If this is discovered as a frame-job, it'd be a god-awful PR disaster. The risks don't merit the rewards.
"All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true within itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying."
- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
"The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous."
How would you prove there was no rape? Rape has always been the ideal smear, because typically nobody else is in the room. It's a classical. You can do nothing about it.
No there must be checks out there. From the top of my head and stuff I've noticed I would do the following;
Ask the victim to describe the assailants crotch area etc. and cross check.
DNA tests if the guy was stupid enough not to wear a condom (but this was Assagne).
Corresponding physical injuries or bruises as described by the victim on the assailants body (there's almost always a struggle in a rape).
Clothing with traces of the victim for example hair samples from a jacket, shoe or clothing unlikely to be rinsed(in case he claims that they have never met).
Trace biological evidence on the scene (can be faked though).
Interrogation. (even very smart people tend to slip up)
Standard investigations (alibis blah blah the entire detective book routine)
----
I think that the real problem is that it takes too long to verify for the 24 hour news cycle unlike a murder.
I sat on a jury in a case that involved allegations of rape. One constant refrain from the nurses who examine rape victims is that there is often little to no physical trauma even when there has been a struggle. Furthermore, except in cases where it's a totally random event, the victim ofte may know the person. Even in the case where someone meets a person in a club and goes home with them, there are still legitimate explanations for lots of the physical evidence. So then it all comes down to whether or not you believe the plantiff or not. Shows like CSI and NCIS make people think that all kinds of science can prove this stuff, but in reality, the evidence is never as clear cut as you would like to think.
In all of these instances, you're assuming that this was some sort of back-alley rape that they're alleging... at best, you'd prove that some sort of sexual contact had taken place. It doesn't go to prove thought or intent, which is the whole point the parent was trying to make.
Hitler and Goebbels forewarning us about the despicable means the US government uses to bring down whistle-blowers... Ummm...
I don't know whether Assange is framed or not. But bringing these two into the discussion seems a bit ridiculous. If Adolf and Joseph knew so much, maybe they could have won the war?! Or, at least, avoided declaring war on the US in 1941, when they had no reason to do so.
> If Adolf and Joseph knew so much, maybe they could have won the war?!
There's a common meme of saying the Nazis had bad judgement (they did get some major decisions wrong) and that as a consequence they were stupid. The second point is largely not true: Hitler, Goebbels, Goering etc were in fact quite intelligent -- they could hardly have taken over a country otherwise.
Just because someone's evil, don't assume they're stupid.
Hitler was smart enough and knew Germany's neighbors well enough to defeat them. However, as the war showed in a dramatic manner, he had a very poor understanding of the "Anglo" nations (e.g. he thought that the UK would make peace with him and that Roosevelt would never be able to put an effective army in the field). Any opinions he expressed about society and the system of government in Britain and the US should be considered false by default.
"All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true within itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying."
- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf
"The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous."
- Joseph Goebbels