WEBVTT - Steve Schmidt: When Trust Dies, Democracy Follows

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<v Speaker 1>This is Steve Schmid with the Warning, and I just

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to talk for a few minutes this morning about

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<v Speaker 1>a very very important subject, and that is trust. Its

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<v Speaker 1>total and absolute, complete collapse between the American people in

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<v Speaker 1>every institution that you can think to name. The last

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<v Speaker 1>holdout was the US military. It was the most trusted

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<v Speaker 1>institution in the country until it was taken over by

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<v Speaker 1>Pete Hagsath and began extra judicial killings in the Southern Caribbean.

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<v Speaker 1>A politicized Department of Defense will become distrusted For me,

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<v Speaker 1>I know, over my dead body, would I let my

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<v Speaker 1>child sign the line to serve their country under the

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<v Speaker 1>command of the indifference of Pete hags who, when walking

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<v Speaker 1>into a serious meeting in Ukraine, turned to an aid

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<v Speaker 1>and powdered his nose and said, we have to look

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<v Speaker 1>commanding can't be made up. The politicians have become partners

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<v Speaker 1>with the media, and there is no place so where

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<v Speaker 1>that is more so than CBS News Barry Weiss News.

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<v Speaker 1>And on January fifth, they're going to reboot the CBS

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<v Speaker 1>Evening News and there will be a new anchor in place.

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<v Speaker 1>Tony Dakoople, a former hair model who was sent by

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<v Speaker 1>Barry Wise to Grand Central station with a sign the

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<v Speaker 1>type of which the car service guys hold when you're

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<v Speaker 1>waiting to get off a plane, asking people how to

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<v Speaker 1>print out his name. It's a cuty, millennial lish marketing

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<v Speaker 1>trek might be great for Instagram, But the best part

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<v Speaker 1>of it is as he's haranguing the commuters, a woman

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<v Speaker 1>looks them dead in the eye and she says, are

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<v Speaker 1>you running for office or something? And he goes, no,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm the new anchor of CBS News, you know, with

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<v Speaker 1>like Walter Cronkite, not making it up. Walter Cronkite was

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<v Speaker 1>a trusted man. He was a serious man, and the

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<v Speaker 1>American people believed that when Walter Cronkite told them something

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<v Speaker 1>about what was happening in the world, that he could

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<v Speaker 1>be trusted. Now, Tony Decoupel has released a statement of

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<v Speaker 1>video and he says, trust me, give me a chance,

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<v Speaker 1>and he makes a remarkable, remarkable statement. He says that

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<v Speaker 1>he's going to hold corporations, including the corporate bosses who

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<v Speaker 1>employ him, to account. What total and absolute, complete bullshit.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's go through the timeline here so everybody can understand it.

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<v Speaker 1>Paramount was owned by a billionaire named Sharry Redstone. She

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<v Speaker 1>was the daughter of Sumner Redstone, and she was the

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<v Speaker 1>steward of the Tiffany Network's prized asset, which is CBS News.

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<v Speaker 1>CBS was always the diamond standard. You had Edward R. Morrow,

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<v Speaker 1>you had Cronkite, you had Rather, you had the best

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<v Speaker 1>of the best at CBS News. Donald Trump sued CBS.

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<v Speaker 1>It wasn't a lawsuit because it was utterly absolutely left out, loud, frivolous.

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<v Speaker 1>What it was was an extortion. It was a character test.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a character test for miss Redstone. She failed.

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<v Speaker 1>She paid off Trump, she paid the bride, and she

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<v Speaker 1>did that to smooth the transfer of the company through

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<v Speaker 1>a sale to the Ellison boy david son of Larry Allison,

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<v Speaker 1>one of the richest men in the world for a

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<v Speaker 1>few days, the richest in the world this past year,

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<v Speaker 1>with extremest beliefs on the role of humanity, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>the privacy of individual citizens against all of the technology

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<v Speaker 1>companies way out there stuff strange man owns a island

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<v Speaker 1>in Hawaii, has a four seasons resort out there, and

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<v Speaker 1>he's one of these billionaires very interested in longevity, the

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<v Speaker 1>concept of living forever at any rate, Larry. Some rich

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<v Speaker 1>guys give their kids Porsches, but dellisent boy got a studio,

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<v Speaker 1>he got paramount, and he wants more. And when he

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<v Speaker 1>took over CBS, this soft handed son of the billionaire,

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<v Speaker 1>who honestly has never worked a day in his life,

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<v Speaker 1>never struggled, never had a bad fifteen second, has imposed

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<v Speaker 1>now as the owner his I don't know what word

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<v Speaker 1>is a dystopian view of the news. What's real on

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<v Speaker 1>the network through Barry Weis, who was hand picked an

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<v Speaker 1>ideological pick, a Trump adjacent pick Magalite, and he did

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<v Speaker 1>that because what he really wants to buy is Warner Discovery.

