Russian Times
© Iliya Pitalev / Sputnik

European Values Think Tank calls itself an NGO "defending liberal democracy" - it clearly disdains by attempting to discredit RT and guests appearing on the network it called "useful idiots (to a) hostile foreign power." Founded in 2005, its funded by Washington, Britain, other EU countries, the European Parliament, European Commission, George Soros' Open Society Foundation, and other anti-democratic private sources.

It's a propaganda operation, opposed to "defending liberal democracy," supporting "aggressive regimes," not against them.

Indeed it backs deplorable "values of Western civilization" - trampling on the rights of sovereign independent states, raping and destruction them, enforcing tyranny over fundamental freedoms while pretending otherwise. European Values' funders reveal what its agenda is all about, polar opposite what it claims.

Its report on RT is titled " The Kremlin's Platform for 'Useful Idiots' in the West: An Overview of RT's Editorial Strategy and Evidence of Impact" - so-called Kremlin watch propagandist, posing as an analyst, Monika Richter involved in preparing it.

The report falsely calls RT a "Kremlin disinformation campaign against the West." By its standards and Western ones, war is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength - with attribution to George Orwell.

Add truth-telling is lying, RT and numerous credible independent media sources criticized for reporting what Western officials want suppressed - information on their destructive, ruthless practices, harming countless millions of people worldwide, domestically and abroad.

European Values (EV below):
"RT...push(es) its pro-Kremlin agenda under the guise of 'free speech' and 'alternative' journalism aimed at counteracting the alleged bias of the mainstream media."
Fact: Though far from perfect, RT airs real news, information and analysis on vital issues. Western major media feature disinformation, Big Lies and fake news, truth-telling on issues mattering most banished from their reporting.

EV:
"(M)any people in Europe and the US, including politicians and other persons of influence, continue to exhibit troubling naivete about RT's political agenda, buying into the network's marketing ploy that it is simply an outlet for independent voices marginalized by the mainstream Western press."

"These 'useful idiots' remain oblivious to RT's intentions and boost its legitimacy by granting interviews on its shows and newscasts."
Fact: RT's "political agenda" is truth-telling. I'm a proud "useful idiot," a guest on RT a number of times, speaking as freely as I write and comment in other interviews.

EV:
"RT's raison d'etre is to denigrate the West at all costs and undermine public confidence in the viability of liberal democracy."

"On these grounds, RT categorically qualifies as a Kremlin disinformation outfit and, more specifically, as an instrument of hostile foreign influence."
False on all counts!

EV:
"RT's epistemology is rooted in the denial of the very possibility of objective, verifiable truth." Two RT "themes" are "anti-Westernism (particularly anti-Americanism) and conspiracism."
False again! Truth-telling about US-led destructive policies is what responsible media is all about - suppressed by deplorable Western sources, agents of imperial terror, neoliberal harshness and police state ruthlessness.

EV:
"RT disguises the malicious objectives of this editorial strategy by claiming to uphold traditional liberal-democratic ideals like free speech, critical journalism, and independent thought."
Fact: RT shames deplorable Western media, mocking legitimate journalism. RT offers the real thing. That's why it's bashed.

EV:
"RT uses guest appearances by Western politicians, journalists and writers, academics, and other influential public personalities to boost its credibility."
Fact: Truth-telling boosts credibility. Lies and deception destroy it, what Western major media feature daily.

EV:
"Expert consensus suggests that in terms of attitudinal influence on viewers, RT's impact is minimal to modest."
Fact: EV wouldn't have made a major effort, perhaps taking weeks, to produce its shameful report if RT didn't have a significant impact on viewers. It's the only television news I watch daily. The alternative is deceptive trash - brainwashing viewers, not informing them.

EV:
"While the security hazard of the Kremlin's disinformation campaign and influence operations should not be taken lightly, it is imperative to not overinflate the threat of individual influence agents like RT and Sputnik."
Fact: Over time, credible media like RT and Sputnik News gain viewers and listeners at the expense of worthless scoundrel sources.

EV's report included names of 2,327 individuals who've appeared on RT over the past four years, alphabetized in seven categories, including links to relevant appearances - no simple task to compile.

Everyone appearing on RT is considered complicit with "Russian propaganda." Shades of deplorable McCarthyism. Maybe something more sinister is planned. Washington already imposed hostile actions on RT and Sputnik.

It required a company providing services for RT America to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), unrelated to media operations - not so far complied with.

The FBI is investigating Sputnik, likely RT as well. Will banning them follow?

Vladmir Putin vowed to act appropriately if this happens. Given America's deplorable state, anything ahead is possible, perhaps destroying remaining fundamental rights, including media, speech and academic freedoms.

That's what tyranny is all about.