By Ron Paul
There has been much written and said about Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. As of this writing the video on Twitter alone has been viewed nearly 200 million times, making it likely the most-viewed news event in history. Many millions of viewers who may not have had access to the other side of the story were informed that the Russia/Ukraine military conflict did not begin in 2022, as the mainstream media continuously reports, but in fact began eight years earlier with a US-backed coup in Ukraine. The US media does not report this because they don’t want Americans to begin questioning our interventionist foreign policy. They don’t want Americans to see that our government meddling in the affairs of other countries – whether by “color revolution,” sanctions, or bombs – has real and deadly consequences to those on the receiving end of our foreign policy. To me, however, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Tucker Carlson interview with Putin was the US mainstream media reaction. As Putin himself said during the interview, “in the world of propaganda, it’s very difficult to defeat the United States.” Even a casual look at the US mainstream media’s reporting before and after the interview would show how correct he is about that. In the days and weeks before the interview, the US media was filled with stories about how horrible it was that Tucker Carlson was interviewing the Russian president. There was the danger, they all said, that Putin might spread “disinformation.” That Putin might say something to put his country in a better light was, they were saying, reason enough to not interview him. With that logic, why have journalism at all? Everyone interviewed by journalists – certainly every world leader – will attempt to paint a rosy picture. The job of a journalist in a free society should be to do the reporting and let the people decide. But somehow that has been lost. These days the mainstream media tells you what to think and you better not dispute it or you will be cancelled! What the US mainstream media was really worried about was that the “other side of the story” might start to ring true with the public. So they attacked the messenger. The CNN reporting on Tucker’s interview pretty much sums up the reaction across the board of the US mainstream media. Their headline read, “Tucker Carlson is in Russia to interview Putin. He’s already doing the bidding of the Kremlin.” By merely doing what used to be called “journalism” – interviewing and reporting on people and events, whether good or bad – one is “doing the bidding” of the subject of the interview or report? No wonder fellow journalist Julian Assange has been locked away in a gulag for so many years. He dared to assume that in a free society, being a journalist means reporting the good, the bad, and the ugly even if it puts those in power in a bad light. In the end, the massive success of the Tucker Carlson interview with Vladimir Putin demonstrates once and for all that the American people are sick to death of their mainstream media propagandists and liars. They are looking not for government narratives, but for truth. That’s the really good news about this interview.
After a terrible week for President Biden, one in which the special prosecutor determined that Biden should not be charged over mishandling of classified documents because he was not mentally fit, a new poll shows the vast majority of Americans think he is just too old for another term. There is something the poll is missing, though... Also today: CDC vs CDC on masks. Finally - Dems panic that Trump might shut down their censorship agency.
When politicians spend money that they don't have ($34 trillion+) the Fed has to counterfeit money into existence. Everyone then has to adapt to the dollar losing value. Companies too have to adapt, by cutting costs and via "shrinkflation" (i.e., charging the same amount for less product). The companies aren't being "greedy." They're just adapting to actual greed -- politicians spending money that they do not have.
Today the US Supreme Court takes up the case of Colorado banning former President Trump from the ballot. Is this a legal case? Political case? Both? What to expect? Also today, surprise: no charges expected in Biden's classified documents case. Finally: "We have troops in Syria? Really?
Showing their disdain for journalism and fear of losing control of the narrative, leading EU politicians are calling for a travel ban on journalist Tucker Carlson over an interview he will release with Russian president Putin. And the interview is not even out yet! Also today: Rare failure of Israel funding bill in the House and McConnell losing control of Senate Republicans.
It is through constant lies that the war party generates the wars that bring them unlimited profits. As Congress ponders spending nearly another $100 billion on permanent wars, how do they keep fooling Americans into thinking it's "national security"? Also today: Ukraine weapons skim. Finally: New poll spells trouble for Biden's Middle East policy.
Tix for RPI/Mises TX Spring Conference: https://mises.org/events/censorship-and-official-lies-end-truth-america
The Biden Administration's attacks on Syria and Iraq over the weekend was supposed to deter the various militias from continuing to attack US military outposts in the two countries. But it hasn't worked. And it won't work. As Doug Macgregor writes in the American Conservative, Biden's bombing is "pointless...virtue signaling." Also today: Senate border bill is DOA in the House. Speaker Johnson moves to fund Israel in a standalone bill.
By Ron Paul
A rare instance of an unexpected consequence of a bad policy advancing liberty is the growth in private schools enrollment and homeschooling that occurred as a result of the covid lockdowns. An October 2023 study by Eloise Burtis and Sofoklis Goulas of the Brookings Institution found that 79 percent of American school-age children were enrolled in government schools in the 2021-2022 school year, down from 84 percent enrolled in government schools in 2019-2020. The decline in children attending government schools accelerated because of the lockdowns, and enrollment in government schools continues to decline. Other researchers have found similar results. For example, the Urban Institute’s Thomas Dee found that during the pandemic hundreds of thousands of children left government schools for private schools and homeschooling. In October of last year, the Washington Post reported that since before the covid lockdowns there was a 51 percent increase in homeschooled children. The Post labeled homeschooling “America’s fastest growing form of education.“ The lockdowns served no public health purpose. In fact, the social isolation imposed on children by the closures of schools and even playgrounds did more damage to children than covid ever could. However, the lockdowns did have a long-run benefit by increasing the number of parents rejecting government schooling. The school closures allowed many parents to see for themselves the problems with government-controlled education. Parents were horrified to witness their children logging on to Zoom and then being force-fed woke propaganda instead of receiving a quality education. Parents realized they had a choice: either allow their children to continue to receive an inferior education or seek out an alternative that would provide their children a quality, woke–free education. Many parents were inspired to seek alternatives to government schools when teacher union officials used their political clout to keep government schools closed even after most business and government offices were open. It turns out that actions of Dr. Anthony “I represent science” Fauci, teacher union officials, and authoritarian politicians who worked to keep government schools closed ended up advancing the popularity of alternatives to government schools. Parents looking to provide their children with a quality home-based education that promotes real learning that does not push a political agenda but does instruct in the history and philosophy of liberty should look into my homeschooling curriculum. My curriculum provides students with a well-rounded education that includes rigorous courses in history, mathematics, and the physical and natural sciences. The curriculum also provides instruction in personal finance. Students can develop superior communication skills via intensive writing and public speaking courses. Another feature of my curriculum is that it provides students the opportunity to create and run their own businesses. The government and history sections of the curriculum emphasize free-market economics, libertarian political theory, and the history of liberty. However, unlike government schools, my curriculum never sacrifices quality education to promote a political agenda. Interactive forums allow students to engage with and learn from each other and give them an opportunity to interact with their peers outside of a formal setting. I encourage all parents looking at alternatives to government schools — alternatives that provide children with a well-rounded education that introduces them to the history and ideas of liberty without sacrificing education for indoctrination — to go to RonPaulCurriculum.com for more information about my homeschooling program.
Philip Patrick joins the Liberty Report to talk about the grim future of America's economy.
With an estimated half a million Ukrainian soldiers dead, there is one "bright spot" in the US proxy war with Russia: the US military -industrial complex has used the war as a live-fire testing ground for the latest weapons. As Politico reports, a batch of "Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs" will soon be tested in Ukraine. The US military has not even received these weapons. Also today: Russian investigators claim a US Patriot missile shot down a Russian cargo plane carrying Ukrainian prisoners of war. Finally: More Texas border woes for Biden.
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