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[Music]
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it doesn't start with them kidnapping
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you it does not start with our Exile
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they don't stuff the ballot
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boxes it starts with the government
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making hints it starts with over
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complicated red tape with the law with
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retribution fake narratives and
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financial
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attacks democracy and rule of law is
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more fragile than Americans think Russia
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was Banning writers but Irish thinking
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like I'm not writing books then it was
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Banning teachers and I thought okay I'm
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not a teacher this is the big mistake
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because of course it came to
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[Music]
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me the first alarm that we should have
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noticed was in 2001 when NTV the
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independent channel was taken over staff
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arriving for work were told their
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offices and Studios were off limits
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unless they signed an oak of loyalty to
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ntv's new managers I remember how
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frustrated and angry we were and we even
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went to the protest rally but then it
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was cold and we had so many other
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independent TV channels so we just went
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home and forgot about that my uncle who
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until recently was prime minister of
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Singapore had this pattern of using
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police investigations and criminal
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prosecutions to dispose of or Exile his
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opponents there have been malicious
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prosecutions against uh two leaders of
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different opposition parties the sandona
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dictatorship in Nicaragua sees
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nonprofits as a threat including mine we
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are focused on pro-democracy work and
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that was unacceptable to the
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dictatorship in Hungary the elimination
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of gender studies was the first step
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towards uh the Restriction of academic
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freedom when it would be too obvious to
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prosecute someone for being an enemy of
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the state you have to make something
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else up they came after us with the
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excuse that we had not submitted our
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Financial reports they didn't give us an
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opportunity to appeal I posted a private
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Facebook comment to my friends only and
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the Singapore government went after me
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with a Criminal prosecution General's
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Chambers has asked the high court to
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Find leing Ru at least
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$155,000 the steps were brile and every
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one of them was unbelievable for me
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looking back it had been obvious that
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the government had been going in this
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direction a little speech here and you
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know half a sentence there we have to
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Revitalize our churches our families our
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universities no thought no way they
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cannot cross that line until 2020 when
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the Hungarian government forced my
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University to leave the country Vladimir
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Putin he always has this legal steps
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first Russian President Vladimir Putin
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has signed two controversial security
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bills into law and then he does what he
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wants would designate certain
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journalists and bloggers as foreign
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agents he was testing the society would
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it be okay for them if I shut down just
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one channel and then maybe one radio
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station one newspaper one magazine our
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nonprofit was one of the first to be uh
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cancelled by the Ortega regime right now
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we're up to over 3500 nonprofits my
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television channel was declared a
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foreign agent I was declared a foreign
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agent I am blacklisted as an academic in
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Hungary I could never get a job the
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regime was saying that I was a finer of
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terrorism it would be best if I left the
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country immediately and I fled the
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country as soon as as I could Russia
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blocked its last independent TV channel
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TV rign those staffers remaining in the
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studio gather for a farewell at the we
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left Russia I Donald John Trump do
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solemnly swear that I will Faithfully
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execute the office of President of the
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United States if you're used to living
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in a Democratic Society you don't expect
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that a government could just go ahead
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and close a university I will fire the
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radical left accreditors that have
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allowed our colleges to become dominant
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ated by marxists maniacs and lunatics
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right now and there is no Independent
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Media outlets in Russia no freedom of
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speech ABC they're the most dishonest in
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my opinion the most dishonest news
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organization my uncle had taken his own
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personal lawyer and made that lawyer
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attorney general president-elect Trump's
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new pick for attorney general Pam Bondi
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she was also on Trump's legal team
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during his first impeachment trial I
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call my attorney general I say listen
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indict him well he hasn't done anything
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wrong that we know I don't know indict
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him on income tax evasion you'll figure
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it out I wish that I would have paid
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more attention to those flashes of
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authoritarianism we ignored it because
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the economy was going really really well
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I should have known I'm a sociologist
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and I blame myself you want to think
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it's not happening because otherwise you
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might have to do something take your
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finances out of the country try not to
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have a physical office space they will
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seize all of your assets it is better
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to fight every person unlawfully jailed
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unlawfully harmed is your business it is
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better to refuse rather than to give in
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and hope that somebody else will be the
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check and balance for you
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[Music]