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<v Speaker 1>He wants to own CNN. David Allison knows the regulatory

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<v Speaker 1>approval of that is entirely dependent on the Trump administration

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<v Speaker 1>at this point. On Friday, coming into the weekend, Sixty

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<v Speaker 1>Minutes made an announcement that had a big story about

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<v Speaker 1>a concentration camp in El Salvador that the American government

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<v Speaker 1>was selling people to. Barry Weis spie that story famously,

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<v Speaker 1>and she did it not to make it better, but

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<v Speaker 1>because Donald Trump at a rally said the new ownership

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<v Speaker 1>is worse than the old ownership, and what likely happened

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<v Speaker 1>is a flurry of phone calls between David Ellison and

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<v Speaker 1>Barry Weiss, and the story was gone. And now the

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<v Speaker 1>new anchor has the audacity of a hair model. How

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<v Speaker 1>to do the joke, the audacity of a hair model

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<v Speaker 1>to look you in the eye and say, trust me.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to hold corporate power to account, including the

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<v Speaker 1>people who employ me. And if if you believe that

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<v Speaker 1>I have shares in a Brooklyn Bridge, I'd like to

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<v Speaker 1>like to sell you. Trust. And it's collapse is why

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<v Speaker 1>Donald Trump sits in the White House period. The Democratic

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<v Speaker 1>Party has broken trust. The leader of the DNC, Ken Martin,

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<v Speaker 1>has broken trust. Won't release the autopsy report of twenty

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<v Speaker 1>twenty four, so there could be no discussion about whether

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<v Speaker 1>any of the lessons of that election have been absorbed

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<v Speaker 1>in time for the next one. The Democratic Party must

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<v Speaker 1>be the party that the American people trust in order

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<v Speaker 1>for it to beat the Maga Party, and all of

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<v Speaker 1>us voters need to hold the opposition of Maggot to

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<v Speaker 1>a very high standard. We have to choose to be

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<v Speaker 1>citizens ahead of being fans, and only a fool, only

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<v Speaker 1>a fool looks at a politician on the national level,

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<v Speaker 1>and relates to them like a teenager at the Taylor

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<v Speaker 1>Swift concert. It's dangerous and it has put Trump in

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<v Speaker 1>the White House, and we have to get him out

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<v Speaker 1>of the White House and his movement out of power.

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<v Speaker 1>And we have to do that through elections by voting

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<v Speaker 1>for people who have the integrity to meet the challenges

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<v Speaker 1>of this moment. The American news media is deeply, deeply corrupted,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm going to give you a very simple barometer

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<v Speaker 1>that you can use to check out the honesty of

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<v Speaker 1>any news organization. Now, Donald Trump does not have the

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<v Speaker 1>power to name the Kennedy Center the Trump Center any

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<v Speaker 1>more than he does to name Nebraska, Magafornia, or to

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<v Speaker 1>name Wisconsin. Trump is stant. This is very important to understand.

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<v Speaker 1>He does not have the power to rename the Department

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<v Speaker 1>of Defense to the Department of War. These names are

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<v Speaker 1>in place through statute. That's where the name comes from.

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<v Speaker 1>When Donald Trump, by FIA declares it's the Department of War,

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<v Speaker 1>which it's not, or he says it's the Trump Center,

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<v Speaker 1>not the Kennedy Center, and the media reports it as

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<v Speaker 1>if he has that power. What it does is become

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<v Speaker 1>partners in a declaration that is nonsensical, it's not true,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not real, and so in the service of that,

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<v Speaker 1>they're no longer news organizations. They're propagandists. Again. Of the

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<v Speaker 1>arts center in Washington, DC that's being boycotted is the

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<v Speaker 1>John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts under US

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<v Speaker 1>law period. If ABC News or CBS News, Fox News

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<v Speaker 1>calls it the Trump Center, what that means is there

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<v Speaker 1>a part of the Trump administration or b afraid of

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<v Speaker 1>the Trump administration, but c it means they're lying to

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<v Speaker 1>you about something very very very simple, the name of

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<v Speaker 1>a building. If they can't resist calling the Department of Defense,

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<v Speaker 1>which is what the Pentagon is calling it, the Department

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<v Speaker 1>of War, how can they be trusted to tell you

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<v Speaker 1>the truth about what is happening in the Southern Caribbean,

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<v Speaker 1>where the United States of America, a few years on

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<v Speaker 1>after the Afghanistan disaster, stands ready for another episode of

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<v Speaker 1>regime change without enough troops, with no plan whatsoever, no

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<v Speaker 1>national discussion about what's involved, just on the word of Trump.

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<v Speaker 1>If the media cannot be trusted to tell you the

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<v Speaker 1>proper name of the Pentagon, how can they be reliant

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<v Speaker 1>to look at Donald Trump's decomposing health, his elephantine ankles,

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<v Speaker 1>his black and bruised necritizing hands. He is obviously sick

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<v Speaker 1>physically mentally, he is decomposing up at three in the morning.

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<v Speaker 1>None of this is rational, none of it is real.

