Julian Assange has kind words for Donald Trump, says Russia has "vibrant" criticism of Vladimir...

[DonViejo]

Julian Assange has kind words for Donald Trump, says Russia has “vibrant” criticism of Vladimir Putin’s government

Assange comes out with big praise for journalism in Russia, where critical journalists have been murdered

MATTHEW ROZSA

Julian Assange — who once argued that “since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of government” — came out with high praise for both President-elect Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica on Friday.

“Donald Trump is not a D.C. insider, he is part of the wealthy ruling elite of the United States, and he is gathering around him a spectrum of other rich people and several idiosyncratic personalities,” Assange said. “They do not by themselves form an existing structure, so it is a weak structure which is displacing and destabilizing the pre-existing central power network within D.C. It is a new patronage structure which will evolve rapidly, but at the moment its looseness means there are opportunities for change in the United States: change for the worse and change for the better.”

While Assange had the circumspection to at least somewhat hedge his praise for Trump, he became outright dishonest when it came time to discuss Putin’s Russia.

“In Russia, there are many vibrant publications, online blogs, and Kremlin critics such as (Alexey) Navalny are part of that spectrum,” Assange said. “There are also newspapers like Novaya Gazeta, in which different parts of society in Moscow are permitted to critique each other and it is tolerated, generally, because it isn’t a big TV channel that might have a mass popular effect, its audience is educated people in Moscow. So my interpretation is that in Russia there are competitors to WikiLeaks, and no WikiLeaks staff speak Russian, so for a strong culture which has its own language, you have to be seen as a local player.”

more
http://www.salon.com/2016/12/27/julian-assange-has-kind-words-for-donald-trump-says-russia-has-vibrant-criticism-of-vladimir-putins-government/

[RandySF]

1. Fuck that rapist and the horse he rode in on.

[WhiteTara]

2. Rot in a Swedish prison, Rapist.

[Luminous_Animal]

3. Could someone point out the praise for Trump? Because I am not seeing it.

And also, and he does not say there is vibrant criticism of Putin's government. He plainly says that there are vibrant publications in Russia. And there are. There are also Russian versions of Wikileaks.

[SidDithers]

4. ...

Sid

[Luminous_Animal]

5. That's what I thought.

[SidDithers]

6. So very glad you're back...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2104660

Sid

[Wounded Bear]

7. Excuse me, but I don't think that is "vibrant criticism"...

I think they are shaking in their boots when they criticise Pootie.

[Luminous_Animal]

11. Did you read it? He not once claims there is vibrant criticism. The "journalist" made that up.

He says that there are vibrant publications and goes on to describe them and the limitations under which they exist with in order to publish.

[hrmjustin]

8. How anyone can defend Assange's behavior is beyond me.

[Initech]

10. Go to hell, Assange.

[DonCoquixote]

12. wuss

if you can hack the americans, you can hack the russians. Anyone with any lnowledge of thr hacking community knows there are plenty of Russian speakers and hackers who would gladly offer you their swords. You just know where your gravy comes from, just like don trump.