To say the Steamboat Institute is nonpartisan is basically nonsense. Oh sure, it can muster up a bit of nonpartisanship now and then, pitting opposing sides against each other in a debate. That’s just window-dressing.

Just look at who Steamboat Institute picks as keynote speakers or panelists.

In 2021, the keynote speaker for the August Freedom Conference will be former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, widely regarded as a well-regarded potential nominee for president, should Donald Trump not run in 2024. Pompeo was totally Trump’s man, which makes him a viable candidate for the MAGA crowd.

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Perhaps less well-known to the public is that Pompeo is more than a conservative Republican and former congressman, he’s also an ardent, evangelical fundamentalist, who believes Christ will return to earth any day now, and events need to be nudged along to help make the Apocolypse/Rapture/Second Coming happen sooner rather than later.

Since leaving the State Department, Pompeo has announced he intends to go on missionary work to spread the good word, and Fox News just announced he’s a new, regular contributor.

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Taken all together, Pompeo is in excellent position to be the nominee should Trump not run or could be the vice-president candidate.

Another 2021 speaker will be Robert L. Woodson Sr., who could be a triple feature for Steamboat Intitute. He is a Black conservative who apparently believes inner-city Blacks have largely themselves to blame for violence and poverty. He’s also set up 1776 Unites, a conservative organization that decries the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project, which reframes U.S. history around slavery and Black contributions to America. The 1776 Unites curriculum has been lauded by Trump and former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for a more positive spin on American history. And, in the wake of the murder trial of Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd, Woodson has emphasized not all police officers are brutal racists.

So who else might be featured at the upcoming Freedom Conference​? Dunno about individuals, but judging from past conferences, there’s bound to be representatives from various conservative groups, conservative journalists and scholars. There’s a lot of Trump administration figures who have relatively open dance cards right now. Maybe U.S. Reps. Lauren Boebert or Marjorie Taylor Greene can be invited to provide some red meat rants for the MAGA audience.

And maybe, just maybe, the Orange One could appear. But don’t expect Rep. Liz Cheney or Sen. Mitt Romney to show up. They’ve got the I-told-the-truth-about-Trump cooties.

Sincerely,

Brodie Farquhar

Hayden