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Mike Swanson returns to the show to talk about the state of the economy. He fills Scott in on some of the work he’s done analyzing how economies fare once the national debt-to-GDP ratio reaches a certain height. What he’s found is that serious issues tend to kick in right at the level the US is projected to hit in 2026. He and Scott discuss this and other topics related to the American economy.

Discussed on the show:

• This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff
• Principles for Navigating Big Debt Crises by Ray Dalio
• Soylent Green (IMDb)

Mike Swanson provides investment advice at wallstreetwindow.com and is the author of The War State: The Cold War Origins Of The Military-Industrial Complex And The Power Elite. He also works with the Neopolis Media Group, a group of historians, educators, authors, researchers, and free speech advocates who endeavor to provide original and engaging content, including The Ochelli Effect, and The Lone Gunman Podcast. 

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Roberts and Robers Brokerage Incorporated; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; Libertas Bella; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

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Scott interviews Patrick Martin on his new article series, “The CIA Democrats,” in which he outlines the disturbing trend of dozens of former military commanders, State Department war planners, and outright CIA, FBI, and Military Intelligence agents seeking nomination from the Democratic Party in congressional elections. Their victories would create a strong pro-war faction within the party, since by Martin’s reckoning, only a single one of these candidates has come out with an anti-war position. In some cases it may even technically be illegal for these men and women to seek political office. Unfortunately, Martin explains, most American liberals actually think President Trump isn’t hostile enough to foreign countries, citing his ‘willingness to cozy up to dictators’ in the form of peace talks and aversion to war.

Discussed on the show:

• “The CIA Democrats: Part one” (The World Socialist Web Site)
• Elissa Slotkin
• “A new wave of military vets set sights on Congress” (NBC)
• Church Committee
• “US Nato envoy’s threat to Russia: stop developing missile or we’ll ‘take it out’” (The Guardian)
• “Pelosi: Bush Impeachment `Off the Table’” (New York Times)
• “Wall Street Is Booming Under Trump. But Many of Its Donors Are Embracing Democrats.” (New York Times)
• Seth Moulton

Patrick Martin is the senior national political writer for the World Socialist Web Site, where he is the author of numerous articles.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Tim Shorrock comes back on the show to discuss his latest article at The Nation, “Moon and Kim Stage an Exuberant Summit in Pyongyang“. The two leaders met again recently, he explains, and in a ground-breaking move agreed to begin reducing military tensions between the North and South, including the removal of land mines. As usual, the American media has portrayed the meeting as theater and seems unwilling to support the promising moves toward peace.

Tim Shorrock is the author of Spies For Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing and a regular contributor to The Nation and the Korea Center for Investigative Reporting. Follow him on Twitter @TimothyS.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Jim Bovard is interviewed on his syndicated article “The Unending Bush Torture Scandal“. Jim Comey’s role in saving the torture regime while a Justice Department official and colleague of John Yoo. The mainstream media’s current sainthood of Comey and how it helps to whitewash his participation in the torture program is discussed as well. Comey’s insistence that waterboarding is not torture is also referenced, as well as numerous items from Comey’s memoirs.

Jim Bovard is a columnist for USA Today and the author of Public Policy Hooligan: Rollicking and Wrangling from Helltown to Washington. Find all of his books and read his work on his website and follow him on Twitter @JimBovard.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Zen Cash; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; LibertyStickers.com; and ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.
Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Haitham El-Sabri, Palestinian activist and writer based in Texas, talks about the letter he wrote to the Beto O’Rourke campaign asking him about his position for on Israel and Palestine. The responsive he received was boilerplate support for Israel. El-Zabri talks about how this should be disappointing to everyone, and especially progressives who support O’Rourke.

You can see the contents of the letter here.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Gareth Porter is interviewed on his article for Truthdig, “Can Trump Take Down the American Empire?” Porter talks about revelations in the Bob Woodward book “Fear”, about the Trump presidency, and how they may pertain to the American Empire. Porter also talks about the Trump presidency, North Korea, and Iran.

Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist on the national security state, and author of Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare. Follow him on Twitter @GarethPorter and listen to Gareth’s previous appearances on the Scott Horton Show.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Major Danny Sjursen comes back on the show to talk about the blowback from America’s many wars in the Middle East. He explains a process with which listeners of this show will no doubt be familiar, by which the U.S. sets itself up for future wars by arming and training a generation of young rebels to help fight the current wars. All too often, the veterans on America’s side of the war then become either extremists or a part of the next brutal regime that takes the place of the old one—justification for more war either way.

Discussed on the show:

• “Backfire, a Generation of American Folly” (TomDispatch.com)
• Haqqani network
• CIA backing of Al-Nusra
• Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting
• Fortress on a Hill Podcast

Danny Sjursen is a major in the U.S. army and former history instructor at West Point. He writes regularly for TomDispatch.com and he’s the author of “Ghost Riders of Baghdad: Soldiers, Civilians, and the Myth of the Surge.” Follow him on Twitter @SkepticalVet.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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Filmmaker Dan Cohen comes back on the show to discuss his latest project, “The Syria Deception,” a short documentary exposing the propaganda campaign in Hollywood and the media to rehabilitate Al-Qaeda in the eyes of the American public. Cohen and Scott discuss America’s role in instigating the war in Syria and how, more broadly, U.S. intervention triggers ever worse violence by inciting blowback from Middle Eastern civilians bent on vengeance.

Discussed on the show:

• Killing Gaza
• Grayzone Project
• The Syria Deception: Al-Qaeda Goes to Hollywood
• Bana al-Abed
• Northern Storm Brigade
• Tulsi Gabbard
• Ahmed Chalabi
• Manchester Arena bombing
• ‘America can easily be moved’
• White Helmets
• “Right Said Fred perform anti-Assad version of ‘I’m too sexy’” (Independent)

Dan Cohen is a correspondent for RT American, as well as a filmmaker, cinematographer, and editor. His website is dancohenmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @dancohen3000.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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William Hartung joins the show to give his views on President Trump’s proposed Space Force. He explains that American satellites are in fact vulnerable to attack by foreign powers, but that a space force is a highly impracticable approach to protecting them, and one that is more likely to provoke attack than to prevent it. The idea of a Space Force is popular, however, because the arms contractors know it will mean more money for them, the existing efforts at space warfare within the Air Force (which are considerable) would get more funding and authority with their own branch of the military, and finally, Trump himself knows it’s just a popular talking point that his supporters are enchanted with.

Discussed on the show:

• “9/21/18 William Hartung on the Military-Industrial Complex and Yemen” (Libertarian Institute)
• “Trump’s Space Force: Smoke and Mirrors or a Step Towards War in Space?” (tomdispatch.com)
• “F-35B Stealth Fighter Bombs Ground Target in Afghanistan” (The Diplomat)
• “F-35 strike fighter crashes in South Carolina” (Burlington Free Press)
• Outer Space Treaty
• Boeing YAL-1
• Edward Teller
• Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States
• Big Israel: How Israel’s Lobby Moves America

William Hartung is director of the Arms and Security Project at the Center for International Policy, and the author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex. Find him on Twitter @WilliamHartung.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Zen Cash; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and TheBumperSticker.com.

Check out Scott’s Patreon page.

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