The Young Turks’ establishment infiltration may not be exclusive to the members of the board and the senior level staff, however; it also may be infecting the on-air talent. That brings us to Emma Vigeland. Vigeland is the daughter of two former US Attorneys, who were also both head of the Major Crimes division in a very major district. After prosecuting Wall St. for years, both parents found their way into defending Fortune 500 corporations against white collar crimes for very large and successful private firms. When 180 former federal prosecutors petitioned Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for a Special Counsel to oversee the Russia Investigation, both her parents were amongst their ranks. One of Vigeland’s parents in particular donated $20,000 in 2016, with $6,000 going to the Hillary Victory Fund during the primaries. She also donated $3,000 to Off the Sidelines PAC (listed recipient is Kamala Harris) and $2,700 to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Speaking of Gillibrand, in 2010, the same parent was a “Host” for a Gillibrand fundraising committee, meaning they either raised $2,500 or donated $2,400. The next year, Emma Vigeland was interning at the Offices of Senator Gillibrand. A few more years, and a few more summer internships followed, retail, law offices, and then as if it was magic — intern for TYT. When Vigeland says she was raised in an “establishment Democrat family”, she isn’t exaggerating. In fact, she’s probably understating it, and it seems to give way to hypocrisy and even cripples her ability to fully grasp the mindset she claims to embrace. This has become more and more apparent, especially through her recent commentary on Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, Congresswoman from Hawaii. Vigeland’s assertions that Gabbard is anti-LGBT (although her voting record tells a different story) because of her upbringing in an ultra-conservative household, and the ideological brainwashing that comes with being raised by an extremist. Her entire argument boils down to the premise that someone can’t rise above their upbringing. If that were true, then how can Emma Vigeland be trusted to stand up for Progressives? So, while it was nice for Vigeland to applaud her former boss for talking about privilege at the last Democratic Debates, one can’t help but wonder why she hasn’t addressed the subject more herself. It seems she would have a lot to teach us on the subject.

The Young Turks have a philosophical problem that cannot be ignored. For years, they’ve screamed about the dangers of money in politics, only to turn around and accept funding from the people throwing the money into politics. The whole premise stinks of hypocrisy. In a video meant to quell fears about the investments, Cenk Uygur brazenly says “Corporations aren’t people” as he glances up and down from a que-card with a look of feigned sincerity. This is a fallacy, and a patronizing one at that. Corporations do not start themselves. They do not employ themselves. They don’t develop their own business strategies, nor do they invest in themselves. People do all that. Corporations do, in fact, take on the persona and push the ideologies of their founders, executives, and their employees to an extent. Information is a big business, and money can and does by access and influence over it. We have seen it to be true. It’s the exact reason why campaign finance laws exist. Are we supposed to believe that money only has a corrosive effect on politics? Do they expect us to be as naive as to believe that business, and the people who control them, cannot be bought and sold? That’s ridiculous. As a society, we should be supremely skeptical of news media outlets who take funding from billionaires and venture capitalists, especially those whose money is thrown behind candidates that pose a threat to your ideology. Make no mistake, small donations from average people are a sign of support. Large donations from the elite and the coporations they inhabit are a sign of trying to buy favor and influence. This cannot be denied. The questions we should be asking ourselves is why would a bunch of establishment millionaires want to invest millions in an online news network that caters to Progressives, more specifically millennials? Sanders did win that vote over Clinton by a significant margin, and the divisiveness among the two sets of voters still lingers to this day. It would stand to reason that the political and information influence machine would want to get their hands on that demographic. There are hundreds of logical excuses for them to attempt to do so. TYT, from the ground up, is full of people who spent years working at senior and executive level positions in Morgan Stanley, Kaiser Permanente, Disney, MSNBC, Yahoo, CNN, and FOX. They’ve taken millions of dollars from the people who’ve propped up their movement’s greatest enemies, and told you that there’s nothing to see. One thing is clear: The Young Turks are not Independent.

The cost of selling out is going bankrupt in your principles.