Loading summary
A
Get ready to take a flamethrower to the official narrative and learn what the
B
elites don't want you to know.
A
You're listening to the Tom Woods Show. Hey, everybody, Tom woods here. I'm with the great Daniel McAdams, who is executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, co hosts the Ron Paul Liberty Report with the man himself. And, Daniel, you just had, not that long ago, pretty big and important event conference for the Ron Paul Institute that included, let's say, some lightning rods, some fairly well known people who have attracted the President's ire, let's say attracted more of the President's ire than anyone on the left, which kind of tells you something, doesn't it? So, and I'm talking about, in particular, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Joe Kent, formerly of the National Counterterrorism center, but Professor Robert Pape we can also talk about as well. It was quite an event, Dr. Paul. And you were there. And others. I wish I could have been there because, wow, that must have been an exciting thing to do to put that on at a time when, as you guys put it, war is back on the menu. And you managed to get some people who have stuck their necks out and sacrificed and suffered because they said what? Really, I mean, unless you're a cultist. Is this the obvious about this war? You gotta be kidding me. If you're defending this and the propaganda, Iran's been at war with us for 47 years. Will you grow up? Like, what is this? Are you just. What are you, 7 years old? So anyway, Daniel, now that I've insulted half the viewership, welcome.
B
Thanks for having me back. Tom. It's always great to have a conversation with you.
A
You know, by the way, I like, I. I wear every one of these episodes. I wear a jacket just like you, Daniel. But it was downstairs and I was too lazy to get it, so, see,
B
I wasn't going to, but then I knew that you always wore them, so I wanted to. I wanted to be, what, cool kids. But now I'm a nerd.
A
No, that's okay. That's not too unfamiliar a position for you and me to be in.
B
Daniel. The.
A
I got used to being the nerd for many years. So let's talk about this. I heard your introduction to Joe Kent, who, of course, had a resignation letter that was read and studied and commented on by people all over the world about why he just could not go on in his position in the Trump administration. And you said in your introduction of him that Eric Garris from Antiwar.com contacted you and said that a mutual friend could put you in contact with Joe Kent. I think I know who that mutual friend is. And sure enough, you guys were able to make that happen because Joe Kent said that he's always liked and respected Ron Paul and believes in basically his general view of what US Foreign policy ought to look like. So that certainly must have been a pleasant surprise. Maybe. Maybe you knew that already, but a lot of us saw that photograph of the night before the event of Joe Kent at Dr. Paul's house and the two of them shaking hands together.
B
That was a great photo. That was really amazing. I don't know who caught that one, but that's a really great one. Let's rewind a little bit. When I saw the resignation letter, I was blown away. And I don't think people understand this very much, but in Washington, you don't quit a position like that. You just don't. Very, very rarely does someone quit on principle, because there are no principles in Washington, you know, and it's not only that people don't want to let go of their sinecures, but they also know what's going to come down on them like a ton of bricks if they do. Yeah, and we saw you know, even the announcement that he was going to be speaking. You know, people were posting Traitor Joe's, oh, that's real funny, that sort of thing. But she become reviled by the cultists to the point where it actually could be dangerous. There are a lot of crazy people out there. So him doing that was an act of courage that most people really don't understand the importance of. So he was such a gentleman, I expected, because, I mean, he had 11 tours of combat duty, CIA, paramilitary. You expect him to be a little bit more just kind of rough and tough, but he was. He was so calm and such a gentleman. And my son commented that he could play himself in a movie because he actually looks like what that person should look like, you know, 11 combat tours and just an incredible person. I had never heard him speak, so I didn't know if he was a good speaker or not. I just took the chance and he was a great speaker, the perfect type of speaker. Just straight ahead and everyone was just captivated by it.
A
Oh, well, as was I as a YouTube watcher, let's say. I think it was interesting and I think he's got a lot more to say about this. When he started to talk about what he saw with his own two eyes, you know, in the White House, and the way policymaking really happens and who it is, who's wielding influence and how they're wielding it. I think he had a. Maybe a naivete about it that he doesn't have any more. So that was certainly interesting. And he did mention his late wife and that he said that, in effect, that if Donald Trump's initial desire to get out of Syria had actually been listened to by the bureaucracy, if you've been able to make that stick, that his wife would still be alive today. And that that's a particular reason that he felt certain, you know, kinship with Donald Trump, that this is a guy who might conceivably have saved my wife. You know, if. If the, you know, the deep state or whatever the heck it is had not been trying to throw obstacles in his path at every turn. Every time he tried to do the right thing, now he wants to do the wrong thing. They're all too willing to grease the skids for that. So that was interesting. And then, of course, he does talk about the influence of Israel and Israeli sympathizers or sympathizers with Israel in the policy making process. And there was a time, Daniel, when this most obvious of observations was something that would make the crowd hush and people would wonder, were you really allowed to say that? But now it's so out in the open. I mean, did you see this the other day? It was some Zionist or Jewish organization, I don't know if you saw this, where they were interviewing two people on stage and one of them was Miriam Adelson. And they asked her, can you tell us? Because what they were trying to do was to get people in the audience who were all sympathizers to stop being complacent and to get out there and get active. And they wanted to use Miriam Adelson as the ultimate example of somebody who went out there and used her influence to make things happen. And so they asked her, how do you exercise influence over American politicians? You know, like what. What are the methods you use? Did you see this, Daniel?
