Beltway Democrats and Republicans will mostly play their assigned role when it comes to supporting or opposing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as either a great threat or a great jurist. But Washington is home of the "radical center," where policy differences are made to appear far greater than they are. Looking at the world from a different lens -- pro-liberty or pro-authoritarian -- gives us a very different view of someone like Kavanaugh. Please join us for such a look in today's Liberty Report... read on...
Will President Trump tell his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to behave himself better with the North Koreans? Will he tell the Germans we're no longer spending money defending them? US foreign policy under President Trump is hard to follow, but two opportunities for pro-America diplomacy are presenting themselves. Will he bite? Tune in to today's Liberty Report... read on...
State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert released a statement today warning the Syrian government to cease and desist from its final military push against ISIS and al-Qaeda groups in southwest Syria. The United States is "deeply troubled by reports of increasing Syrian regime operations in southwest Syria" because such operations are within the "de-escalation zone negotiated between the United States, Jordan, and the Russian Federation last year and reaffirmed between Presidents Trump and Putin in Da Nang, Vietnam in November," the statement says. read on...
As Saudi Arabia moves ahead with its siege of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, the goal is to starve the local civilian population to the point where they rise up and overthrow the Houthis who hold the city. While Saudi Arabia's entire three year war on Yemen is criminal and genocidal, this "starve them out" strategy is the most repulsive of war crimes. So why does the Trump Administration continue to back Saudi slaughter in Yemen? Tune in to today's Liberty Report... read on...
Yesterday's meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was history in the making. By all accounts the meeting went well. Trump looks like a peacemaker and Kim looks to have delivered security to his people while continuing the process toward peace with his southern neighbor. Neocons and political opponents of Trump in the US are furious. Who wins from the meeting? Join us for today's Liberty Report... read on...
President Macron of France and German chancellor Angela Merkel are reportedly ready to read President Trump the riot act at the G7 Summit in Canada starting tomorrow. They are reportedly furious over Trump's "go it alone" approach to climate change, the Iran deal, and more. Will they succeed in wrong-footing the former reality TV star US president, or will Trump actually relish the idea of sparring with feckless foreign leaders? Tune in to today's Liberty Report... read on...
After a lengthy investigation, Amnesty International has just released a study finding that the US-led attack on Raqqa in Syria was so devastating to civilians and to the infrastructure that it may in fact constitute a war crime. Some have compared it to Dresden. And the irony is that after destroying the city to rid it of ISIS, the US turned a blind eye as hundreds of ISIS fighters escaped with their families...and their weapons! More in today's Liberty Report... read on...
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of a Colorado baker who claimed his deeply-held religious views prevented him from baking a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. While many conservatives may cheer what appears to be a victory for their cause, the Supreme Court ruling missed the central point -- property rights -- in favor of a highly subjective "deeply held views" test. The decision is very shaky territory even for social conservatives -- who gets to decide which views are "deeply-held"? -- and it is little help at all for libertarians. We look at the pros and cons of the decision in today's Liberty Report... read on...
It is with deep personal sorrow that I announce the passing of dear friend, mentor, and Ron Paul Institute Board Member, Ambassador Faith Whittlesey. Ambassador Whittlesey was truly a remarkable woman whom I admired so very much and cared about deeply. I first met Ambassador Whittlesey when I was selected to be an American-Swiss Foundation Young Leader in 2006, spending a week in Zurich with our "Young Leader" counterparts in Swiss government, culture, and industry. read on...
Today President Trump announced that he was canceling US participation in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JPCOA) otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal. The president's assertions were ludicrous and factually incorrect, but the neocons who were no doubt behind the speech have never been all that wedded to the truth. It became obvious fairly on that Trump's rationale was not to be taken seriously, when he cited last week's comical stage performance by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that "Iran Lied" about its nuclear program.
Netanyahu's fairy tale required us to believe that the Iranians were storing their most sensitive national security documents and compact discs in an unguarded hut, which the crack Israeli team of intelligence operatives were able to discover and remove by the truckload right under the noses of what they claim is among the most totalitarian "regimes" on earth. read on...
