On Midrats 6 Nov 2016, Episode 567: Goldwater–Nichols; Problems and Solutions with Justin T. Johnson

Please join us at 5pm EST on 6 November 2016 for Midrats Episode 567: Goldwater–Nichols; Problems and Solutions

The systems that trains, mans, and equips our military - and provides guidance and support to their civilian masters is broadly shaped by Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986. There is much discussion that in the middle of the second decade of the 21st Century, is there a better system to serve our national security requirements than one designed at the height of the 20th Century's Cold War?

Using his article in War on the Rocks, Don't Rush to "Fix" Goldwater-Nichols as a starting point, our guest for the full hour to discuss this and other related issues will be Justin Johnson of The Heritage Foundation.

Johnson spent over a decade working on defense and foreign policy issues on Capitol Hill before coming to the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense were I am now a defense and foreign policy analyst at Allison Center for National Security and Foreign Policy.

Johnson received a master’s degree from the Naval War College with a particular focus on terrorism and the maritime domain. He is also a member of the 2013-2014 Future Leaders Program at the Foreign Policy Initiative, the 2011-12 class of Next Generation National Security Leaders at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and the 2012 class of the Heritage Foundation’s Marshall Fellows.

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Johnson grew up in Iowa before moving to Eastern Europe. After living in Germany, Belarus and the Czech Republic, Johnson attended Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia where he studied philosophy and art.

Join us live if you can, or if you forgot the time change, you can pick the show up later by clicking here or from our iTunes page or our Stitcher page.

Early Voted. Came home and washed my hands. Wished I could wash my brain.

So, here's what the blank ballot looked like for the "presidential" choices:

Sometimes there is no "least bad choice."

I wrote in a name in the space provided.

If I wasted my vote on in write-in, at least I kept my faith with my fellow citizens.

Came home and washed my hands to rid myself of the stink of the major party candidates.

But the horror remains.

We cannot do this to ourselves again.

There are good and honorable people out there. We must support them.

Modern Politics

The Iran "Deal"

My co-host on Midrats posts two videos that are well worth watching here. "A deliberate attempt to circumvent the Constitution ..." certainly caught my ear.

The one featuring Sen. Cotton and the remarkably arrogant Secretary of State - well, a jackass will be a jackass. And Kerry always will be a jackass.

After A Day of Listening to the News

The White House strategy in Afghanistan. The White House response to the VA scandal. The White House response to the outing of a CIA Station Chief. The White House response to the situation in Syria.

Trotting out Grannie with her spinning wheel:

The White House response to conditions that existed when Mr. Obama took office and which have not been fixed. A "Time Machine" that makes 6 years disappear:

I keep wondering about why we don't go with more "punitive expeditions" and fewer "nation building exercises" - if a place was a mess before we got there, why is it incumbent on us to do more than to excise the bad doers and let the natives do their own thing.

A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a state or any group of persons outside the borders of the punishing state.

Or, a noted here:

"When the territorial sovereign is too weak or is unwilling to enforce respect for international law, a state which is wronged may find it necessary to invade the territory and to chastise the individuals who violate its rights and threaten its security".

Post Election Thoughts

I think the election process has identified the main issues with which we are confronted.

My thoughts are summed up in the old Toby Keith song:



Thank you.This ends my post election thoughts.

How Not to Win Debates: Censor people you disagree with

Okay, I get it, Facebook has rules for what it allows on its site.

When you have rules, you have to apply them fairly or people will notice.

So, when the Special Operations Speaks guys put up the image below on their Facebook site and Facebook took down twice, later admitting it was wrong to do so because the image does not violate Facebook rules, well, it looks like some sensitive soul at Facebook had just decided to have a fine old censorship party.

If Facebook doesn't want to allow people to be critical of, say, President Obama, they need to add that to their rules. Because, otherwise, it just looks like they can't handle opposing views.

The image that offended somebody at Facebook:

Whether SOS is right or not, yanking the image kinda stifles discussion, doesn't it?

And it sure looks like the thing in Libya is something that needs to be discussed.

In any event, good for Facebook fixing the mess they created.

As for the employee who yanked the SOS image - well, it looks like a lot more people are going to see it now that you made it into a controversy. So, congratulations, you really screwed the pooch.


Now let the discussion begin.

Discussion Points: "If I wanted America to fail"

Here's the note from the YouTube site:

The environmental agenda has been infected by extremism—it's become an economic suicide pact. And we're here to challenge it. On Earth Day, visit www.freemarketamerica.org.

Three Fables - Again

Republished from February 2009. Still applicable to the "new" jobs bill/stimulation package.

There were once three fables that were taught in school.

One was about a little red hen and her hard work and it went like this:

The little Red Hen was in the farmyard with her chicks, when she found a grain of wheat.

"Who will plant this wheat?" she said.

"Not I," said the Goose.

"Not I," said the Duck.

"I will, then," said the little Red Hen, and she planted the grain of wheat.

When the wheat was ripe she said, "Who will take this wheat to the mill?"

"Not I," said the Goose.

"Not I," said the Duck.

"I will, then," said the little Red Hen, and she took the wheat to the mill.

When she brought the flour home she said, "Who will make some bread with this flour?"

"Not I," said the Goose.

"Not I," said the Duck.

"I will, then," said the little Red Hen.

When the bread was baked, she said, "Who will eat this bread?"

"I will," said the Goose

"I will," said the Duck

"No, you won't," said the little Red Hen. "I shall eat it myself. Cluck! cluck!" And she called her chicks to help her.