B
I didn't see it, but I was thinking of my own sarcastic comment.
A
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, fill it in. Right. Like this has meme written all over it. I mean, this is. This has like mad libs written all over it. Fill in the bl. But her answer, Daniel, was, is it all right if I do not answer? And she says, because I want to be truthful. And there are some things I don't want to talk about now. Wow. Could there be an answer more carefully crafted to encourage the most wild conspiracy theories you Know, I mean, that's her answer.
B
She could have said it, it rhymes with Petstein.
A
But I think that's, it's, there's no doubt that could be part of it. But I mean, long before there was an Epstein, you know, I bet you other things were going on. I mean, there is that story, you know, I don't know how much corroboration it has, but it was published that Bill Clinton was basically told that they had a recording of him, a rather lascivious recording with Monica Lewinsky, and so would he please release Jonathan Pollard. And the result of that was that apparently there was going to be a series of mass resignations if Clinton really leaned on, you know, whatever, whoever it would be to actually make that happen. Because obviously that would be unbelievably traitorous for Clinton to behave that way. So he wasn't actually able to do it even if he'd wanted to. Who even knows what goes on? Yeah, true, but for her to hesitate to answer in that way, I mean, what, what are we supposed to think? Especially when Donald Trump said jokingly, you know, I asked her if, you know, does she prefer Israel or the United States? And, you know, she won't answer. I think her answer is Israel. And he's, he's yucking it up about that. And I'm sure people in the audience are going like, you know about this, Will you, you know, knock it off. We don't really want you talking like that. But I mean, what are we supposed to think, for crying out loud?
B
Well, I mean, I think the gloves are coming off on both sides in some ways. But you know, if we talk about Joe Kent in his letter of resignation and his mention of the disproportionate weight that Israel has in our policy making process, as you said, maybe 10 years ago, maybe less, even people would say, oh, I get it. Antisemite, that's what he is, that's why he's out, you know, and that would be it. But now it's gotten to the point where people say, oh yeah, he's telling the obvious, he's stating the obvious, and it means he's actually one of the good guys who sees that we've got a real problem here on our hands. So it's, it is amazing how things change. But then again, you have the same thing with Adelson and many like her who know the power that they wield and they're arrogant about it. I mean, Trump just named they. I basically, it looks like JD Vance is off the negotiating team with Iran. He's kicked off and he's announced that he's. He's appointed this fellow called Nick Stewart from the foundation for Defense of Democracies,
A
which we know is a neocon outfit.
B
Right. Beyond. Beyond neocon outfit. And he's also. He's an Israel lobbyist. As Max Blumenthal writes on X today, he's a Israel lobbyist who has denounced the negotiations with Iran. So your new negotiations guy is a guy who says we should have no negotiations.
A
Yeah.
B
That tells you everything you need to know.
A
And my understanding is that in his own comments on the war, which he favored, of course, everything he predicted would happen has turned out the opposite. So of course you appoint that guy. You always appoint the guy where the things he says the opposite occurs.
B
Yeah, that's dc. You, you fail upstairs, you fail upstairs. You know, you go up as you fail. That's exactly it.
A
Did you have a chance to talk with Joe? Ken, I'm not asking about private conversations, but what I want to know is, do we know anything yet about what he's going to do now?
B
You know, that's funny because I was sitting there watching him and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and for both of them I was thinking, I mean, as you know, Tom, I don't vote. George Carlin had a very great skit on that. And if you watch it, you'll see why I don't vote. It's a little crude if you haven't seen it, but I'm looking at them saying that would be a great presidential and vice presidential ticket. Just because the passion of mtg, the sort of reflection, deeply reflective. Joe Kent, it seemed to me like a great, a great mix. But he has really been getting around. He's talking to everyone. He's not going away quietly. So I do think. I do think he has something in mind. Now, he's run twice for the House, unsuccessfully, but that's unfortunately because he lives In Washington, not D.C. but the state of Washington, which certainly, if you know that western third of it is not very good if you're a Republican.
