Can there be any subject more vital to your personal security, your family’s security, and the security of America itself than our country’s foreign policy? Of course not, so it makes sense that if there is a rational mind out there who can explain to you why, for over two decades, America’s foreign policy has made America less safe, less prosperous, and less free, that’s a person you need to know.
The person you need to know is Christopher Preble, the Cato Institute’s V.P. Defense & Foreign Policy Studies. In recent days, you have been inundated with commentary from both the left and the right on sequestration. The neocon right has gone bonkers. This is the crowd that promotes American empire, nation building, and a new world order. The name of the game for the neocons is Benevolent Global Hegemony, with the U.S. playing the part of the global hegemon, a concept that was first laid out in 1992. In
The Power Problem , Mr. Preble tells readers, “In early 1992, aids to then defense secretary Richard ‘Dick’ Cheney began sketching out the Pentagon’s plans for the first decade of the post-Cold War era. The significance of the Defense Planning Guidance (DPG) that these men produced would become clear only many years later, when a number of them, including I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Zalmay Khalizad, and Paul Wolfowitz, assumed prominent roles in the George W. Bush administration. The DPG was just a draft, but it provides an early glimpse of what would one day become the dominant approach to U.S. foreign policy.”
Mr. Preble continues, “Although the document was never formally released to the public, the basic outlines of the DPG are now well known, and were widely discussed at the time. The document held that U.S. power was crucial to the functioning of the global order. It stipulated that the United States would be the global hegemon, the undisputed power in all regions of the globe, and would stand prepared to act—preemptively, if necessary—to halt the rise of potential challengers. Any military power, held by any other country—be they friendly, economically advanced democracies, or hostile and impoverished autocracies—would be viewed with suspicion.”
Mr. Preble tells readers, ”The Founders of our great nation—men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison—worried that wars would give rise to an overgrown military establishment that would upset the delicate balance between the three branches of government, and between the government and the people…. Madison added another crucial caveat, seeing warfare as a kind of Petri dish for the expansion of power at the expense of the individual.”
Our Constitution calls for “we the people” to provide for the common defense. The Constitution says nothing of providing for the common defense of countries around the world. Article. 1. Section. 8. of the Constitution tells us that Congress has the power to raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two years. In the same Section, the Constitution also calls for Congress to provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions. Section. 8. also reserves to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress.
The wording of the Constitution is clear. There is no authorization that would in any way square with a global hegemony concept. And how about two years of Money appropriations? There is zero chance that the Founders would have considered a more-than-decade occupation of Afghanistan, never mind any sort of counterinsurgency/nation-building strategy as engineered in both Iraq and Afghanistan. The Constitution was very much a states’ rights, weak central government document. The states were to have appointed officers and trained the militia. And it was the same state-trained militia that would repel invasions. The Swiss run their national defense system in like manner. The Swiss militia based defense system is so strong that Hitler decided the risk was too great to invade Switzerland during WWII. The Swiss spend 0.8% of GDP on the defense of Switzerland. The Swiss, like Sweden, are neutral and keep their noses out of the other guy’s business, as the Founders proposed for America. We, on the other hand, spend 4.6% of GDP on national defense/offense—six times what the totally defense-paranoid Swiss spend. In The Power
Problem, Mr. Preble harks back to philosophy of the Founders’ writing that free nations possess small professional militaries and strive to avoid foreign wars. American empire, nation building, global hegemon, counterinsurgency-centric politicians—including John McCain. Lindsey Graham, Mitt Romney, Barrack Obama, and the national media, including Fox News, The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard and National Review—pitch the nation building theme. The Defending Defense Project, comprising the Kristol/Kagan Foreign Policy Initiative, Heritage Foundation, and American Enterprise Institute, grind out a steady drumbeat of neocon based policy support. Americans who refer to themselves as conservative in many cases will find themselves shocked with the realization that conservative is a label that must be worn with caution.
Chris Preble writes, “Our military has become a problem, and this problem is the basis for this book’s controversial argument.” He advises that we should reduce our military to be more secure. “The United States has been corrupted by its great military power, which has shifted the delicate balance between the executive branch and the other two branches of government.”
On March 18, Chris will host a Cato Institute presentation featuring Mr. Fred Kaplan, the author of The Insurgents—David Petraeus And The Plot To Change The American Way Of War. I own both the Kindle and hard-copy editions of Mr. Kaplan’s new book, as well Mr. Preble’s The Power Problem. These two groundbreaking books can greatly improve your understanding of the stranglehold neocon theory has on American foreign policy. Moreover, I believe that you will agree with Mr. Preble and Dick Young that our country is on the wrong foreign policy track. It is clear that America must change course now to avoid consequences that no American would wish for.
