© Sputnik/ Igorั Rusak
The same is true with other, non-state funded media outlets, of course. It's up to us to factor these things in when we consume media. That's what it means to be a free people.
A core value in a free society is that our own government has zero power over what we read, what we watch, how we think, how we come to interpret current events, the conclusions we draw based on these inputs, and so on. These are private matters over which any government that is not tyrannical should have no sway.
The real insidiousness of tyrannical systems is that the government most lasciviously seeks control over most private spaces - including the most private space called our brain, our intellect, our conscience. We must be free to follow our interests down whatever path they may lead us so that we may reach our own conclusions and then perhaps test them ourselves in the marketplace of ideas.
This core value is currently under attack in the United States, a country that has, thanks to our Founders, enjoyed one of the finest traditions of press freedom in history. Today the United States Justice Department informed RT America that of all the foreign-funded media companies operating in the United States they alone must register as agents of a foreign government under the 1938 Foreign Agents Registration Act. The move without doubt reflects the neocon-inspired continuing push for a Cold War 2.0, which has been bizarrely joined by frustrated supporters of former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
"Russia did it (stole the election from Hillary) and RT is an accomplice to the crime!" That is the thinking that drives today's attack on RT America. But did "Russia do it"? More and more we are finding out that this whole fantasy is cooked up in the feverish minds of a DNC desperate to find a way to: 1) explain Hillary's shocking loss to Donald Trump; and 2) undermine the victorious Trump Administration by destroying a key campaign promise of the candidate: to get along better with Russia. In yesterday's Liberty Report, Dr. Paul and I spoke with a veteran, award-winning journalist whose work has led him to question the claims that the Russians hacked the DNC and John Podesta's emails. Why? Because both of the organizations whose claims form the basis of these assertions were in fact in the pay of that very DNC! Red flag? At least a yellow flag?
Neocons want a new Cold War because it will fund their lavish lifestyles in the think tanks and salons of Washington, DC. Don't forget: they have no skills aside from fomenting conflict. The military-industrial complex (which is the primary funding source of the neocon think tanks) wants a new Cold War because without it the gravy train (which runs over the backs of working Americans) will come to a screeching halt. Hillary supporters want a new Cold War because while they push Stalinist self-criticism for others, they are pathologically incapable of self-reflection as a process by which they themselves can understand their rejection by the American electorate.
Let's be clear about something: The target of this US government action is not RT America or Russia. The real target is Americans who consume news frowned upon by the United States government. Will we allow our government to decide for us that some media outlets are just too dangerous for us to view or read for ourselves? Will we acquiesce to the modern equivalent of a book-burning...for our "own good"?
Even those who hate RT America should oppose most vigorously the US government's attempt to tell us what we can and cannot watch or read. If Washington's elites are successful in silencing all media outlets critical of US government policy, what is left of America?
Make no mistake: this latest attack on RT America is not the end. It is the beginning. If this move does not shutter RT's Washington, DC headquarters the next move will be against Americans who appear on RT's programs. That includes Ron Paul, your intrepid interlocutor, and dozens of credentialed, qualified, and patriotic US citizens who dare take advantage of one of the last surviving media venues for those who question the one trillion dollar plus US global military empire.
This may shock some readers (not!) but no one in the mainstream media is knocking at our doors for commentary and analysis that is critical of US government foreign policy actions. CNN and the rest of the neocon-approved media wants us silent!
Dear friends of liberty: we cannot let that happen. We do not defend RT America because we are partisans of Russia or of RT America. We defend a free media where vigorous debate is allowed - even encouraged! Where we are free to listen to opposing voices who may even challenge our core beliefs. Because that is what it means to live in a free society. We refuse to allow the government to make those decisions for us!
Those who support the US government move against RT America today would like nothing more than for our heads to soon be on the same chopping block. That is why we need your support to keep fighting for a free media, for free expression, for free speech, for the right to make up our own minds!
Daniel McAdams is the Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.
Via the Ron Paul Institute
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