A
Right.
B
So I don't know that that's in the cards, but I definitely got the feeling, and this is not too many conversation because unfortunately, Tom, as you know, we're like. Not to make fun of the handicapped, but we are like one armed wallpaper hangers at RPI. So I've got 12 hats on when we do a conference. And that's why I never give a proper speech because I just never have time to do it. There's just so much to do so. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to talk with him as much as I would have liked to. And the same is the case with Marjorie Taylor Greene. I would have loved to have talked to her. In fact, my daughter talked to her a long time because my daughter, who was out in front helping us, helped her get to the green room and they had a nice conversation. She got her picture taken with both of them and I was so jealous because I did it. And Marjorie later texted me saying what a wonderful daughter I have. So that was pretty neat for me.
A
Hey, everybody, Tom woods here with a quick tip for small business owners. If your business isn't showing up online, your competitors are getting the leads and you're missing out. That's where Persist SEO comes in. For over 15 years, they've been helping local businesses grow through SEO, paid ads, and the latest in AI powered search optimization so you stay visible and competitive in the digital age. Whether you're in home services, legal or healthcare, Persist SEO delivers real results without locking you into long term contracts or overwhelming you with tech jargon. Visit Ineedseo Help or call 770-580-3736 to schedule your free consultation. That's Ineedseo Help. Easy to remember, powerful for your small business. That is nice. That is nice. Yeah. Joe Kent is one of these people. Look, I don't know what his positions on everything are, but when you listen to him after you've heard that he's terrible and he's a Nazi and all that, then you listen to him and he's, as you say, he's not arrogant and he's thoughtful and reflective and he doesn't lose his temper and all that, you think, well, this is the opposite of what I was told, you know, and that happens all the time. Like anytime you hear somebody like Mark Levin, who really is hysterical, and you watch his, he gets hysterical about people, then you watch the people he's hysterical about and they're all perfectly normal and they all sound intelligent and they just have things to say that aren't approved by the New York Times. And that bothers Mark Levin. You can go so far, but there are certain limits. Okay, Mark, thanks. So what about Marjorie? Do we know what she wants to do?
B
I had the feeling and I was, I was actually anticipating her talking about it in her speech. I have the feeling that she's looking at some sort of, whether it's a new political party or some sort of a new movement. But I get to feeling because she had an exchange. I Don't know if you saw it on X a couple weeks ago with Ro Khanna, and they were talking about. Let's. Let's talk about the things we agree about, and let's not talk about the things that we may disagree on, which is what we did with Ron Paul in the House all the time, with all of our, you know, the contacts we made with Dennis Kucinich and others. So to me, that reminded me quite a bit of that. Now, she didn't talk about it in her speech, but I certainly had that feeling. One of the things that. That I do, I mean, I. I handle the side of conferences where I decide who to speak and I decide the theme and that sort of thing. And so I give it a lot of thought, probably more than I should, but I want. I want a certain. I want a certain feel, you know, Tom, I mean, even part of several of them. And the one theme I think, for the two of them that I was very pleased with is that neither of them are exactly where we are in these things, but what make them so attractive is they're moving in our direction, they're coming toward our view. And there are a lot of things that Joe Kent likes about Ron Paul. I think some of the things that he may not find that he agrees with right now, he may be going into that direction. And the same is certainly true with Marjorie Taylor Greene. So that's a positive thing. And I think some of the people who attended, I myself, to be honest, I was afraid that he was going to be a little bit too. Like if you were speaking to a Beltway audience, you know. Well, on the one hand, you know, and I actually did send him a little note, say, don't worry about not laying it on heavy to our people. We can handle it. You know, people can handle it who are there. And Marjorie sent me a note saying, what kind of people are going to be speaking to. And I said, well, there'll be people in suits, there'll be people in leather jackets with Mohawks and skinheads and everything in between. And she said, that sounds like my crowd. So it was pretty funny. But I do think that both of them are moving in the right direction to where we can actually be fairly excited about where they may end up.
