State Media Blackout As Anti-Putin Protests RAGE In Russia

AMAZING PROTEST IN 90 DIFFERENT CITIES IN RUSSIA HAVE
BROKEN OUT.
WE ARE TOLD BY POLLSTERS IN RUSSIA, AND IT'S
NOT THAT THE POLLSTERS ARE BAD GUYS, IT'S THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE
ARE AFRAID TO ANSWER POLLSTERS, THAT PUTIN IS POPULAR IN RUSSIA.
AND I DON'T DOUBT THAT, WHEN HE TOOK OVER CRIMEA THAT WAS
POPULAR DOMESTICALLY, NOT INTERNATIONALLY, BUT A LOT OF
NATIONALISM, AND FOR A WHILE THEY WERE RIDING HIGH ON OIL
MONEY, NOW BECAUSE OF SANCTIONS AND LOWER OIL PRICES THINGS
AREN'T GOING AS WELL.
NOW PUTIN, WHO WAS VERY POPULAR, MAYBE A
LITTLE LESS POPULAR THAN THE POLLS INDICATED, ALL OF A SUDDEN
NOT SO POPULAR.
HOW THINGS HAVE TURNED.
LET'S LOOK AT SOME OF
THE FACTS AROUND THOSE RUSSIAN PROTESTS --
OH GOD.
I HOPE HE IS ALL RIGHT IN JAIL.
I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT
THE DEMONSTRATIONS, WHY THEY ARE HAPPENING, AND WHY THINGS HAVE
TURNED SO QUICKLY ON PUTIN.
HUFFINGTON POST EXPLAINS --
MEDVEDEV, NOW THE CURRENT PRIME MINISTER, USED TO BE THE
FORMER PRESIDENT, BASICALLY A PUPPET OF PUTIN, HAS DONE
EVERYTHING PUTIN HAS ASKED OF HIM.
NOW WE GO TO THE BBC --
THIS IS THE GUY OPPOSING PUTIN --
IN THE 1990S A LOT OF CORRUPTION HAPPENED UNDER THE
RUBRIC OF DEMOCRACY, ALTHOUGH OF COURSE IT IS NOT REAL DEMOCRACY
--
THE REAL PROBLEM IS CORRUPTION AND HE IS TARGETING
IT, AND THAT IS RESONATING IN RUSSIA AS YOU CAN TELL.
NBC
NEWS EXPLAINS WHAT WAS IN THE REPORT ABOUT MEDVEDEV --
THAT IS WHY A LOT OF PEOPLE
BROUGHT RUBBER DUCKIES AND
SNEAKERS TO THE PROTESTS.
REPORTS SHOWED MANSION ON TOP OF
MANSION, REPORTS WERE THAT RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS WOULD BUY
THESE MANSION FOR MEDVEDEV THROUGH
THEIR BODIES, PROTESTERS
ARE IRATE ABOUT THAT BECAUSE THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY IS NOW
INSIGNIFICANT TROUBLE AND A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE HAVING TROUBLE
MAKING A LIVING, MEANWHILE YOU HAVE THIS GUY BUILDING HOUSES
FOR DUCKS, LET ALONE THE MANSION HE OWNS, ONE OF WHICH IS WORTH
$85 MILLION ACCORDING TO THE
REPORT.
SO --
MAN, LET'S PAUSE HERE TO TALK ABOUT HOW STRONG AND BRAVE THOSE
PROTESTERS ARE IN AND ERA OF PUTIN, WHERE GOD KNOWS WHAT
COULD HAPPEN TO PEOPLE WHO OPPOSE THE PUTIN GOVERNMENT AND
A LOT HAVE BEEN ASSASSINATED RECENTLY, AND SO HAVE REPORTERS
COVERING.
FOR REPORTERS COVERING IT -- OBVIOUSLY STATE RUN TV IS
IN THE TANK FOR PUTIN, THE ALMOST DIDN'T EVEN COVER IT,
NEWSPAPERS DID, BUT FOR PROTESTERS THEMSELVES AND FOR
NAVALNY TO OPPOSE THIS GOVERNMENT AND GO TO JAIL, LET'S
HOPE HE MAKES IT OUT ALIVE, BUT THAT IS SIGNIFICANT COURAGE.
NOW, TALKING ABOUT HOW NAVALNY HIS RIGHT ABOUT CORRUPTION,
MEDVEDEV'S CASE IS ONE THAT HAS TO BE PROVEN, IF HE IS EVER
CHARGED, MY GUESS IS THAT PUTIN IS NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO
CHARGING HIS NUMBER TWO MAN --