And the other fable from Aesop and was about a man with an amazing goose:

A Man and his Wife had the good fortune to possess a Goose which laid a Golden Egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it in order to secure the whole store of precious metal at once. But when they cut it open they found it was just like any other goose. Thus, they neither got rich all at once, as they had hoped, nor enjoyed any longer the daily addition to their wealth.

Moral: Much wants more and loses all.

Those fables taught hard work, responsibility, stewardship and the danger of greed. Then there was the fable about fear:

Chicken Little was in the woods one day when an acorn fell on her head. It scared her so much she trembled all over. She shook so hard, half her feathers fell out.

Chicken Little was so scared she started shouting: "Help! Help! The sky is falling! I have to go tell the king!"

So she ran in great fright to tell the king. Along the way she met Henny Penny.

Henny Penny asked, "Where are you going, Chicken Little?"

Chicken Little yelled, "Oh, help! The sky is falling!"

Henny Penny asked, "How do you know?"

Chicken Little replied, "I saw it with my own eyes, and heard it with my own ears, and part of it fell on my head!"

Henny Penny yelled, "This is terrible, just terrible! We'd better hurry up."

So they both ran away as fast as they could. Soon they met Ducky Lucky.

Ducky Lucky asked, "Where are you going, Chicken Little and Henny Penny?"

Chicken Little & Henny Penny yelled, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling! We're going to tell the king!"

Ducky Lucky asked, "How do you know?"

Chicken Little replied, "I saw it with my own eyes, and heard it with my own ears, and part of it fell on my head."

Ducky Lucky joined in the yelling, "Oh dear, oh dear! We'd better run!"

So they all ran down the road as fast as they could. Soon they met Goosey Loosey walking down the roadside.

Goosey Loosey seeing the group said, "Hello there. Where are you all going in such a hurry?"

Chicken Little shouted, "We're running for our lives!"

Henny Penny shouted, "The sky is falling!"

Ducky Lucky yelled, "And we're running to tell the king!"

Goosey Loosey asked, "How do you know the sky is falling?"

Chicken Little yelled, "I saw it with my own eyes, and heard it with my own ears, and part of it fell on my head!"

Goosey Loosey joined in the yelling and shouting, "Goodness! Then I'd better run with you."

And they all ran in great fright across a field. Before long they met Turkey Lurkey strutting back and forth..

Turkey Lurkey said, "Hello there, Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, and Goosey Loosey. Where are you all going in such a hurry?"

Chicken Little screamed, "Help! Help!"

Henny Penny shouted, "We're running for our lives!"

Ducky Lucky quacked, "The sky is falling!"

Goosey Loosey yelled, "And we're running to tell the king!"

Turkey Lurkey asked, "How do you know the sky is falling?"

Chicken Little yelled, "I saw it with my own eyes, and heard it with my own ears, and part of it fell on my head!"

Turkey Lurkey joined in the noise, "Oh dear! I always suspected the sky would fall someday. I'd better run with you."

So they ran with all their might, until they met Foxy Loxy.

Foxy Loxy slyly asked. "Well, well. Where are you rushing on such a fine day?"

Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Goosey Loosey, Turkey Lurkey (together) all yelled, "Help! Help!" It's not a fine day at all. The sky is falling, and we're running to tell the king!"

Foxy Loxy was surprised, but asked, "How do you know the sky is falling?"

Chicken Little shouted, "I saw it with my own eyes, and heard it with my own ears, and part of it fell on my head!"

Foxy Loxy saw an opportunity and said, "I see. Well then, follow me, and I'll show you the way to the king."

So Foxy Loxy led Chicken Little, Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky, Goosey Loosey, and Turkey Lurkey across a field and through the woods. He led them straight to his den, and they never saw the king to tell him that the sky is falling.

As the latest "Economic Stimulus Plan" is being urged to end our current alleged economic "sky is falling" catastrophe, it might be a good idea to keep these three fables in mind.

Hard work, patience and courage will win the day over laziness, greed and fear. Especially fear mongered by foxes.

Don't panic. And don't follow any sly foxes offering quick solutions.

Brian Sussman: If I told You, Would You Have Believed?

Brian Sussman:If I told You, Would You Have Believed?:

It was within moments of capturing KSCO's signal that I began to hear an engaging commentary by their owner, Kay Zwerling.

Kay's premise was, "If I had told you that within the first 200 days of Barack Obama's presidency...?" And her short list of political atrocities began.

Kay wondered aloud, who would have believed that within the first seven months of the new administration, 90% of all mortgages in the United States would be backed by the federal government (placing the taxpayer at risk for over $5 trillion dollars, I might add). The U.S. government, she said, would also become a major shareholder in one of the world's largest banks, Citigroup-who would have believed it? In addition, Kay pointed out the feds hostile takeover of General Motors and Chrysler, the sacking of their respective CEO's, replacing them with political appointees, and then heartlessly closing hundreds of profitable dealerships across the country, many of whose owners were known to have contributed to Republican politicians and conservative causes.

Read it all.

Iowahawk: Crisis of Confidence: America's Government Losing Faith in Out-of-Touch Constituents

The political class exposed:

1. iowahawk: Crisis of Confidence: America's Government Losing Faith in Out-of-Touch Constituents

2. Yes, #1 was a satire. But this isn't:

August 05, 2009

House Orders Three Jets
"Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing about a possible bailout of their companies," Roll Call reports.

"But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top government officials and Members of Congress."

The Air Force had asked for one jet as part of an upgrade program, but the House Appropriations Committee added two more at its own discretion.

Time to throw them all* out and start over.

It's allowed under the Constitution. Under "elections."


*Actually we can only replace the entire House of Representatives and 1/3 of the Senate every two years, the President every 4th year.