A
So then you had Robert Pape. Now I remember him back from Dr. Paul's first GOP presidential campaign because one of his books, Dying to Win, I believe that was in the stack of recommended readings. Maybe I'm wrong about that, that Dr. Paul recommended to Rudy Giuliani it was amazing in 2007. It's hard to believe some of the young people won't even remember this whole. But it's hard to believe after that debate appearance in which Rudy couldn't believe that Ron Paul would say, well, you know, the US Gets attacked because of the things that the US Regime is doing around the world that, you know, get annoying to the people on the receiving end of them, and they openly say, well, we're kind of tired of this happening and we'd like to do something about it. And Rudy couldn't believe that. No, no, no. Of course we were attacked for no reason at all, except other than, you know, that we're. We're awesome and amazing and we're so good. Yeah, we're so good. Yeah. Right. So just typical boomer, Fox News type answer. And so Dr. Paul was supposed to back down from that. That's the way this works in America, that you say you accidentally tell the truth, and then somebody scolds you, and then you say, oh, I'm sorry, I misspoke what I meant to say. And then he just doubled down. But not only did he double down on the debate, but the next day he had a press conference with Michael Scheuer, who was the head of the bin laden unit, the CIA's bin Laden unit under Bill Clinton. And he had a reading list for Rudy Giuliani. You know, maybe he could occupy himself over the summer reading these books because he'd been unfamiliar with the line of argument Dr. Paul was making. He said, well, I got a pretty big, you know, stack of books here by qualified people who lay out the exact argument I made. I mean, it was just. It was just a one, two punch. So Robert Pape then kind of fell off my radar, and now he's come. You guys have reconnected with him exactly that way.
B
I mean, he wrote the book and was 06 or 07, the dying to Win book. Now, at the time, we had had it because I did the Thursday lunches in Dr. Paul's office, the legendary private lunches with, you know, a handful of Republican congressmen who are having doubts about the Iraq war and our foreign policy in general. My job was to find speakers who they would not be uncomfortable with, but who could help push them or convince them of the right direction. And so Pape was one of those on our radar because of Dying to Win. And the reason why it was so enormously helpful to us is that it did everything you said it did. But he's an apolitical professor from Chicago, who studied every act of suicide terrorism ever recorded. And he simply wrote a book about what they have in common. And, you know, the book is about that, but one of the main things is people who are fighting for their own land that's being occupied and that causes people to do that. And I think the main terrorist country was Sri Lanka or something. It wasn't even in the Middle east anyway, so that was very important. And yes, he fell off the radar. And all of a sudden I started seeing him pop up on X about the Iran war, and we all had fond feelings about him from the old days. And I thought, wow, it's great that he's coming back, he's busy again. He's laying out why Trump's doing the wrong thing in Iran and what may happen if he doesn't change course. And so it just seemed like a natural for him to be there. Now, I will say that he's definitely not, as is the case with a lot of our speakers, exactly where, where we are or where I am. He's not a non interventionist, he's more of a realist. And in the speech that he laid out, it was an interesting speech. I disagreed with quite a bit of what he had to say. But ultimately the point was we can't take charge of the Middle East. We shouldn't be taking charge. Step back, pull out, let them handle their business. And the part where I didn't like, and if they get into big trouble, we can come back and solve it for them. That's always the, that's the realest thing, you know, that's the realest part of it. So it made sense. But it's also, I mean, I think I wanted some people to scratch their heads and say, hey, I'm not sure I like this. And then some people who were not non interventionists would say, well, that does sound, he's still reasonable, but, yeah, that makes sense. So that was sort of the idea of doing it.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I, I took especially at the beginning, he says, look, here's the situation. The US has this habit of getting into these endless wars that really almost nobody wants. You know, if you were to ask people if you could isolate this one issue and vote on this one thing, most people would not want them. So there has to be some way out of this. So let's try to figure out what that could be. What could it look like to not be doing this? So, yeah, as you say, he's apolitical, he's from a prestigious university, he's Got an excellent academic track record. So as long as he's saying things like that, and he's extremely complimentary toward Dr. Paul.
B
Oh, yeah.
A
Then, you know, I'm happy to have a conversation with him. You know, it's. I. I've had different schools of thought over the years as I've released these episodes. And I'll have people say. On the one hand, I'll say. I have people say, well, all you have on are people who are libertarian. I mean, now, these days, I have lots of different sorts of oddball characters, but they would say that. But then I would have somebody else on who would have a radically different perspective, and they'd say, what are you having that guy on for? So it's like, I can't. Can't satisfy you people. So I think at this point, my litmus test is if they can stand the sight of me, I'm willing to talk to them.
B
Plus, you deserve to be entertained, too. It's your show, so you don't want to talk to the same person.
A
I want to talk to people who are interesting to me. Absolutely.
