Julian Assange. Photo: wiki commons.

Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, interviewed several occupy movement leaders for the seventh episode of his new talk show. The show was broadcast on RT, a television network funded by the Russian government, which regularly criticizes countries that have tense relations with the Kremlin such as the United States, Israel and most European states. During this episode, Assange, RT and the occupy movement complemented each other with their broad anti-U.S. government narrative.

The first half of the interview was spent on mundane discussions on how the occupy movement was formed. When David Graeber from Occupy New York said “There is nothing that terrifies the US government so much as the threat of democracy breaking out in America,” Assange smiled instead of challenging him. Assange even suggested that the occupy movement should provoke the police

and video their response.

Assange then lobbed a softball question about how Bradley Manning was treated harshly by U.S. authorities to which Naomi Colvin from Occupy London agreed.  Manning is being treated leniently, when compared to what a Russian soldier would have faced from the Putin administration if he had leaked military secrets.

A common theme in the discussion was the lack of democracy in the United States. It almost seems as if these activists have not heard about the US elections in November 2012, which are free and fair by any standards.

Among the more bizarre claims made during the program, David Graeber said the police dumped recently released prisoners into occupy movement gatherings to subvert them.

Assange did not ask any questions about criminal activities involving the occupy movement. Members of the occupy movement have been responsible for multiple murders and rapes. They have also injured police, damaged property, defecated in public, used illegal drugs and made anti-Semitic comments. Five occupy movement members have even been arrested for planning to blow up a bridge.

The Guardian newspaper in Britain has previously described Assange as “a useful idiot” and RT as a “Kremlin propaganda channel”. Another British newspaper, The Telegraph described RT as “propaganda channel” which “produces a relentless stream of anti-American bulletins, which complement crushingly pro-Kremlin Russian-language broadcast media.”

RT presenters have kept a straight face while continuing to publicize Assange as “the world’s most famous whistleblower” who has been condemned by the “main stream media”. It remains to be seen if RT will allow Assange to interview Russian opposition activists who faced a police crackdown after Putin won elections which were widely believed to have been rigged.