Comment to the Times article 15 April 2019

Last Monday, April 15, I posted a comment to Edward Lucas' article "Julian Assange does not deserve our sympathy". The comment was not accepted. I post it here.

 Only one syllable in the article's title, 'not', has a negative connotation. The other words are positive. The expression "deserve sympathy" is strongly supportive of Mr. Assange. I would think that attempting to invert this deeply sympathetic expression by attaching a little "not" is clumsy at best. This method of constructing the title is either (a) not smart, or (b) deliberately deceptive. Take your pick.

Also, Assange's first name is included in the title, thus bringing him a little closer to the readers. Typically, when condemning someone, you would increase the mental distance between that person and the readers. Again, a little cognitive dissonance. 

Mind you, this comes from an experienced journalist. Someone else pointed out Mr. Lucas' role in a generally defined field of "information intelligence" (Information Warfare Initiative). Russia and its supporters in Eastern Eastern have nothing to fear on the part of Mr. Lucas. Quite the opposite.

@LechSBorkowski
https://lsborkowski.com/pol/