B
The thing about Pape is that he put together a plan that could be adopted. You know, my old chief of staff at Ron Paul's office, Tom Lozardo, used to say, do you want to make a point or do you want to make a difference? And it's a pretty good thing to think about, because the foreign policy that I would put out wouldn't be adopted in Washington, not right now. And that's the purpose of the Institute. Institute is to try to move society into a direction where something like that could be accepted. But we have to live in the real world. We may be able to make a difference. If his plan was adopted, we would have a better foreign policy. So there you go. He would make a difference rather than simply making a point.
A
And I'm all for that, especially because I know I have people who say, well, you're unrealistic because of X, Y and Z. I'm with Murray Rothbard on. I favor anything that moves us in the right direction. I'm not ever going to be against moving in the right direction unless somebody presents it as an end in itself. All I want is like, no, no, no, let's be more ambitious than that. Now, speaking of ambition, okay. Our friend Thomas Massie, congressman from Kentucky, I assume everybody listening knows this, knows who he is, has rather a lofty what seemed like a modest ambition and is now a somewhat loftier one, which is to defeat a series of billionaires who have been lined up against him in funding his opponent in his reelection campaign. Now as we speak, that primary is not even two weeks away. So this is really as down to the wire as it gets. And it so happens that our friend Dan Smuts, who is such a great videographer, I mean, just top notch what he can do with you, just give him some video scraps and he puts them together and he makes, you know, like Gone with the Wind or something. You know, it's incredible what this guy's capable of. So he took a lot of footage that he had of Thomas Massie and then he interviewed people like you and me and several other people that people watching this will know and he made like a 53 minute long video. Now is that going to bring new people on board at this late stage? I don't know. At the very least it will rally the troops and remind them why they need to send a contribution to Massey's campaign and that if it accomplishes only that, it will absurd its purpose. But he produced this extraordinary, thrilling feature length project on behalf of Massie and we all participated in this and were interviewed not for money. We didn't charge anything for this. We did this all because we love Thomas Massie. Whereas nobody says, I'm going to sacrifice my afternoon and devote my time to making a feature length video about Ed Gall Rain. Oh, sorry, G. Because it's G Rhino. I feel that's what, that's what, that's what Cliff Maloney wants to call him. G Rhino. But what it reminds me of, Daniel, is Dr. Paul. All the things that people would do for him, like the crazy blimp that was funded to fly over America. The people who would spend their weekends at some local Republican party event where they would be having an informal straw poll and Dr. Paul would win more votes than all the other candidates put together because nobody's going to sacrifice his Saturday afternoon for Mitt Romney. It just reminded me of things like that. Nobody's going to do this for any other congressional candidate. What other congressional candidate anywhere in the country has a grassroots documentary made about him? You know?
B
No, no. Who would watch it for one?
A
You know, I was watch it.
B
I mean, Dan put it up on X first, by the way, Dan did the intro to the Liberty Report. So that's why we know him and love him. And I think he did such a great job with our intro. But it came out first on X. And so I watched the whole thing on X, which I never do. I'm too adhd. I can't sit Still. And so I watched the whole thing on X. I texted him and said, is it going to be on YouTube? He said, yeah, it's coming in just a minute. So I grabbed a beer, put it on YouTube and watched the whole thing again. So I watched it twice last night. I was so happy with it. It was so great. I felt like I was hanging out with my friends, you and Clint and, and everyone who was. Who was in it. It was just. It was just great. It was uplifting. It was. It was clever. The way he opened it was very clever, you know, and it's. I won't. I don't want to give it away because I want people to watch it, but he just. Because I wonder, how is he going to get into this narrative? Because, you know, it could be just sort of overly praiseworthy, but he starts with a very clever way and he ends in a very clever way. It's like two little bookends of the. Of the film. I just thought it was terrific.
A
Yeah.
B
I'm going to go watch it again.
A
I know. I was thinking exactly that. You're making me want to. So first of all, people listening to this, you should watch it. You're going to love it. You're going to let me. Once in a while you got to watch something that's not depressing. You know, like, this show is depressing a lot. I don't mean it to be, but. So the link for the show notes page for this episode is Tom woods.com 2759 because it's episode 2759. So just remember 2759 and go type in Tom woods.com 2759. The video will be waiting for you right there. Click, play and watch it and you're gonna love it. I mean, as I say, we can't always be watching doom. It's nice to watch something like this that at the end you're kind of wondering. It's a miracle this guy exists at all, you know, and it's astonishing that we're even. How are we even arguing about this? How is this even an argument? How is there anybody who says, I would rather support a total non entity who repeatedly, again and again and again and again refuses to show up either for debates or for any public event where there might be questions from the press won't show up. Now, come on. If. If Massie were doing that, we'd never hear the end of it from the cultists. Never hear the end of it. But when. When the tables are turned, not a word, you know, not A word. We're proudly supporting the guy who won't dare say anything and he won't return. You know how some of these organizations, like gun rights groups and pro life groups, they'll ask a candidate to fill out a know position paper form so that they know what is your. At least. At least what is your stated position. He won't return the forms. He won't even return the forms. I mean, he's.
