WILLIAMSBURG— The final topic of the League of Women Voters’ Great Decisions lecture series was supposed to be Ukraine; however, keynote speaker Larry Wilkerson wisely broadened his speech to address the current war with Iran.
The LWV says he is known best for his role as former Chief of Staff to the late Secretary of State, Colin Powell, Wilkerson is a distinguished soldier-statesman in his own right. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Eisenhower Media Network, a group of former military, intelligence and civilian national security officials who described themselves as offering “alternative analyses untainted by Pentagon or defense industry ties” and countering “Washington’s establishment narrative on most national security issues of the day.”
“I came here to talk about really serious matters and most poignantly in the last few days since Feb.28. This is the stupidest, dumbest, most moronic war anyone has ever started. But Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, and Donald Trump are making money–$200 billion and more,” he said during the presentation.
Then he added, “This is the most grifting leadership that a large nation has ever had, and probably it’s the worst.”
The league said he then shifted to Founding Fathers: He referenced the historical correspondence between Jefferson and Adams. They were most concerned about slavery, but they shifted to many topics.
He discussed some broad strokes to define what he called his “geostrategic canvas”:
- The world is turning over so rapidly (it has left Donald Trump in its tracks)
- The UN Security Council is obsolete (He sees Russia winning over Ukraine.)
- The UN is obsolete (he referenced what’s happening in Gaza)
- There have been massive power changes (After World War II, we were alone at the top; now China is rapidly rising.)
- Russia has destroyed NATO and is about to destroy the transatlantic link.
“I found his speech very alarming and wondered how others who heard it reacted. I think it would be useful if LWV arranged a chat group for people to discuss topics like that after the presentations,” said audience member Joan Keith, who watched the speech on Zoom. “I have to say that he’s gone overboard at some points in his talk, but I’m afraid that isn’t so, and the extreme awfulness of the situation is valid.”
Another audience member on Zoom, Mary Ann Moxon said, “Pete and I were feeling quite down after Larry Wilkerson’s talk. NATO is dead in the water. We definitely need a regime change—HERE!”
This was the last of the lectures for the series. For more information about the LWV, please visit the official website.
