Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrived here this week in DC to promote his book "Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalization". I haven't read the book, and if it is as long winded as the title, I probably won't. Politicians rarely say, or write anything in short sentences....

Writing a book has become popular in politics. Many of these books end up on the discount shelf at my local bookstore within a short time. Sarah Palin's epic 'America by Heart' and 'Going Rogue' didn't even make the last-chance shelf, but are being returned to the publisher, who I don't think wants them back.

Serving half a term as governor of Alaska didn't really qualify Palin to write a political memoir. Sarah is proud of 'Going Rogue', I think 'Going Away' would have been a preferred title. Julian Assange briefly had the VIP suite at Wandsworth Prison. Housed in a cell which was once occupied by Oscar Wilde, Julian had requested his laptop and was only to be permitted limited access to a computer under prison regulations, which of course never happened. If Charles Manson can have a mobile phone, then Mr. Assange should have been allowed a computer.

Roman Polanski attended the 1999 Stockholm Film Festival � Way to go Sweden!, why wasn't Roman arrested and deported? A fugitive felon and a convicted rapist should have caught the Swedish prosecutor's attention. Being innocent of a crime is usually a poor defense, and Mr. Assange will have to prove political motivation in his request to avoid extradition. He could quite possibly be extradited to the US and housed in Guantanamo Bay, which is under US control, but not legal jurisdiction, except by military tribunal.

Inmates at Guantanamo have no right to legal representation, visitation, due process or any other recourse available to even the most heinous of criminals here. There is a precarious predicament in prosecuting the Wikileaks founder. National media outlets such as The New York Times, Der Spiegel and The Guardian have all published excerpts from these cables. What can the government do? Toss them all in jail.

That can't happen of course. There isn't enough room in Guantanamo Bay to house all those journalists. I don't think the White House wants a repeat of the 'Storming the Bastille' along Pennsylvania Avenue and resurrecting the 1917 Espionage Act is not really an option. This Act had one purpose only, which was to stifle dissent by journalists, publishers, trade unions and political opponents during WWI, and has only been used rarely.

The Sedition Act confuses dissent with disloyalty, and considering the US was founded by dissenters, is hardly a crime. Julian appears to have fallen through the cracks and hasn't actually committed a crime in publishing his web site.

The Secretary for Defense, Robert Gates has acknowledged that no lives were at risk because of the release of the cables, none, except Julian Assange's of course. Few governments like to get caught cooking the books, and politicians have been working overtime doing just that.

So what do we do with Mr. Assange? He's not going to be going away, at least not anytime soon. The Wikigenie is out of the bottle and it will be a long time before it goes back in. I think I smell a book deal in the works.

Across the Pond Follow 'Across the Pond' on Twitter: www.twitter.com/fraefife