THERE IS MASSIVE, RAMPANT CORRUPTION IN THE RUSSIAN
GOVERNMENT.
BACK TO THE HUFFINGTON POST --
THAT
DID NOT HURT HIS RANKINGS BECAUSE THE RUSSIAN
ECONOMY WAS IMPROVING, BUT NOW WHEN PEOPLE ARE HAVING TROUBLE
GETTING A JOB AND YOU'RE SITTING ON AT LEAST $2 BILLION ACCORDING
TO JUST THE PANAMA PAPERS, AND YOUR NUMBER TWO IS ORDERING 73
SHIRTS AT A TIME, PEOPLE START TO GET PISSED.
AND THAT'S THE
SITUATION WE ARE IN TODAY.
HENCE --
THAT IS RUSSIAN FOR, WE WILL BEAT YOU AND ARREST YOU.
BACK TO
THE BBC --
WOW.
SO, GUESS WHY.
WHY ARE A LOT OF THE PROTESTERS YOUNG?
BECAUSE THEY ARE GETTING THEIR NEWS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA.
NAVALNY'S REPORT ON MEDVEDEV ON YOUTUBE 13 MILLION VIEWS, STATE
TV IS NOT COVERING AT ALL, THE OLDER GENERATION IS ASLEEP, KIND
OF LIKE IN THE U.S. THE YOUNGER GENERATION HAS THE INFORMATION
AND IS ANGRY ABOUT IT AND IS DOING SOMETHING PATRIOTIC BY
PROTESTING.
NOW --
OH, I LOVE THE YOUNG.
THEY GET THEIR NEWS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA,
AND YES, ONLINE, OFTENTIMES NOT BLOCKED BY THE STATE OR THE
GOVERNMENT, YOU WILL GET BETTER INFORMATION.
I KNOW EVERYONE IS
WORRIED ABOUT THE EPIDEMIC OF FAKE NEWS, SOME OF WHICH WAS
LAUNCHED BY THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, BUT A LOT OF WHAT
THE GOVERNMENTS SAY EITHER AGAINST EACH OTHER OR ON BEHALF
OF THEMSELVES IS FAKE TO BEGIN WITH.
THE PENTAGON HERE IN
AMERICA CLAIMS THEY HAVE NEVER TOLD A LIE, AND CNN AND THE REST
OF THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA -- OF COURSE, REPUBLICANS SAY THIS,
DEMOCRATS SAY THAT, THE PENTAGON AND THE GOVERNMENT SAY THIS,
NEVER QUESTIONED.
HOW OFTEN DO YOU HEAR ON CNN THE PENTAGON IS
LYING?
IN RUSSIA, STATE TV RUN BY PUTIN, I DON'T SEE ANY
PROTESTS.
PUTIN RUSTLED A BEAR AND WON, HE SCORED 13 GOALS IN A
HOCKEY GAME -- THAT IS ACTUALLY TRUE, HE GOES AROUND LIKE THIS
OLD-ASS MAN SHOOTING PUCKS LIKE THIS IN THE RUSSIAN NATIONAL
TEAM STANDS ASIDE AND LETS IT GO IN THE GOAL, AND RUSSIAN TV IS
LIKE, WONDERFUL, HE IS BETTER THAN OUR TOP ATHLETES.
THAT IS
THE CRAP THAT IS ON TV, THAT'S WHY THE YOUNG AREN'T BUYING IT
WHETHER IT IS RUSSIA OR THE U.S. THEY SEE THE REALITY ONLINE.
NOW
THE REALITY IS --
BACK TO THE HUFFINGTON POST --
DESPITE THE FACT THAT TELEVISION CONTINUES TO LIE
ABOUT THE PROTESTS IN RUSSIA, ALEXEI NAVALNY SAYS --
THAT RIGHT THERE IS A BRAVE RUSSIAN PATRIOT.
HE CARES ABOUT
THE COUNTRY, AT LEAST IN REGARDS TO THIS INVESTIGATION, AND
BRINGING REAL TRANSPARENCY TO CORRUPTION.
SOME IN RUSSIA,
CERTAINLY IN THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, CERTAINLY IN RUSSIAN
"TELEVISION," CARE A LOT MORE ABOUT THEIR OWN GAIN AND THEIR
POCKETBOOKS, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN RUSSIA WHO BELIEVE
IN RESISTANCE, AND BELIEVE THERE CAN BE A BETTER RUSSIA FREE OF
CORRUPTION.

State Media Blackout As Anti-Putin Protests RAGE In Russia

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