Despite my appearance (and my name!), I’m half Irish. I’m even a citizen of Ireland (and the U.S. of course) with two of my grandparents–Irish as Paddy’s Pigs–emigrating from County Mayo through Ellis Island to Brooklyn nearly a hundred years ago.
Being raised by a first generation Brooklynite of purely Irish stock, I absorbed a great deal of Irish culture, lore and attitudes. Perhaps that’s why I’m an anarcho-capitalist: Ireland, I have read, had a thousand years of non-centralized, non-coercive government which was peaceful and orderly and had the happy effect of making its untamed population difficult for the English to conquer. I only discovered this fun fact in my adult life, however. What I gleaned of Ireland in my childhood included, among other things, that the Irish, at least our line, were poor. I also got the impression that the English were not.
General
"Obama Has Neutralized the Anti-War Left"
I came across this video from Time magazine: “10 Questions for Ron Paul” that’s worth sharing. Dr. Paul puts his finger on the problem with Obama’s foreign policy: it neutralizes the anti-war left. (I’ll be discussing this on the show this Saturday–9pm on 750am). I would go further than Dr. Paul, though, and say that it was the plan of the power elite all along to give the people an anti-war, anti-Bush candidate who in the end would follow orders when in the White House.
I believe that’s why Hillary, like the anti-war left, had to be neutralized: because she proved in her time with her husband in the White House that the Clintons could not be counted on to fall on their swords for a cause if it meant jeopardizing a second term. Health care and the ongoing wars are two areas I believe Hillary might have felt she had to tread lightly–Bill gave up on the healthcare plan when the Democrats lost big time in his first midterm election, and Hillary might have been expected to do the same. Not so, Obama, who mysteriously came out of nowhere a few years ago to defeat the heir apparent. He fit the bill perfectly: he had no independent power base in D.C. and had never proven to be his own man.
10 questions with rp
Ron Paul’s Delegate Hunt
Since we’re on the topic of Ron Paul, here’s an interesting article about the Congressman’s delegate strategy. Normally I don’t like getting down and dirty, but I admire these guys trying to beat the filthy establishment at its own game. The problem with giving the government all the power is that access to the power make the power-hungry stop at nothing to get it, while the good people effectively forfeit by remaining gentlemen. The Ron Paul team aren’t even breaking the rules, but the establishment is shocked that the principled idealists have any practical skills and are willing to use them. Funny thing is, Ron Paul, afraid of no one, doesn’t even hide his pragmatic tactics–he said all along he was going for the delegates.
Paul’s Georgia Partisans Grab Gingrich Turf
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on the Afghan Massacre: "War Is Hell"
After the horrible massacre in Afghanistan over the weekend in which 16 Afghani civilians–mostly children–were mowed down in their home in the middle of the night, allegedly by a single unhinged US soldier (although there are reports of two or more “drunk, laughing” US soldiers), Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said, “War is hell.” Panetta said he was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the incident, but he also said this “wasn’t the first and won’t be the last” of this kind of horrible event, adding “I do not believe there is any reason to change our strategy [in Afghanistan] at this time.”
At one time I was stoic about things like this, as Mr. Panetta seems to be. War IS hell and if you have to have war you will have these kinds of horrors. But do we really HAVE to have all this war? I won’t revisit going into Iraq or Afghanistan, or even Libya, but let’s think hard about going into Syria and Iran. When President Obama and others say they will stop at nothing to protect the US or its interests, they are saying they will fight wars for oil or for money or some other economic interest–what else might our interests be? Either our interests are military and in defense of this country or the countries that border us, or they are overseas interests which are purely economic, regardless (I have come to believe) of the lip-service we pay to protecting vulnerable peoples.
The massacre in Afghanistan is evidence of a deep and serious problem. Our military commit atrocities in the prosecution of unjust wars and this behavior destroys the hearts and minds of the men and women who do the bloody work (see second video below). I actually think it even destroys the puppets near the top. I heard rumors (that I believe) claiming that George W. Bush was drinking again before he left office (I actually saw a video showing him drinking a beer in Germany–not the act of a recovering alcoholic) and I suspect we’ll see signs of strain on the psyche of our current commander-in-chief if he continues to play his part and bring us into more wars of aggression.
Here is a video on the reaction in Afghanistan to the massacre.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZZAdVf70OU]
And here is a video I randomly stumbled upon–not looking for soldier confessions, it just happened to pop up. It’s the first video I’ve ever watched on the subject and in the soldier’s matter-of-factness is the chilling ring of truth.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYz5gawnUeY&feature=related]
War IS hell, that is a very apt metaphor, Mr. Panetta, but you better hope that hell is only a figure of speech, because waging unjust wars may pave the road to the real one.
The Monica Perez Show Is Moving to a New Time!
Beginning March 17, I will be on Saturdays from 9pm to 11pm ET on 750AM and, in the Atlanta area, 95.5FM, and of course on line right here and at www.wsbradio.com. Next show we’ll be talking about the real reason we’ll be bombing Iran. Follow the money!!
Latest Show Excerpts
Here are some excerpts from February 25’s show.
In the first excerpt I talk about what a stud Governor Gary Johnson is, how our power elite is more aligned with the international power elite than with us citizens, and that no matter how greedy business is, government gives them the weapons to exploit us. (Toward the end of the clip you will hear me say “it’s all the businessmen” but I misspoke, I meant to say, “It’s all the government.”)
In the second excerpt I mention speaking at the Ron Paul Rally in Marietta. That happened this past Sunday, February 26. You can watch my speech here.
Monica Perez discusses big government, the power elite & Governor Gary Johnson
Monica Perez talks to a caller about being neither dove nor hawk.
Ron Paul Rally Video–I Hope My Mother Doesn't See This!
This is the video from yesterday’s Ron Paul Rally in Marietta Georgia. It was a great day. Ron Paul supporters are so cool: enthusiastic, nice, mellow–it was just awesome. At around 18:30 in this video I tell the story of my becoming aware of Ron Paul complete with a little imitation of my mother… [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE6h6XTwqUU&feature=related]
Full Interview of Governor Gary Johnson
I had the pleasure of interviewing Governor Gary Johnson last week in studio. Governor Johnson was a two-term governor of New Mexico and is now running for the Libertarian nomination for President. I played excerpts from the interview on my show Saturday, but here is the whole thing: governor_johnson pt 1 governor_johnson pt 2
Ron Paul Highlights from Arizona Debate (2/22/2012)
My favorite moment in the debate was when John King asked Ron Paul why he called Rick Santorum a fake and Ron Paul looks into the camera, cute as a button, and says, “Cause he’s a fake!” It was downhill from there for Santorum. In case you need some evidence that Santorum is a fake, check out my recent blogpost: Will the Real Rick Santorum Please Stand Up?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJIENYEhkJ4]
Does the Government Target People Because of Their Political Views and Actions? I Sure Hope Not!
I have been noticing increasing incidents of government overreach, government abuse of power and even witch-hunts through which the government goes after people for political reasons. In this podcast I touch on a few recent examples. Please comment or email me with more as you notice them. I’d like to make this a regular part … Read more
Monica Perez Guest Appearance on Butler on Business
It was my GREAT pleasure last week to be an in-studio guest of Alan Butler and Jason Riddle on Bloomberg Radio’s Butler on Business. They have posted the audio on their website if you care to listen: Monica Perez explains what it means to go the “Full Rothbard”