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<v Speaker 1>And yet the media on a day by day basis,

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<v Speaker 1>Fox News, CBS News tells you two plus two is five,

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<v Speaker 1>or in the case of CNN, they'll have a show

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<v Speaker 1>with Scott Jennings on it to argue the point. And

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<v Speaker 1>so it becomes impossible, impossible to know what is real,

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<v Speaker 1>what's up, what's down, what's left, what's right? And in

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<v Speaker 1>that world, democracy dies, liberty goes with it, Sanity goes

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<v Speaker 1>with it too. Donald Trump meets every definition, every definition

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<v Speaker 1>that you could conceivably layout for a disloyal, faithless, un

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<v Speaker 1>American press to the American people cannot trust, We should

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<v Speaker 1>talk more about trust, and democratic leaders should get ready

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<v Speaker 1>who are running for president to specifically address the issue

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<v Speaker 1>and asked for it step by step. The notion that

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<v Speaker 1>Tony D. Kophill thinks the average American is so absurdly

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<v Speaker 1>stupid that they would give him a chance. When he

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<v Speaker 1>looks into the camera and says trust me, and that says,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to hold the corporation that I work for

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<v Speaker 1>to account. It's obscene because we know how his boss

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<v Speaker 1>who picked him to do what she tells him to

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<v Speaker 1>do in the service of the Ellison boy who wants CNN.

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<v Speaker 1>We know, we know what happens when Donald Trump says

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<v Speaker 1>the new leadership is worse than the old one. We

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<v Speaker 1>know stories get spiked because that's what happened. Now. It

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't much matter what's on CBS because the trust evaporated

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<v Speaker 1>a long time ago, and it's really not relevant, and

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<v Speaker 1>people can get information if they want to get information.

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<v Speaker 1>There is an ability to break out of the silo.

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<v Speaker 1>There is an ability to unchain yourself from the algorithm.

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<v Speaker 1>But you have to read, you have to explore, and

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<v Speaker 1>you have to pay attention. The reality of the moment

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<v Speaker 1>is this powerful people lie to the American people all

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<v Speaker 1>the time for their self interest. The American people, they

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<v Speaker 1>don't live in the economy that you saw at Mora

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<v Speaker 1>Lago on New Year's Eve. The job numbers, the economic numbers.

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<v Speaker 1>Trump doesn't like them, so he made them disappear. The

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<v Speaker 1>end of nineteen eighty four, Winston, the protagonist is being

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<v Speaker 1>tortured by O'Brien, and O'Brien during the torture, holds up

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<v Speaker 1>fingers and he says, Winston, how many fingers am I

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<v Speaker 1>holding up? And Winston says, I only see four. I

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<v Speaker 1>see four fingers, and O'Brien makes the point, No, Winston,

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<v Speaker 1>the right answer is, however many the party tells you.

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<v Speaker 1>The very first thing that happened in twenty seventeen, a

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<v Speaker 1>few minutes after noon is Seawan Spicer went out and

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<v Speaker 1>he told the American people that Donald Trump's anemic inaugural

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<v Speaker 1>crowd size was bigger than Barack Obama's. It was obviously

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<v Speaker 1>not true, it was profoundly stupid, and it was the

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<v Speaker 1>beginning of the most dishonest press secretary in American history

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<v Speaker 1>to that point. But it was always a lie of authority,

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<v Speaker 1>the type of lie that says what's true is what

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<v Speaker 1>the leader says is true, and that's not truth. That's dangerous.

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<v Speaker 1>And many, many years later, here we are on the

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<v Speaker 1>edge of a war with a man who demands the

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<v Speaker 1>Nobel Peace Prize and his partners. They're the corporate media,

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<v Speaker 1>they're the big law firms, they're the big tech companies,

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<v Speaker 1>they're all of the people and all of the institutions

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<v Speaker 1>that thought by being partners with him it would be

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<v Speaker 1>good for them. They don't care about the country. They

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<v Speaker 1>don't care about the people who live in it. They

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<v Speaker 1>care about their greed, They care about themselves. This is

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<v Speaker 1>what John Kennedy was talking about when he said, ask

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<v Speaker 1>not what your country can do for you, ask what

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<v Speaker 1>you can do for your country. And what you can

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<v Speaker 1>do for your country is to get involved and to

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<v Speaker 1>get engaged and to use your power to vote these

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<v Speaker 1>people out of office who are corrupt, who lie, who

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<v Speaker 1>can't be trusted, and appreciate this. The one thing that

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<v Speaker 1>Tony Tacoupo will never be is Walter Cronkite, because Walter

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<v Speaker 1>Cronkite could be trusted. What Tony Takoupo is is Fox

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<v Speaker 1>News Life. I'm Barry Weis's news that produces the content

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<v Speaker 1>that allows the Ellison boy to go to mal Lago

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<v Speaker 1>and to say see I'm on your side, Donald, and

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<v Speaker 1>with that, everybody, Happy New Year. I'll see you on

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<v Speaker 1>the fifth.