I spent the past weekend as a participant in the annual Ron Paul Institute conference that takes place in the Washington area, in northern Virginia. This year the theme was "Front Row at the Revolution" and the circa 500 attendees that filled the Hilton Hotel ballroom certainly got what the gathering's theme sought to deliver. The outstanding list of speakers included Congressman Thomas Massie, Dennis Kucinich, Jim Webb, Josh Paul, Michael Vlahos, Max Blumenthal and Joe Kent. Tucker Carlson also addressed the gathering via video link. Given the disastrous state of our former Republic on this Labor Day weekend, the speakers were inspired to confront the enemy head on, which they did, hoping to create momentum for a real revolution built around the midterm elections coming up in November. Speaking personally, I have never seen such enthusiasm in what must be defined as a political gathering, with the audience standing on its feet, applauding and screaming their agreement with what was being said at the podium.

It is my understanding that the video recordings of the speeches, each of which ran for about half an hour, will be up and available on the Ron Paul Institute Site in a couple of days. I strongly recommend that Unz readers visit the Paul site and begin their own perusal of the recordings. The speakers were and are all extremely well informed on what is ailing our country and they pulled no punches in how they presented their informed analysis. Quite simply, they see a government and a nation that has been subjugated and occupied by a foreign power, to include highly visible moves that have increased that control and threaten to worsen the second-class status of the actual citizens of our once-upon-a-time constitutional republic. Once subjugated, our country has engaged in a series of wars where there was no imminent threat from anyone, has become close to bankrupting itself, and has stripped the people of their fundamental liberties.