Nothing feels better than being surrounded by like-minded people. You can let your hair down, say what you think, and be yourself — a rarity in our ever-more stifling woke Puritanical world. I’d even argue that it’s important to do this on a regular basis, lest you internalize the garbage social “norms” crammed down your throat by every institution and eventually lose the ability to tell right from wrong and truth from made-up left-wing bullshizzle. It’s important that we band together and associate with one another, so we can remind one another what America is supposed to be.
I first got a glimpse inside an exclusive club of conservatives at CPAC last winter. I had only been working at PJ Media for a few months and already, I felt like a new person. Gone were the appalling woke trainings and time-consuming, soul-sucking all-hands meetings to talk about everyone’s fragile Leftist feelings at my previous places of employment. Gone was my permanent state of anxiety, lest I let slip an indication of the wrongthink bottled up inside me. Among my new conservative colleagues, I felt free and understood as I never had in my entire career, and I was thrilled to finally be attending my first CPAC.
I was especially looking forward to meeting my PJ coworkers in person, and it was every bit as wonderful as I thought it would be. I caught up with the crew at a swanky whiskey bar in the beautiful Rosen Shingle Creek resort in Orlando. I met Paula Bolyard, Matt Margolis, VodkaPundit, Stephen Kruiser, Kevin Downey Jr., Gwendolyn Sims, Jeff Reynolds, Chris Queen, and Stacey Lennox. We had a fabulous time at the conference, but I distinctly remember the moment Kruiser introduced me to members of an exclusive club for conservatives.
I’m talking about PJ Media VIP members. Several had traveled to Orlando to attend CPAC, and some of the PJ writers already knew them through VIP interactions. I was struck that my co-workers, whom I was still in awe of meeting (having been an avid fan before I was hired as a colleague), were straight-up hanging out with VIPs. That was the moment it dawned on me how unique our sustaining supporters’ program is here at PJ: our VIPs are part of our team.
Even without traveling to CPAC, there are many opportunities for PJ Media VIP members to enjoy harmonious experiences with other conservatives. When you join the PJ Media VIP club, you not only get exclusive podcasts and videos, but you can also access live chats with some of your favorite PJ personalities.
Check out this sneak peek at one of our exclusive PJ Media video series, The Fringe with Megan Fox:
PJ Media VIPs also have access to commenting across the entire Townhall Media network of sites. You’ll interact with other VIPs, enjoy great discussions, and meet other people who enjoy edgy, conservative news coverage.
Behind-the-paywall exclusive reporting and analysis is another great amenity of the VIP club. As a member, you’ll get to feed your brain with underreported news, items that would get squelched by social media censors, and thoughtful interpretations of events — all from a reliably conservative worldview. A recent example is an essay called “The Pity of War: Ukraine Edition” by Stephen Green (VodkaPundit). It’s a heartrending analysis of Russia’s tragic socio-cultural blunder in its war against its neighbor and kin, Ukraine. Take a look behind the paywall with this exclusive excerpt:
The Pity of War was the title of Niall Ferguson’s groundbreaking history of the causes and tragic folly of the First World War. The title is so simple and powerful that I’ve borrowed it for this lesser essay on the causes and tragic mistake of a (thankfully) much smaller conflict.
Win, lose, or draw, the Ukraine War is Vladimir Putin’s folly, a completely unnecessary war whose waste and death has or soon will dwarf the Soviet Union’s nine-year losing effort in Afghanistan.
A look at the fighting front that has remained mostly static since July 3 reveals a pitiable effort in which Russia’s reduced war aims consist of destroying and depopulating whatever they cannot take.
It’s an oversized child’s temper tantrum of a war.
The real pity of the conflict is that in a slightly better world, this war would never have happened — for very real reasons, easily explained.
Russia and Ukraine are natural allies, or even confederates — their languages, culture, and history are all intertwined. Ukraine’s national identity was for so long wrapped up with Russia’s that there wasn’t even a Ukraine-language dictionary until early in the 20th Century.
Why would Putin permanently alienate Russia’s closest cousins?
Putin ordered his “special military operation” against Ukraine because Kyiv was looking to the West, towards the EU and NATO, instead of towards Moscow. The double threat to Russia — in Putin’s eyes — was having Ukraine’s military a part of NATO and its economy anchored to Europe.
Whether you believe Putin was justified or paranoid, the question we need to ask is: Why did Ukraine try to turn West?
Ukraine, with its Eastern European history, close ties to Russia, and Third World corruption, hardly seems a good fit for either the EU or NATO. But if Ukraine is the most corrupt country in Europe on a pound-for-pound basis, Russia remains the most corrupt at scale.
Calling the Putin regime a kleptocracy would be an insult to functioning kleptocracies. Putin replaced Boris Yeltsin’s comic-opera kleptocracy for a mobster regime, a gangster government. Russia is a country run by killers and thieves wearing tailored Italian suits.
If Russia were better run, that would have changed everything.
There are other benefits to becoming a VIP, as well. You will know the joy of an ad-free user experience. And, you’ll get the satisfaction of knowing you’re helping to support PJ Media as we do the important work of bringing you the news that the corrupt establishment tries to suppress. Joining the VIP club is much better for America than spending your money enriching yet another left-wing streaming service!
But even better than all of these great benefits is the good you do yourself by associating with an online community of sane, pro-America conservatives — people like you! The next time you feel like you’re the only person you know who isn’t crazy, or you’re the only person who thinks children shouldn’t be corrupted, borders should be respected, and people should show ID to vote, treat yourself to a PJ Media VIP membership. We’d love to have you join the club!
Join the conversation as a VIP Member