Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, a sociologist and editor of Pulsemedia.org, discusses his article "Obama won't end the drone war, but Pakistan might;" why Pakistan's newly elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif is empowered to say no to Washington's demands; and the daily bombings in Pakistan that are blowback from US drone killings.
07/05/13 – Greg Gordon – The Scott Horton Show
McClatchy journalist Greg Gordon discusses the NSA's massive, pervasive surveillance capability; NSA Director Keith Alexander's "least untruthful" testimony to Congress; and the end of privacy.
Thomas Jefferson First Inaugural Address March 4, 1801
Friends and fellow citizens, Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow-citizens which is here assembled to express my grateful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the weakness of my...
James Madison: The Most Dreaded Enemy of Liberty April 20, 1795
Of all the enemies of true liberty, war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out offices, honors and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of seducing the minds,...
Washington’s Farewell Address 1796
Friends and Citizens: The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the...
John Quincy Adams on U.S. Foreign Policy 1821
And now, friends and countrymen, if the wise and learned philosophers of the elder world, the first observers of nutation and aberration, the discoverers of maddening ether and invisible planets, the inventors of Congreve rockets and Shrapnel shells, should find their hearts disposed to enquire what has America done for the benefit of mankind? Let our answer be this: America, with the same voice which spoke herself into existence as a nation, proclaimed to mankind the inextinguishable rights...
On Conscription by Daniel Webster 1814
The House had under consideration a bill proposing to draft men for service in the War of 1812. MR. Webster: Mr. Chairman: After the best reflection which I have been able to bestow on the subject of the bill before you, I am of the opinion that its principles are not warranted by any provision of the constitution. It appears to me to partake of the nature of those other propositions for military measures, which this session, so fertile in invention, has produced. It is of the same class with...
07/04/13 – Robert Higgs – The Scott Horton Show
Robert Higgs, Senior Fellow in Political Economy at The Independent Institute, discusses his classic The Transformation of the American Economy 1865-1914; the July 4th celebration of statism and American mythology; the real motivations of our founding fathers; and the heroic individuals who aren't included in mainstream history books.
07/04/13 – The Other Scott Horton – The Scott Horton Show
The Other Scott Horton, "No Comment" blogger for Harper's Magazine, discusses how the NSA's surveillance program could threaten the Atlantic Alliance; the illegal US-led hijacking of the Bolivian president's airplane in Europe on suspicion whistleblower Edward Snowden was aboard; and the US media's coverage of Snowden himself, rather than the damning information he leaked about massive government spying.
07/04/13 – Adam Morrow – The Scott Horton Show
IPS News journalist Adam Morrow discusses the Egyptian military coup against Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi; undoing Egypt's democratic elections that resulted in Islamist parties dominating government; and doubts about the military's promise of new elections in six months, with Egyptians more polarized than ever before.
07/03/13 – Will Grigg – The Scott Horton Show
Will Grigg, author of Liberty in Eclipse, discusses the FOX propaganda line on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and Russia's extradition refusal; why the US more closely resembles an evil Leninist empire than does Russia; our above-the-law, "soft totalitarian" government; and the European sky-piracy carried out against Bolivian President Evo Morales.
07/03/13 – Jason Leopold – The Scott Horton Show
Al Jazeera journalist Jason Leopold discusses the widespread breakdown of safeguards at Gitmo that contributed to prisoner Adnan Latif's death in 2012; the Guantanamo policy changes that brought on the prisoner hunger strike; and the bipartisan political opportunism that kept Latif imprisoned despite being cleared for release by the Bush and Obama administrations.
Stupidity or Plan?
By Scott Horton Future of Freedom Foundation Are America’s disasters abroad a result of stupidity or some elaborate plan? An observer of modern U.S. foreign policy can be torn on that one. It makes sense that generals, contractors, and other national-security state types will invent and follow a deliberate policy of divide and rule, as well as to create crises to move on to the next big job. But if one looks closely, it does begin to seem that perhaps narrow-minded, shortsighted stupidity is...
07/01/13 – Philip Weiss – The Scott Horton Show
Philip Weiss, founder and co-editor of Mondoweiss, discusses Secretary of State John Kerry's persistent yet futile push for peace talks in Israel; the never-ending colonization of the West Bank; why most Americans have never heard of the Nakba; and mainstream recognition that a Jewish state isn't really necessary.
07/01/13 – Adam Morrow – The Scott Horton Show
IPS News journalist Adam Morrow discusses the huge protests against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi; the Egyptian military's demand that a political settlement be reached within 48 hours, or else; and why the secular Egyptian opposition looks ready to vote for another military dictatorship only two years after deposing Hosni Mubarak.