B
Maybe he's just forwarded it to Adelson forever. Fill it out.
A
Yeah, yeah. You get back to me, tell me what I'm supposed to put on this paper. It's like back on, you know, the old Nightline with Ted Koppel, before we had the Internet. The Soviet ambassador would be on and he'd be like a deer in the headlights because he hasn't been told what he's supposed to say about whatever just happened. You know.
B
Exactly. That's exactly it. You know, I think one of the things. One of the things that's important about the movie. I mean, we are objectively, I think, in much more treacherous times now in terms of even our own government. We're in a major war, the biggest war since Vietnam, probably a worse war than Vietnam. It could. Certainly has potential. And Congress is completely awall. There's no coalitions being built, you know, around the Iraq war. Dr. Paul, Dennis Kucinich and a group of people on the right and the left were working hard, building coalitions and talking. Right now we only have Thomas Massie in the House who's representing us. And we need him, to be honest, a lot more than he needs us. He's got a beautiful new wife. Sadly, his first wife passed. He's remarried to a wonderful girl. Brilliant girl, brilliant young woman. He's got the shire that he built with his own hands. Yeah, he doesn't need any of this. He's. He's well off. Not because he was in government, but despite being in government because he's so smart and such a great entrepreneur. He doesn't need any of this. But we are desperate. He is the only one we have now in House or Senate that thinks to that degree, you know, and of course, in the Senate you have Senator Paul, who's the best senator, no question about it. But Thomas Macy is pretty much the only thing we've got. And that's how I feel. It's almost emotional for me.
A
You know, spring has a way of sneaking up on you and reminding you how fast life is moving. I look out in the front yard, the plants are exploding. With new growth. Then I glance around the house and realize just how quickly everything's changing. With most of the kids fully grown now and a brand new little one at four months old, it really hits you how fast the seasons of life are passing. It brings that quiet sense of responsibility. Am I doing enough to make sure they're all protected if something ever happened to me? That sense of responsibility kicks in hard when you see your family growing. Whether it's kids hitting new milestones, a new job, a new addition to the household, or just the life you're steadily building, you start thinking about that safety net and how important it is to get it right. That's why I've been so glad to hear from so many of you folks who've used policygenius. You've told me how straightforward it was. You go to their site, compare real quotes from top life insurance companies side by side. No pressure, no hassle. Their licensed team actually works for you, not the insurance companies. So the advice is about what your family really needs. People keep saying the same thing. It took the guesswork and stress out of it and they finally felt like they had clarity and peace of mind. If you're in that spot where you're looking at your growing family and thinking it's time to lock in proper coverage, policygenius makes it simple and affordable. Protect your family with a policy that grows with your life. With Policygenius you can see if you can find 20 year life insurance policies starting at just $276 a year for $1 million in coverage. Head to policygenius.comwoods to compare life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save. That's policygenius.com woods it would be demoralizing in the extreme if he didn't win. I keep saying, look, I don't even care what your opinions are on the issues. The issue is, as an American patriot, you cannot allow this. You cannot allow three outside billionaires who are obviously tied to a foreign interest. I mean, we're not children here. We weren't born yesterday. Yeah, we cannot allow those people to displace somebody who represents a whole lot of us, you know, who is a lone voice of consistency and who will say things that basically nobody else will say. If you just want somebody who's going to repeat what some dope on Fox News says over and over, well, we have plenty of those already. You know, we have people who aren't going to really change anything. And you know, the thing is, if your view is things are basically okay. They just need a 4% improvement. Then. I can understand why you would vote for, you know, Golrain, because, you know, he's just going to be a yes man to whatever. Whatever they want to do. But if you're a little less optimistic than that about the state of America, you know, like, we think actually we need a lot more than a 4% change. You know, you have to vote for an independent voice like Massey, or, you know, if you don't live in Kentucky or in his district, then you got to support him, you know, and you can easily, you know, Google him. You can find a link to support him. But we can't let this happen.
B
I think it may have been you, Tom. Maybe I'm wrong, but in the documentary, someone mentioned that he's raised the most money himself from individual donors for. Than any congressional race or something of that nature. I forget what the exact details were.
A
Yeah, I don't know if it's the. I mean, it could well be, but I remember getting that wrong.