Visit richardcyoung,com next Monday for Part II of The Power Problem.
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 The old guard of the Republican Party flashed its true colors last week. All it took was a 13-hour filibuster by Sen. Rand Paul to get the neocons on the Wall Street Journal editorial board worked up into a lather. According to the editors, Rand Paul was being childish and theatrical. “He needs to know what he’s talking about,” they wrote.
It seems the Journal is A-OK with taking Attorney General Eric Holder’s word for it that the U.S. won’t use drones to attack Americans on U.S. soil. “Drones are limited to the remotest areas of conflict zones like Pakistan and Yemen,” they wrote. That is until they’re not. I’ll stick with Rand’s demands.
Rand is right. Twitter was all aflutter with his stand; #StandwithRand became one of the most read feeds at one point during the day. The Wall Street Journal’s piece was so jarring to its readers that the comments section exploded with cheers for Rand Paul and jeers for the Journal.
On foreign policy, editors sound like a bunch of grumpy old men. They come off as cheerleaders for neocons like GOP Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham. As Paul said about the two, “They think the whole world is a battlefield, including America, and that the laws of war should apply.”
The editors wrote, “[I]f Mr. Paul wants to be taken seriously he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids in their college dorm rooms.” Obviously, the Journal can’t see the forest for the trees. There’s a groundswell of support for guys like Rand Paul who demand clarity on the government’s use of drones against Americans or “enemy combatants.”
By the way, defining an enemy combatant is a slippery slope. Could someone who doesn’t vote for you become an enemy combatant? Is Rand Paul an enemy combatant, because in exercising his constitutional rights, he upset John McCain?
“It’s always the wacko birds on the right and left that get the media megaphone,” McCain said, talking about Rand Paul’s filibuster. Then in reference to Paul and Senator Ted Cruz, McCain continued, “I think it can be harmful if there is a belief among the American people that those people are reflective of the views of the majority of Republicans. They’re not.”
McCain and the neocons at The Wall Street Journal don’t “get” the American people. Americans don’t trust the government. They want clarity on issues like this one and respect Rand Paul’s stand. It takes guys like Rand Paul to ring in a brand-new day, which we desperately need.
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A while back I wrote that I had set up the Liberty & Freedom Initiative. Well, all is pretty much in place for a launch date in the near future.
Goal #1 (foreign policy) of the L&FI is to oppose the sort of neocon thinking that has guided the Republican Party for as long as any of us cares to remember. The Neocons want to police the four corners of the world with your tax dollars and at the risk of the lives of your sons and daughters. Switzerland, the most paranoid home defense country in the world, spends 0.8% of GDP on defense (as opposed to offense). The U.S. spends 4.6% of GDP on offense/defense, six times as much and, in the process, stirs up an ever-larger hornet’s nest of international resentment and hate against America. It’s well past time to throw off the mantle of the global hegemon, the American empire/nation building strategy kicked off by Dick Cheney & Co. in the early 1990s and continued today by the Defending Defense Project. Goal #2 (domestic policy) of the L&FI is to help return America to the constitutional federal republic form of government intended by our Founding Fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, John Taylor of Caroline, George Mason, and John Randolph. We are talking a format based upon strong states’ rights and weak central government. It is our belief that the majority of Americans would be behind this one/two punch, but do not know how to proceed given the lockstep, arm-and-arm attack by both the Republican and Democratic parties.
A third party approach has some philosophical appeal, but given the structure in Washington today, the third party option is probably a losing hand from the start. This means co-opting either the neocon-controlled Republican Party or the Marxist thought-dominated Democratic Party. Our target is the Republican Party. This will mean gathering a strong coalition of Republicans, Democrats and independents who believe a strong constitutionally based federal republic is the way to go. Such coalition would be against foreign entanglements and big government and in favor of a strong states’ rights form of government. The Republican Party umbrella is required, but with fresh, young leadership and a deep, well expressed disdain for both foreign entanglements and big government. The old guard Republican model has proven to be a loser for America. A wrong message has been delivered, and Americans have repudiated the message. This failure has allowed the Marxists to move in and, in the process, turn America into one big fiscal sludge heap. Constitutionally strong leaders like Sens. Rand Paul, Mike Lee and Ted Cruz figure to emerge. (Read Who Speaks for the GOP? and President Paul: Rand Rising?) In order for new leadership to assemble the type of coalition required to rescue the Republican Party, a re-tooled policy platform must be built. The Cato Institute produces just the sort of policy research required. Other smaller groups are also on the right track. The Liberty & Freedom Initiative will help keep you informed and ready to do your own part in changing America. We all need to be involved.
