The Political Insider

I often think back to our Founding Fathers and wonder if they, at any point, envisioned a future in which a construct like a ‘think tank’ would have a prominent role in public policy. Something tells me that, like most Americans today, our Founding Fathers would have little idea of what a think tank does.

Like most entities spawned and rooted in the D.C. swamp, think tanks tend to shape the decisions made by our duly elected leaders whether you agree with them or not, and indeed despite you not voting for these unelected brainiacs who flood D.C. with poor advice backed by biased research. Unfortunately, these think tanks know that you have no genuine concept of what they do, and they continue to reap the rewards of your ignorance.

The latest push by the pro-war think tank American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI) most ridiculous ‘scholars’ would make you think they are doubling as content writers for the Babylon Bee, except they aren’t, which is sadder than it is funny.

So what are they pushing now? Giving Ukraine nuclear weapons.

Dumbest Idea Ever

Michael Rubin of AEI has penned quite a few ridiculous articles in support of arming Ukraine to the teeth regardless of common sense or international safety, with titles such as:

• Ukraine must be allowed to hit inside Russia to stop a possible new offensive
• Time to train Ukraine on F-16 fighter jets
• How to really help Ukraine beat Russia: Weapons factories

Naturally, this has progressed to it’s ultimate form:

• Ukraine needs nuclear weapons after the Russia war is over

So much for nuclear nonproliferation; let’s go ahead and throw away the treaties we agreed to in an effort to keep the planet from someday becoming a desolate radioactive orb of death.

Within his argument, Mr. Rubin states:

“If the world allows Russia to remain a unitary state and if it allows Putinism to survive Putin, then Ukraine should be allowed to maintain its own nuclear deterrence, whether it joins NATO or not.”

Besides the obvious craziness of advocating for more nuclear weapons, in the above statement, it’s essential to pay attention to the first part of the argument: “If the world allows Russia to remain a unitary state” – this is his not-so-clever way of arguing that Russia itself should be destroyed.

Not surprising, coming from one of the principal architects of the Iraq War. And just how is Iraq doing these days? (Don’t ask him if Iraq should be allowed to have nuclear weapons now that the invading foreign army – ours – is gone.)

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Mutually Assured Annihilation

It’s not as if Mr. Rubin is unaware of the current threat regarding nuclear war with Russia. In a separate article he penned for one of the many publications for which he’s a contributor, he states the current situation in Russia:

“The threat of nuclear weapons use is real.”

So his answer is to have more nuclear weapons in play by a government and region known for weapons trafficking and corruption?

Mr. Rubin says in his AEI piece:

“Russian leaders have repeatedly threatened to use nuclear weapons. Certainly, that they do so reflects both weakness and desperation.”

This is precisely why the Doomsday Clock has been moved to 90 seconds to Midnight. What time would it be if Ukraine had nuclear weapons, I wonder? Too late, is the answer to that question.

Mr. Rubin goes on:

“If the international community demonstrates that the response to an aggressor’s nuclear brinkmanship will be to ensure the victims of their aggression can, in theory, do likewise, even the most belligerent dictator may think twice. Consider it Deterrence 2.0.”

I consider it Stupidity 101.

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The Point

I know what you are thinking, and I’m not paid the big bucks to work at a think tank. You are wondering why anyone should care about what some over-educated, overpaid gasbag has to say about foreign policy.

You should care because those you have elected into positions of power care, and these ‘thinkers’ aren’t some group of Socratic brain busters debating and solving the world’s problems in good faith.

A study performed last year aptly titled ‘No such thing as a free donation? Research funding and conflicts of interest in nuclear weapons policy analysis’ found that almost all of the primary think tanks receive:

“…donations from actors with interests in the perpetuation of the extant nuclear order.”

Now that’s just on the nuclear debate; this same practice of pay-for-play biased research spans all industries and finds its way into the mouths of politicians and journalists as solid sources. Unfortunately, these think tanks also tend to operate as soft landing stops for those voted out of office, retired military brass waiting on their next civilian Pentagon position, and young activists looking to make their mark as unofficial public relations tools for either political party.

In other words, it’s a revolving door just like the politician-bureaucrat-lobbyist revolving door.

Take AEI, for instance, who can tout former UN Ambassador and regime changer extraordinaire John Bolton among its many ‘scholars.’ Ranked as the #10 most influential think tank in the nation, more than 20 of its ‘scholars’ served in the George W. Bush administration. 

Think tanks… one of many optional revolving doors for men and women interested in power and influence at the expense of your trust and taxpayer dollars.

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Do Nothing, Influence Everything

When I was getting ready to retire from the military, I fancied myself working for a think tank for a brief period. I thought, ‘you know, I enjoy researching, thinking, and writing… I’d fit in great at a think tank!’

Needless to say, I decided it wasn’t for me. A think tank is essentially a research university with no students, just Ph.D.’d aristocrats who opine on whatever their area of expertise is in a manner that requires them not to do anything physically, yet influence everything. 

Take Mr. Rubin, for example. A senior fellow at the AEI, he was a former Pentagon official and a senior lecturer at the Navel Post-Graduate School.

Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker weeps on his bronze perch as we surrender our country to the vapidity of thought at think tanks. Unfortunately, it will only be a matter of time before school children run nuclear attack drills under the desks between their studies on queer ideology and critical race theory.