B
Something was said about that.
A
He could very well be. I do think, either there or somewhere else. I made a point that I borrowed from Michael Heiss about how much money is typically raised in congressional races, including the general election, not just for the primary. And it is a tiny fraction, including for the general, of what Massie has raised just in the primary. Now, he's been outraised by people who don't live in Kentucky and who are billionaires. And I mean, he has in terms of actual people who will come out and go to an event if he dares have one, or who will actually send him a check. It's like zero. I mean, essentially, it's like he has no real support. But Massie has, nevertheless, even though he's been out spent and outraised, he's raised the money from normal people, and he's raised, you know, dramatically more, I mean, by an order of magnitude, an order of magnitude more than you would see in a congressional race. And that's a big deal.
B
And I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that if Massey does pull this off, it could be the. I'm a pessimist, Tom, but I think it could be the beginning of the tide turning, you know, moving toward getting our country back. That's why it's so important. I think this is the most important race I've ever seen.
A
Yeah, I agree with that. Because for all the frustration that Dr. Paul caused the establishment, and it's true that in 1996, they really did pull out all the stops to try to prevent his getting back into Congress. They even took a former Democrat and got him to switch parties. It was not. It Lefty. What was his name? Lefty.
B
Oh my gosh. It was the classic central Cassie name. I'm forgetting the last name.
A
Yeah, but they nicknamed him Lefty because they recruited him from the Democrat. I mean, but it was, you know, I mean, Newt Gingrich tried to stop it, but they couldn't stop it. And so he got elected and they realized, all right, well, we have to deal with Ron Paul, you know, that was the end of it.
B
Don't let him get on Foreign Affairs Committee.
A
Yeah, of course, like we have to limit his influence. Right. But although eventually he did get on that, that banking subcommittee, which was really great. There are some, there's some stuff in the Congressional record now that future historians will marvel at. Dr. Paul got in there.
B
So that was because it was because of a Democrat. You know, it was Barney Frank who helped him get the subcommittee. Republicans wouldn't lift a finger. They actually reduced the number of subcommittees so his seniority wouldn't be there that he would get one. It was only when Barney took over and was able to get him that so.
A
But what they didn't do is anything like exactly what we're seeing now, which is a coordinated multimillion dollar attempt to drive him out. And, and I think part of it is most of his congressional career occurred before, either before the Internet or before it was in its really mature stage. So he wasn't nearly as well known, you know, like he wasn't a household name, whereas Massey's almost a household name by virtue of the fact that he's very good on social media. He does get on major television programs. And so, you know, Dr. Paul might have been a nuisance, but he was. They could contain him because he had only so many outlets where he could spread his ideas.
B
But now, yeah, don't let him on the shows.
A
Right. Don't let him on the shows. That. And that's all we have to worry about because there's no Twitter, there's no nothing. There's no nothing. No other way he can reach the public now that Massie can do that. Well, now the multi millions have to come out. And if, as you say, if Massey nevertheless emerges victorious after everything that's been done, you can hope that this increases the. Well, it supplies people who up to now have not had as much of a spine as they should have with a better spine or a spine at all. We can hope.
B
Absolutely. Absolutely.
A
All right, what's next for the Ron Paul Institute?
B
Well, our annual summer conference. I. We call it D.C. but that always scares people. It's actually near Dulles, so if you fly into the Dulles airport, it's a quick shuttle ride over to the Hilton, where we have it every year. That's going to be on Labor Day weekend. So I have my wish list. I sort of spend the year making my wish list, and I check it twice, seeing who's naughty and nice and who's irritated me. I cross them off the list, but I have my big, long wish list of people that I'm going to start asking. I already have a few that I know are going to be there. It's going to be great. You know, I really. I really believe that. And we have a great time. It's a different. It's different than our conference down here. Our spring conference down here is a little less formal, you know, and not that the DC one is formal, but it's just. It feels more that way. But it's going to be great. So I hope everyone will mark their calendar. It's always just a terrific event. Now you. You've been there, Tom. I mean, you know, kinds of people. And I witnessed it down here, you know, last weekend when we had our conference. And this. I love the speakers. I love the people, but I also love when I'm hearing and seeing people getting together, making connections. I won't obviously name names, but there's one person who recently was out of work and is looking for a job. A high level person. You know, he's. And it turns out someone at his table knows someone who's looking for someone in that position. So I don't know how it will work out, but boom, you meet someone like, hey, I know I can trust this person. We met it at a romp all conference. The guys. Chances are the guy's not gonna screw me over. Whatever. I love that part, too. I think it's so important to get together.
