Protesting WPC event

Readers of Jane Mayer’s “Dark Money” will easily identify the benign sounding Washington Policy Center (WPC), as our state’s libertarian “think tank,” one of the hundreds of tax-exempt 501(c)3 “educational” organizations spawned by the tax-deductible donations of the Koch brothers’ network of billionaires to advance an anti-government, anti-science, anti-equality agenda.

The morality guiding the billionaires’ agenda is well-described by words from the Cato Institute, one of the most prominent “think tanks”: our society should be guided by “the right to do as you damn well please” balanced by “the duty to take the consequences.” Perhaps, though, this law of the jungle is to be tempered by police protection of the property rights of those fortunate enough to amass a significant amount.

On Wednesday, WPC hosts its Eastern Washington $150-$15,000 per plate dinner at the Davenport Grand Hotel, with “inspirational” after-dinner entertainment from Nigel Farage, Britain’s fear-mongering Brexit cheerleader. In an oddly humanitarian gesture, reduced fees are on offer to current college students and “young professionals” willing to don “business attire” for the event.

I will be outside, in informal attire, with a disapproving sign.

William Siems

Spokane