence of the amount of damage they claimed he did. How exactly did he do the expensive damage they claim? By opening a couple files? Is this going to come out in court and if so, are we going to get to hear the testimony?

I suppose at this point we can only hope that he gets a good lawyer and a fair judge. I will continue to hope for an open trial and actual media coverage, no matter how silly it may be for me to do so.