 Some a little bit late to the party on this particular issue, but nonetheless, I still think it's really important and I want to talk about this So last Thursday on the show we talked about how Donald Trump's administration is choosing to indict Julian Assange under the espionage act and Basically the next day we got some more responses from politicians who matter who are running for president Tulsi has been a leader on this issue. She's been talking about Julian Assange and how this is You know, it's more important than just Julian Assange. It's really not about him. This is about a broader issue That's more important. It's about press freedom So I've really given her a lot of praise and I made another video about a month or so ago Where I talked about how I wish Bernie Sanders would speak up So on Friday the day after we posted that video turns out not only Bernie Sanders Release the comment but Elizabeth Warren did as well to their credit So I want to share what they had to say. So Akilah Lacy of the Intercept writes Let me be clear It is a disturbing attack on the first amendment for the Trump administration to decide who is or is not a reporter For the purposes of a criminal prosecution Sanders wrote in a tweet Friday afternoon after the Intercept contacted his office for comment Donald Trump must obey the Constitution which protects the publication of news about our government Warren distanced herself from Assange but condemned the Justice Department's move to curtail press freedom Assange is a bad actor who has harmed US national security and he should be held accountable Warren said in a statement But Trump should not be using this case as a pretext to wage war on the first amendment and go after the free press Who hold the powerful accountable every day. So when it comes to Bernie Sanders, I'm glad he spoke out I really don't have any problem with what he said there when it comes to Elizabeth Warren I take issue with what she said here. This is deeply deeply mixed on one hand. She's doing what she needs to do in Saying that this is not the right move Donald Trump's administration Should not be indicting someone because they don't like the information that was leaked But then again, she adds the caveat here Assange is a bad actor who has harmed US national security and he should be held accountable So we'll take this in two parts because really there's two claims being made here one is that Assange is a bad actor and two is that this Threatens national security what he did in releasing the manning leaks That posed a threat to national security. First of all when it comes to Assange being a bad actor I think that you can Make a pretty reasonable case that that is true because there were leaked Dms that disclose. He did in fact support Donald Trump They created this imbalance of information where they released dirt on the dnc, which they were right to do But at the same time they withheld information that was also in the public's interest Which made it seem like, you know, democrats were more corrupt than republicans Whereas if we saw the rnc emails, you know, we likely would have seen them plotting against Donald Trump. So you can make that case however That's if you consider 2016 when this isn't actually about 2016 It's about 2010 and the 2010 manning leaks So in that instance, if you're going to say that Julian Assange was a bad actor to release what chelsea manning Gave to him that exposed our war crimes how we bombed first responders in foreign countries You cannot make the case that he was being a bad actor in that instance But with that being said to even dwell on his character I think you miss the point So, you know, it's iffy that portion of her response is iffy But when we get into the second portion of her argument, she says that what he did was harm us national security now again, maybe she's talking about 2016 but this entire thing is about 2010 So I have to assume that she's referring to the release of the manning leak And that supposedly harmed national security by exposing our government's war crimes. And my question is how How does that harm national security Have you ever heard the story the boy who cried wolf? Because that's what's going on when it comes to the United States invoking National security Anything that they don't want us to know they say, oh well You can't you can't have that information because it poses a threat to our national security And we have to withhold that information that may or may not be in the public's interest because You know, we don't want to jeopardize national security It's the ultimate trump card, you know Donald trump says the same thing about articles. He doesn't like If you know some outlet publishes something that doesn't portray him in a positive light, he'll call it fake news Is it actually fake news? No, usually not. Is it biased? Sure. You can make that case But he says it If he's trying to deflect so whenever the us doesn't want us to know something they'll say, you know national security So elizabeth warren, you can't just say, you know, what he did in releasing Those leaks posed a threat to national security You can't just say that without making the case for it like we need evidence You need to make an argument as to why that harms national security because thinking about this logically I can't see how that would harm national security. How? Now one of the arguments that they made was oh, well, you know The reason why it harms national security is because it makes our veterans abroad vulnerable because If other people who are enemy combatants who we are fighting against and people in these other countries that we're occupying Know that we're committing these war crimes and that may make them feel hostile towards the united states First of all, there's no evidence that that's true. And I think that's what they really tried to say about the uh, chelsea manning leaks But second of all Then you need to be a lot more cautious About conducting affairs have more accountability and stop doing war crimes most importantly so What she said here what elizabeth warren said here? Absurd completely absurd on one hand. I'm glad and I give her credit for you know Saying that donald trump should not pursue Julian Assange. He shouldn't prosecute julian assange She's essentially taking obama stance But in saying that the manning leaks posed a threat to national security That's a really weak response. So lately elizabeth warren There's peaks and valleys with her right at time She'll go up in my book because she'll Introduce a lot of great policies But then she'll go down because she'll say something that doesn't even make sense. It's not progressive And the biggest thing is she's against medic air for all But then she also came out, you know against fundraisers and then she said on the young turks But if I win in the general it's you know all hands on deck. We're gonna go and do these fundraisers So she's just she's hot. She's cold. She's there's no consistency What it comes to whether or not she's progressive. It's clear to me that she is someone Who has progressive instincts But she's always going to be more than willing to put the establishment first And that's why a lot of people don't even have her as their number two It's because of things like this. So look strong response from bernie. It's It's better late than never you should have spoke out sooner, but nonetheless But warren's head here is deeply troubling But the point is that this is about press freedom So they both at least got that right and also ron wyden spoke out about this too But I focused on warren and bernie because they're running for president, but look You can't mess up on this issue. You cannot mess up on this issue We are losing our civil liberties The constitution is being eroded and it's incumbent on you as an elected member of the senate To stand up for our freedoms. So I mean I feel mixed on this on one hand I'm glad they spoke out and they're technically on the right side here But what elizabeth warren said it it just leaves a really bad taste in my mouth You could support the humanist report at patreon.com Slashed humanist report But trust me I'd have way more supporters at patreon if that was my podcast Sad