There is a funny feeling when we are about to embark on the journey to DC for the RPI Conference. The t-shirts to be sold are packed and ready to be loaded. There are a million last minute things to remember before we take the show on the road. Did we remember to pack the audio books of Hugh Fraser reading Agatha Christie?
Some people have asked: “Why do you want to go to DC for a conference? That’s the belly of the beast!”
Well that’s true…and it’s also exactly why we go there.
There is literally no opposition inside the Imperial City to the dangerous and destructive policies that same Imperial City imposes on the rest of us. They live in their own bubble, stroking each other’s egos while they pretend they are fighting each other tooth and nail. They aren’t. They all support an imperialistic US foreign policy which embroils us in endless wars which in turn enrich the military-industrial complex which in turn leads to more donations to “think” tanks on the Left and Right (and even those who claim to be opposed to interventionism).
While there are certainly decent people who are trying to work within the machine for the right cause, the institutions are hopelessly corrupt because they are all hopelessly inbred.
Here’s a great example: Not long ago there was a big brouhaha over at the “non-interventionist” Quincy Institute (that outfit funded by Koch and Soros purportedly to rein in neocon foreign policy). Long-time Beltway denizen Joseph Cirincione had a freak out and resigned from Quincy over what he claimed was the Institute’s, ”ignoring the dangers and the horrors of Russia’s invasion and occupation, focus(ing) almost exclusively on criticism of the United States, NATO, and Ukraine.”
Cirincione is the perfect embodiment of all that is wrong in Washington. A long-time member of the globalist Council on Foreign Relations, a former top official at the interventionist Carnegie Endowment, a former senior vice president at the left-neocon Center for American Progress, a stint at the State Department, and a campaign advisor to warmongering former President Barack Obama.
A solid career promoting neocon interventionism (albeit of the leftish “humanitarian” variety), yet somehow Cirincione lands a top gig at the “non-interventionist” Quincy Institute. You go where the money is. Nothing else matters because the idea that there is any institutional opposition to the Washington war machine within the Beltway is a fantasy.
So Cirincione flips out and publicly flips Quincy the bird because some of their scholars dared to point out that the Ukraine/Russia conflict did not drop from the sky on February 24th of this year (the day Russia crossed into Ukraine). No, some at Quincy actually looked back at – gasp – the US-led coup against the democratically-elected government of Ukraine in 2014 as contributing to the instability that eventually led to the war.
But here’s the punchline: Instead of issuing a statement wishing good riddance to Cirincione and reinforcing its non-interventionist orientation, the Quincy Institute bitterly opposed the suggestion that it did not solely blame Russia for the invasion. “We categorically condemn Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, and support U.S. assistance for Ukraine’s self-defense,” wrote Quincy’s top leadership.
So once all the smoke and bluster of “realism and restraint” and “diplomacy” clears, at the end of the day the Quincy Institute supports the Biden policy of arming Ukraine to the tune of billions and at the risk of global nuclear war.
That’s the only thing that matters: They. Support. The. Policy.
All else is just jaw-jaw.
The opposition think tank 100 percent endorses and supports the policies of the position. As Lenin astutely observed, “The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves.”
So why go to DC with our message of real non-interventionism and NO compromise with warmongers and imperialists? Because we still can. At a time when mere protest is attacked as “insurrection,” there will come a time – unless we can change course – when we will not be able to enter the Imperial City and denounce its murderous policies. Until then, we will continue to do so. And so should you.
Please join us a week from tomorrow for our sixth DC Conference, titled “Anatomy of a Police State.”
Here’s the tentative line-up:
Ron Paul Institute 2022 Washington Conference Schedule
8:30 – 9:30: Registration; store opens; coffee and tea
9:30 – 9:45: Daniel McAdams – Introduction and remarks
9:45 – 10:10: Gary Heavin – “Don’t Let Your Knowledge Steal Your Joy”
10:15 – 10:40: John Whitehead – “The American Police State: Who Will Protect Us from the Government’s Standing Army?”
10:40 – 11:00 BREAK – coffee and tea
11:00 – 11:25: Chris Coyne – “Tyranny Comes Home: The Domestic Fate of U.S. Militarism”
11:30 – 11:55 – Jacob Hornberger – “Interventionism, National Security, and a Police State”
12:00 – 1:00 LUNCHEON
1:00 – 1:25: Jeff Deist – “Inflation: State-Sponsored Terrorism”
1:30 – 1:55 – Cheryl Chumley – “It’s Not Your Imagination — The Media Is Evil”
1:55 – 2:10 Mini-break
2:15 – 2:40: Doug Macgregor – “Weaponizing the Woke Armed Forces for use at Home and Abroad”
2:45 – Closing: Dr. Ron Paul – “Who’s Responsible for the Police State?”
Get your tickets here.
