 So so much shit has happened this week. It's been Just bananas first of all a sajj as a fellow journalist like what I mean I can't say a lot of us are surprised But what is what's your first reaction? It is just kind of Overall it's disappointment It's fear because I kind of feel like we all knew in the back in the back of our minds that this day was coming And we knew that the reaction, you know by media and by politicians would largely be what it is now But it's still you know to live through it It sucks because this could be the beginning of the end of press freedom and I'm not implying that you know in a year from now You know journalists will be barred from Publishing leaks that were obtained illegally But it's just once you start going down a particular path It's so difficult to reverse course and in general I feel so disappointed that more people aren't speaking out Love Bernie Sanders to death, but I really wish that he would speak out about this because even if obviously People hate Julian Assange, especially in the Democratic Party and he already has to deal with smears and whatnot It would be nice to just have him Communicate why this is important and why this isn't really even about Julian Assange This is more about press freedom, you know, so it's it's disappointing I like that everyone in Indian media is pretty much united on this front because we kind of have a stake in the game You know, we have a horse in this race So we want to make sure that we protect these press freedoms not that I've ever published anything That's illegal, but I I think that if information is in the public's interest. We've got to protect Journalist ability to publish that without worrying about prosecution, you know So think about with the Snowden leaks which is incredibly important What if Glenn Greenwald was prosecuted for publishing that, you know, so it's it's bigger than Julian Assange You don't have to like Julian Assange. I know many liberals hate him, but it's not about Julian Assange This is about press freedom and you know, if you kind of just go back a couple of decades with the Patriot Act All of our freedoms are slowly but surely being eroded and I made the Analogy I think it might Julian Assange video that the reason why we're all not freaking out is because it's happening so Gradually so subtly that it's hard to you know realize what's going on It's like if you throw a frog in a pot of boiling water It's gonna jump out But if you put a frog in a pot of water and then you gradually turn up the heat He's gonna be able to adjust to that and that's what's happening to us right now You know our freedoms are being taken away from us a little by little but because it's not super substantial You know, it's easy to kind of become complacent. It's easy to be distracted by Netflix and video games But really this is significant. This is you know, I Don't want to I don't want to you know be hyperbolic, but this is authoritarianism It's not like we are in authoritarian regime, but you know democracies don't last forever They certainly don't every single democracy in the world dies at some point That's what empirically has happened and I don't want that to be the start now You know, it's still early enough to where we can act where we can take action So, you know, that's that's my feelings just overall disappointment, but not not shocked Right. Absolutely. I I think like at this point if Bernie came out It would just be bad like at this point. He's waited so long that I think coming out would just be a mistake and I think You know Part of me is kind of glad he didn't simply because if he did it would be all about Hillary Trump Bernie and the Russians and all this stuff and people would have lost focus of what is really happening It would have became like a tabloid thing and people would have, you know forgotten The true tragedy that's actually happening right now. I I totally agree with that It's basically a political decision and that's that is on my mind like I realized that You know, he knows that he's just opening a can of worms, but the other part of me The reason why I think overall I wish he would speak up even if it's you know later Is because Bernie Sanders is someone who's very influential and he never before Like he never played politics, which I think made him so appealing, you know And that's why a lot of these quote-unquote scandals don't stick to him same like Trump because you know They're constantly just shooting from the hip and saying what they believe in Donald Trump may believe in nonsense But I mean in terms of just that personality of saying what's on your mind I think that's a characteristic that I liked about Bernie But I think that you do bring up a completely valid point if Bernie Sanders farted it would be national news You know because they're looking for everything and I said this in my video about his tax returns that They're just gonna move on from this once they find something new so expect them to dwell on the tax return Returns and the millionaire thing for like a month or so, but if they see something else They're gonna jump ship and talk about that so Um, yeah, yeah, it's it's a tough situation, but overall I'm gonna be in the camp of speak out Because You know it this is too important it goes beyond politics in my view, you know Yeah, absolutely. I I'm just kind of scanning the the the comments and yeah I mean I I absolutely think Assange is a hero as as someone who marched that occupied DNC like as someone You know so many of us were we're so you know just horrified by all the cheating going on and we finally got those receipts what we were, you know, nobody believed us and Finally we had those receipts granted it became like who you know Who released the emails instead of what they said and the fact that they've never been denied But we actually had that tangible proof and it was like vindication in a lot of ways Yeah, it was it was information in the public interest and I'm willing to concede that You know when Julian Assange was talking with Don, Jr. And what not like it is unfair right that there was this imbalance of information because had he released the RNC emails It obviously would have unveiled that they were trying to tip the skills against Donald Trump Now it probably wouldn't have mattered because he won, you know, so those feelings wouldn't be as you know As problematic, but I mean at the same time that information still is important what we saw Trans buyer was confirmed by those emails. It didn't It wasn't news to a lot of us who are paying attention But nonetheless it still did like you said give us the receipts But I think even more important than the DNC emails is the war crimes that Chelsea Manning had exposed that wiki leaks Published that was huge that was so huge and that's exactly why These types of laws that protect press freedom are in place because We have to know what our government is doing We need to know when they're abusing power when they're committing murder because those are our tax dollars where they're bosses So we need to make sure that we can hold them accountable and we can't do that with no information So, you know, there's there's a lot I'm In terms of like Julian Assange He's fell out of favor in my view just Personality-wise with him thinking that, you know, Trump would be better long-term and I hate that I disagree unequivocally, but at the same time him being a journalist and publishing information, you know, that that's important If it's not again, it's not about the personality in my view It's just about, you know, the public utility the importance of information. I'm always about Voters having as much information as possible before they go into the voting booth because you can't really make You know, a good decision with incomplete information You need to be able to To make a very well-informed decision and he did help with that process Even if people don't like the way that those emails were obtained Um, it's still I think mattered