There I was minding my own business last Friday afternoon when a bunch of lobbyists in Prague suddenly enlisted me as “a foot-soldier in the fight against Putin.” As Queen Victoria probably didn’t say, “we are not amused."
In Russia, they have a wonderful phrase: “Скажи мне кто твой друг и я скажу кто ты,” which roughly translates as “tell me who is your friend and I'll tell you who you are.” And it’s a sentiment which contains plenty of logic. So you can just imagine my discomfort when, the misleadingly named, “European Values,” a George Soros’ funded pressure group, pretended that I’d signed up to something called the “Prague Declaration” alongside a motley crew of anti-Russia opportunists.
The “Prague Declaration” is a long-winded thing, so I’ll sum it up in six words: “liberal Western states, good; Russia bad.” Now you’ve got the gist, here are some of the signatories, described as “European and American security experts and parliamentarians from 22 countries,” by NATO’s Atlantic Council adjunct.
Bill Browder, the controversial financier, features and is joined by Yevhen Fedchenko, a Ukrainian activist who recently suggested all Russian journalists were embedded with the state security apparatus. Meaning, even people working for anti-Kremlin outlets, who have grievances with Vladimir Putin’s administration. Another signatory is James Kirchick, a neocon who has threatened a military coup against President Donald Trump and he’s allied himself with Molly McKew, a key figure in what "The American Interest" dubs the “Russian Interference Racket” in the US.
Fake news
The misery doesn’t end there because John Schindler, a former spook-turned-conspiracy theorist, and ally of Louise Mensch, is also on board. Presumably to provide buzzwords such as deza, short for dezinformatsiya (disinformation), or Chekist, an old Russian term for the Soviet secret police. Meanwhile, another questionable entry is one Bumfrey McDoogle, who apparently represents the “School of Hard Knox.” An entity that sounds about as academically legitimate as this "think tank," to be fair.
Bumfrey’s inclusion tells you all you need to know about “European Values.” Because despite his considerable largesse, poor old Soros has managed to recruit a bunch of rank amateurs to push his agenda. A collection of clowns, who only a few weeks ago, somehow confused RT presenter Larry King with the comedian Larry David and believed an actor impersonating Boris Johnson, was the real UK foreign secretary.
Another thing I find offensive about the lobby group is their attempt to appropriate the idea of what ‘European values’ actually represent. Because, most Europeans would agree with the late Charles De Gaulle on this, who spoke of “Europe, depuis l'Atlantique jusqu'à l’Oural.” Meaning one “Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals." That is, the entire continent united, with Russia, as its largest country, a major stakeholder.
And that’s the kind of Europe most smart people want to see. But Soros and his lackeys have hijacked these sensible ideals to promote Atlanticism, which primarily serves American interests and those of liberal global capitalism. Indeed, these imposters desire a Europe, entirely subservient for Washington, with no independent foreign policy.
Calling the shots
In other words, they demand a unipolar world, dictated by a country which last year elected an unqualified man-child as its president. A figure almost completely neutered by the neocon-dominated American establishment, who, surely out of his own frustration, has now resorted to name calling foreign leaders on Twitter. Well, thanks, but no thanks, folks.
But back to why I apparently joined the likes of Bill Browder (incidentally neither a security expert nor a parliamentarian), Molly McKew, James Kirchick and their colleague Bumfrey McDoogle on this particular wall of shame? My guess is they mixed up their ‘official’ list with some internal smear-laden trial run they had put together.
Let’s be clear, these lobbyists had a reason to be angry with me. Because, after all, only two weeks ago, here on RT, I exposed how Soros was responsible for at least 25 percent of their cash pile in 2015, which was cleverly obscured by listing different Open Society Foundation agencies. As it happens, other paymasters include the US and British embassies in Prague. And, in the same piece, I also outlined how they were smearing 2,327 prominent guests of RT as “useful idiots:” including, Harrison Ford, Stephen Fry, Will.I.Am and even Mr. T.
This “European Values” gang illustrate all that is toxic in the foreign policy “think tank” racket. Which, these days amounts to a succession of chancers giving each other faux-academic titles while taking hardline anti-Russian positions and waiting for Soros and US government moolah to roll in. Some are actually able to pull the routine off with reasonable competence. But the greenhorns in Prague are pretty much a bunch of buffoons, behaving like the Mr. Beans of agitprop. Soros could get better bang for his buck, elsewhere. But, thankfully, for those of us who oppose his worldview, he's wasting it on these jokers.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.