Coalition is the name of the game. A big tent approach to gathering Americans from all backgrounds is a winning hand that deserves to be played out.
Warm regards,
Dick Young
Co-Founder, The Liberty & Freedom Initiative
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Anatomy of a shotgun:
 If you’re new to shooting sports or just need a refresher, here’s a guide to some of the commonly referred to shotgun parts and terms.
The Mossberg® 500® pump-action model is used here as our primary reference source. This guide may not answer all of your questions or explain details like a hunter’s education program might, but it should help clarify some of the terms that you have encountered in your quest for firearm knowledge.
Of course, no portion of our web site is intended to replace reading and understanding a firearm owner’s manual or attending classes offered by a certified firearms instructor.
The underlined descriptions below offer a link to more detailed product images and explanations.
Source: Mossberg
The grand daddy of the tactical Special Purpose 500 series is the 500 Road Blocker.
Specifications:
| Gauge |
12 |
| Chamber Size |
3″ |
| Capacity |
6 |
| Barrel |
18.5″ |
| Sights |
Bead |
| Chokes |
Cylinder Bore |
| Overall Length |
31″ |
| Barrel Finish |
Matte |
| Stock |
Synthetic (Black) |
| Weight |
6 lb |
Features
- 12 Gauge, 20 Gauge and .410 Bore Models
- 3″ Chambers in 12/20 Gauge; (2.5″ Chamber in .410)
- 18.5 or 20″ Barrels with Stand-Offs, Muzzlebrakes
- Tri-Rail Forend and Tactical Light Forend Models
- New ZMB Chainsaw and Persuader Models
- Free Gun Lock/10-Year Limited Warranty Included
Review of the Mossberg 500 series:
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You probably were not glued to your TV for President Obama’s taped interview with ABC News George Stephanopoulos. Well President Obama apparently informed Americans, “We don’t have an immediate crisis in terms of debt. In fact, for the next ten years it’s going to be in a sustainable place.” Kinda takes your breath away, does it not? If not, my debt chart will do it for you. President Obama’s outrageous management of our economy has produced the jaw-dropping graphic I include for you here.
Do you see the unprecedented debt explosion? You are looking at a near parabolic chart pattern. Yet the president declares that there is no debt crisis. As the excellent article by Stephen Hayes linked here explains, “And today, like everyday, the U.S. government will borrow another $4 billion.” That works out to about $120 billion a month and $1.5 trillion a year. No crisis though, right?
And from whom is our government borrowing all this mega money? For starters, not from me. I am not buying treasuries, especially at the artificially low interest rates courtesy Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. Well the answer is that, aside from the Chinese, there aren’t many takers. No problem though, the Fed simply cranks up the printing presses, prints up all the dollars the Fed needs, and uses the print run to buy up government debt. Yup, the Fed loads its balance sheet up with billions and billions of dollars of government debt month after month after month.
Sorry, I know this sounds like a fairy tale, but while I have taken a little liberty dramatizing my printing press explanation (really digital transfers), you’re getting a pretty square shake on what our president and the Fed facilitators are up to. Seems to me that those who voted for four more years of the most mismanaged economy in my five decades in this business are getting what they deserve. But payback is coming. It’s baked into the cake. Just check out the bubble prices of high-end Manhattan/Hamptons/Miami/Naples real estate. Breathtaking.
In my monthly strategy reports, I advise investors how to prepare for payback. At our family investment management company, we do all the heavy lifting for you. To wrap up the week, I alert you that Monday is going to be a big day at richardcyoung.com. I’ll bring you part two of my The Most Important Person in America You May Never Have Heard Of series and a look at the Cato Institute’s special program with Fred Kaplan, the author of The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War
. I am well into Fred’s new bestseller, a must read for all Americans. See you Monday. And have a great weekend. Warm regards,
Dick
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VIDEO: Steve Gadd - Way Back Home.
A better R&B quintet sound would be hard to find. Cornell Dupree was one of the top three R&B guitarists around. Larry Goldings is a top three Jazz Hammond B3 organ guy. Ronnie Cuber is a top three jazz baritone sax player (Way Back Home needs a baritone sax). Eddie Gomez is a top ten jazz bass player. Finally Steve Gadd seems to be everywhere at once and is a drum favorite of all the pros. What a special group.
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