Sheldon Richman talks about his latest piece for the Libertarian Institute, TGIF: The FDA’s Assault on Tobacco Consumers, where he explores the latest government efforts to regulate every aspect of nicotine products. In addition to its control over products containing actual tobacco, the FDA is now claiming jurisdiction over e-cigarettes—which contain nicotine but not tobacco—and tobacco pipes themselves. Just like alcohol prohibition or the war on drugs, Richman says, making a substance illegal or difficult to get only makes people turn to more potent and more dangerous forms. If the government really cared about fewer people smoking, it would look favorably on the smokeless alternatives. But of course, it does just the opposite.

Discussed on the show:

• “TGIF: The FDA’s Assault on Tobacco Consumers” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act” (FDA)
• A Hobby, Not A Habit – Meditations on Pipe Smoking
• “Scott Gottlieb’s FDA Is Moving Toward a Stealth Ban on Cigarettes and Cigars” (Reason.com)
• Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use
• The Myth of Mental Illness: Foundations of a Theory of Personal Conduct
• Ceremonial Chemistry: The Ritual Persecution of Drugs, Addicts, and Pushers, Revised Edition

Sheldon Richman is the executive editor of the Libertarian Institute and the author of America’s Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited. Follow him on Twitter @SheldonRichman.

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.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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Scott interviews John V. Walsh about nuclear disarmament and Daniel Ellsberg’s book, The Doomsday Machine. Walsh explains that we don’t actually have to completely abandon all nuclear weapons—the important thing is that they be taken off of the hair-trigger alerts that could so easily bring about global catastrophe. He admits that there is some value in having deterrents against regime change and aggressive war, but we should try to abolish first strike capabilities. Despite the potential for genocide, the political and media establishment, as well as the military-industrial complex, seem totally unwilling to discuss this issue.

Discussed on the show:

• “Dismantling the Doomsday Machines” (Antiwar.com Original)
• The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner
• Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
• Nuclear Freeze campaign
• Global Zero

John V. Walsh is a writer and former medical school professor. He contributes regularly at Antiwar.com, Consortium News, DissidentVoice.org, and The Unz Review.

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.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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Daniel McAdams discusses Venezuela’s recent political upheaval, which he fears may prompt direct U.S. intervention. Lots of Americans, particularly on the political right, are decrying Venezuela’s socialism and claiming that it’s America’s duty as a champion of capitalism to intervene. But the reality is that Venezuela has had some form of socialism for a lot longer than it’s had Maduro, and it would probably still be socialist if he were removed, only things would be even worse. Not to mention how socialized the supposedly free market United States is. Scott and McAdams also fear the moral hazard created by America threatening to intervene, since opposition groups may now have incentive toward more chaos and violence.

Discussed on the show:

• “Call U.S. Move on Venezuela What It Is: Regime Change” (Bloomberg)
• Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
• Colour revolution
• “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (2003)” (IMDb)

Daniel McAdams is the executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity and the co-host of the Ron Paul Liberty Report. Follow him on Twitter @DanielLMcAdams and read all of his work over at Antiwar.com.

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.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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Retired Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis tells Scott why it would be better for everyone involved if the U.S. simply pulls its troops out of Syria now. If we had gotten out when President Trump initially called for withdrawal in December, he explains, the soldiers who died there recently wouldn’t have been around to get killed. And the longer America remains, the more soldiers are exposed to that kind of danger going forward. As for the problem of Iran that is so often used as the excuse for staying in Syria, Davis is adamant that they pose no real threat to the U.S., or even to Israel. With a military budget 1/40th the size of America’s, they aren’t anything but a nuisance that could easily be defeated if they ever posed a real threat to American security.

Discussed on the show:

• “Americans killed in Syria show cost in delaying Trump’s directive” (USA Today)
• National Defense Authorization Act

Daniel Davis did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his time in the army. He writes a weekly column for National Interest and is the author of the reports “Dereliction of Duty II: Senior Military Leaders’ Loss of Integrity Wounds Afghan War Effort” and “Go Big or Go Deep: An Analysis of Strategy Options on Afghanistan.” Find him on Twitter @DanielLDavis1.

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.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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Nasser Arrabyee comes back on the show with the latest on the U.S.-backed Suadi war in Yemen. He explains that although the ceasefire in Hodeidah has been going on over a month, negotiations have otherwise stalled. The sides were supposed to swap prisoners last week for example, but now the deadline for the trade has come and gone. Because of the lack of reliable data, Arrabyee and his colleagues have put together their own casualty figures, estimating that 100,000 civilians have been killed and injured, which does not include starvation and deprivation. The UN still pegs the civilian casualties at 5,000.