A
Yeah. Because in effect, you guys have kind of done the vetting for us. Because the kind of person who would self select and come to your event tends to be okay. This is a guy I could do business with. We understand each other. Yeah.
B
Yeah. I mean, it's never 100%, but you just get the feeling this is an honest person. So, I mean, it's. It's so important these days, you know, when you feel you, Tommy, I mean, you work. You work a lot alone. I mean, we feel sort of atomized. We feel like we're all alone in the world. I feel the same way. I work alone. And when I get together, despite being so overwhelmed by having so many people around me at once, as our friend, our mutual friend Bumper Hornberg would say, it recharges my batteries, you know, to be around people like that.
A
So, yeah, it's energy.
B
I know it's a pain in the rear to travel and I, I understand. It's just amazing that people will actually travel to these. But I think it pays off when you get there and you meet so many great people.
A
Well, especially in this world of AI and artificiality and computer screens. I really do think that the in person event is something that is irreplaceable and people are going to realize that more and appreciate it more. The in person face to face, there's no AI can substitute for. That is real human connection. So that's why I like to travel for my masterminds and all these sorts of things because I get to socialize with and get to know really interesting people and, you know, ain't no chat GPT can do that for me. So.
B
Absolutely.
A
So the website, the website is ronpaul institute.org.
B
that's right. That's right. And hopefully people will subscribe, which is basically just signing up for updates and, you know, keep people posted when tickets go on sale and when other events are happening as well.
A
All right, excellent. Yeah, so check them out. Ron paulinstitute.org Daniel, thanks so much for your time.
B
Thank you so much, Tom.
A
And ladies and gentlemen, don't forget to join me for the best vacation ever. And it's the last one I'm doing for a really long time. And you have a chance to meet little tiny Henry woods at the Tom Woods Cruise. So check it out@tom woodscruise.com and I'll see you next time. Make yourself and those you love less vulnerable to the regime, both men mentally and physically.
B
Get more forbidden information@tomsfreebooks.com and be sure
A
to subscribe to the show wherever you listen.
B
See you next time.
A
Like the sound of the Tom Wood show, my audio production is provided by Podsworth Media. Check them out@podsworth.com Enter code WOODS50 to get 50% off your first order. If your recording sounds rough, the Podsworth app can make it not only listenable, but professional. Remember, when you use code WOODS50, you'll get half off your first order and you'll also be supporting this show.
C
What would you do if your online store converted 36% more shoppers, you could take 36% more vacation.
A
Another pina colada.
C
Yes please. Open a new retail location with 36% more square feet.
A
Fantastic.
C
Hire 36% more help.
B
You're hired and you're hired.
C
Shopify has the world's best converting checkout up to 36% better than other e commerce platforms. What you do with those extra sales is up to you. Switch to Shopify today@shopify.com setup and get a $1 trial shopify.com setup this summer.
A
Don't squeeze in. Spread out. Find homes big enough for your home. Whole guest list on vrbo. That's vacation rentals done right. Book your stay now.
C
Hey there. It's Wayfair here, where delivery and setup are as easy as a few taps on your phone. You're relaxing in an old hammock, scrolling Wayfair's app when you spot it. A brand new patio set. Next thing you know, Wayfair delivers it right to your patio and sets it up. Oh, you need a new grill too. Alright, Wayfair's got you covered. With Wayfair's room of choice delivery and fast expert setup on qualifying orders, life gets a little easier. Visit Wayfair.com or the Wayfair app. Wayfair Every style, Every home.
Podcast Summary: The Tom Woods Show – Ep. 2759: Marjorie Taylor Greene and Joe Kent Honor Ron Paul
Date: May 9, 2026
Host: Tom Woods
Guest: Daniel McAdams (Executive Director, Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity)
Episode Theme:
A deep dive into the Ron Paul Institute’s recent conference, featuring controversial speakers Marjorie Taylor Greene and Joe Kent, and a discussion on the enduring legacy of Ron Paul, grassroots movements, U.S. foreign policy debates, and current political battles for liberty-minded figures such as Thomas Massie.
On Principle in Politics:
On Foreign Influence/lobbying:
On Grassroots vs. Establishment Power:
On Real-World Community:
This episode provides a rich, candid, and at times emotional analysis of the struggle between principle and power in contemporary American politics. The conversation’s tone blends humor, skepticism, and hope—poking fun at absurdities while underscoring the profound stakes involved in the survival of independent, honest representation in Congress and beyond.
For links mentioned (including the Massie documentary):
TomWoods.com/2759
For updates and events:
RonPaulInstitute.org