Friday, March 26, 2010 – Ambassador Roger Noriega, Congressman Trent Franks, and Bill Gertz

Ambassador Roger Noriega joins Frank to cover the dramatic repression of liberty in Venezuela.  Those who speak candidly about the now internationally recognized connections between the Chavez government and narco-terrorist organizations are promptly jailed.  It is a starkly sad and lonely fight for liberty in such close proximity to the United States.  There is no one better than Arizona Congressman Trent Franks to weigh in on today’s announcement of an arms control deal with Russia.  The administration posits the following logic;  “If we disarm ourselves, Iran and North Korea will follow.”  Finally, Bill Gertz delivers the defense run down from his weekly Washington Post section: Inside The Ring.

MONOLOGUE – March 26, 2010

First, I want to share with you some thoughts about something we talk about with some regularity here: it was in the news again yesterday, the decision by the Secretary of Defense to change the rules that apply in the Defense Department with respect to the implementation of the so-called “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell legislation,” even though that’s not what it’s called, that’s not what it is, that’s how it is endlessly referred to. I view this as evidence of a frightening new challenge, threat really, to our military. Let me just play a clip here from then-candidate Barack Obama back in October of 2008 because I think it speaks to what we are facing now.

BARACK OBAMA: “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America!”

Yes indeed, fundamentally transforming the United States of America, that’s what’s afoot folks, we’ve seen it in several of our sectors: both governmental and private, notably of course the financial sector, the automotive industry, most recently the healthcare system and the aid to students. Also, the way the government itself works; increasingly we’re seeing I think, democracy fundamentally transformed, to use the President’s words, so as to ram through in the face of the opposition to the American people and in the opposition of all Republicans, changes that are going to afflict us, our economy, our society for generations to come.

But now it seems as though the target has changed to the United States military. And I believe that what is now being done in the absence of the repeal of legislation prohibiting the service in the United States armed forces of avowed open homosexuals, and by the way bisexuals, transgender individuals, and what they call intersex individuals; this is all part of the agenda here. We’re witnessing this being done piecemeal first in the Defense Department itself and then we may see Carl Levin, the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, try to enact a total moratorium on enforcement of the law, which prohibits the service of such individuals; and then doubtless we’ll see an intensified effort to repeal the law itself.

Now this would fundamentally transform the United States military, make no mistake about it. We’re going to see, I fear if this goes forward, if the kind of social experimentation that this involves goes forward; we’re going to see people leaving the United States military in droves, voting as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff put it pointedly yesterday, “with their feet.” That is to say, quitting; and in a way, the necessity of doing so has sort of been made plain in the context in which the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen, made that comment. He was joining the Secretary of Defense in making a statement that, let’s play it here, it involves Lieutenant General Mixon and his letter to a publication called Stars and Stripes in which he expressed strong reservations about this policy direction and urged, challenged the proposition that most members of the uniformed services are in favor of repeal of the prohibition on gays in the military, and urged them if they didn’t agree, to let their elected representatives know. And this is what a reporter said to first Secretary Gates and then Admiral Mullen at a press conference yesterday, and we’ll talk about what the clear implication is. Here you go:

REPORTER: “But recently, we heard from Lieutenant General Mixon, basically criticized — calling the repeal of the policy ill-advised. What do you think about having general officers comment that way? And are they acting in proper guidelines when they do so?”
GATES: “I think that for an active-duty officer to comment on an issue like this is inappropriate. Let me ask the chairman to comment.”
MULLEN: “I feel the same way. And actually, it’s being addressed, you know, inside the chain of command in the Army. I’ve spoken with General Casey specifically about this… that letter was — was not an appropriate letter.”

All right, this may sound like a little bit of Inside Baseball, folks, but let me explain it for you. This distinguished military officer, Lieutenant General Benjamin Mixon, who commands US Army forces in the Pacific, wrote a letter that happened to disagree with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who himself expressed publically his position on this existing statue, they just happened to disagree with one other. And now, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is telling General Casey, the Chief of Staff of the Army who by the way agrees with General Mixon, that this is an inappropriate letter and it sounds as though there’s going to be some kind of disciplinary action taken against General Mixon. At the very least, it’s safe to assume that his career is over; he’s certainly not going to be promoted.

But here’s the point folks, the message going out to the United States military as the result of all this is don’t even think about challenging the President of the United States on this matter that may be of enormous importance to the future effectiveness of our military, he’s made a decision and it doesn’t matter what you think, your choice, as Admiral Mullen went on to say at the press conference, is to vote with your feet.

Well, they will! I believe that they will in droves and in the process we might well see the United States military, the all-volunteer force, devastated by the loss of good people, the failure to recruit new people, and it’s high time that we said no. That kind of wrecking operation, that kind of fundamental transformation of a vital institution of this country in particular in a time of war must not stand!

That’s certainly what we believe here at Secure Freedom Radio. Let me know what you think. Let me know here or on the Frank Gaffney facebook or twitter accounts. We’re interested in your thoughts, this is important to your security and freedom, I hope you’ll take it so.