I agree with you. It's very hard to defend Assange's actions without appealing to paranoia. If he didn't commit the crimes, he ought to behave as though he has nothing to be afraid of. His flight from law is becoming a bigger story than the actual accusations--it's hard to look innocent while fleeing the authorities. If he really did nothing wrong, the appropriate place to prove it is in court, not on HN.
Fleeing authorities? He's under house arrest with a monitoring anklet and has to sign in at a police station every day. The authorities know where he is every second.
Should Dalai Lama turn himself in to the Chinese authorities, too?
Even if Assange was completely innocent, that wouldn't stop the US Government from trying to put him in a cell next to Bradley Manning for 2 years, if they were really pissed off at him. These days when you piss of the top hierarchy of the US Government, you're guilty until proven innocent.