Discussed on the show:

• “Full text of the Stockholm Agreement” (OSESGY)
• “S.J.Res.54” (Library of Congress)
• “Congress Can End US Involvement in the War on Yemen” (Antiwar.com Blog)
• “Fatalities in the Yemen Conflict” (Acled Data)
• Save the Children
• “Yemen – Alert: Wed, 2018-10-24” (Famine Early Warning Systems Network)
• “12/20/18 Mark Perry on Trump’s Decision to Withdraw from Syria” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “In Strategic Shift, U.S. Draws Closer to Yemeni Rebels” (WSJ)
• “The U.S. Is On the Side of Terrorists and War Criminals in Yemen” (Yemen Press)

Nasser Arrabyee is a Yemeni journalist based in Sana’a, Yemen. He is the owner and director of yemen-now.com. You can follow him on Twitter @narrabyee.

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.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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Jim Bovard talks about President Trump’s appointee for Attorney General, William Barr, and his support for the Marshals and FBI agents who killed members of the Weaver family in 1992. Barr was Attorney General during the Bush Sr. administration, and helped get the sniper who killed Vicki Weaver acquitted after the deadly standoff at Weaver’s home. Scott and Bovard talk about police violence in general, wondering why white victims and groups like Black Lives Matter seem unwilling to unite after incidents like this or the Bundy standoff in Oregon. Scott sees them as opportunities to present a united front against the real enemy, an all-powerful government that abuses its citizens everyday, even if it isn’t always so well publicized.

Discussed on the show:

• “William Barr’s Connection to Ruby Ridge, Defending FBI Snipers” (The American Conservative)
• Ambush at Ruby Ridge
• Waco siege
• “Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America” (Cato Institute)
• “Osborne Brothers – Rocky Top 1967” (YouTube)
• “Feds Cliven Bundy trial debacle shows why prosecutors must be leashed” (USA Today)
• Montana Freemen
• “The Untold Story of the Texas Biker Gang Shoot-Out” (GQ)
• “Seymour M. Hersh · The Vice President’s Men” (London Review of Books)
• Reporter: A Memoir
• “Seymour Hersh and the Disappearing Iconoclast” (The American Conservative)

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: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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Grant Smith talks to Scott about Israel’s nuclear weapons program, which the United States steadfastly pretends does not exist. Four presidential administrations in a row, he explains, have signed letters promising they will not admit the existence of Israel’s nukes, partly because to do so would be to admit that the U.S. is in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. So why doesn’t Israel just own up to its nuclear program and sign the treaty? Smith thinks it’s because that would undermine their hysterical claims about how dangerous other Middle Eastern countries, like Iran, would be if they got nukes.

Discussed on the show:

• “NSC Swears US policy on Israel’s Nukes Is Legit” (antiwar.com)
• Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
• “The President Executive Order 13526” (National Archives)
• 2005 CIA interrogation videotapes destruction
• Arms Export Control Act

Grant F. Smith is the author of a number of books including Big Israel: How Israel’s Lobby Moves America and Divert!. He is director of the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy in Washington, D.C.

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.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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Sheldon Richman talks about his latest in the TGIF series, “America’s War Culture.” He brings up the disturbing phenomenon that presidents are praised the most when they bomb another country, and that in lists of America’s supposed greatest presidents, those who presided over major wars usually adorn the top. This is obviously a bad incentive from a humanitarian perspective, because anytime the president gets into hot water he knows he can start or escalate a war and immediately receive praise from the media and a jump in popularity. This has been true so far of President Trump as well, although he seems surprisingly eager to pull the U.S. out of Syria and Afghanistan. In general, Richman says this blind opposition to Trump among democrats has come to totally dominate their party, and may haunt them when one of their own eventually takes power, with republicans then empowered to use the same tactics they deployed against Trump.

Discussed on the show:

• “TGIF: America’s War Culture” (The Libertarian Institute)
• “Paul on Syria: ‘I’m very proud of the president’” (CNN Video)
• “Agonizing over Afghanistan” (Project Syndicate)
• “Democratic Party Voters Are Becoming More Pro-war Than Republicans” (The Intercept)
• “Russia-gate Evidence, Please” (Consortiumnews)
• “The Manafort Revelation Is Not a Smoking Gun” (The Nation)

Sheldon Richman is the executive editor of the Libertarian Institute and the author of America’s Counter-Revolution: The Constitution Revisited. Follow him on Twitter @SheldonRichman.

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.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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Gareth Porter talks Trump, Syria, and America’s relationship with Israel. Porter says there are quite a few instances so far in Trump’s presidency where he’s made a public announcement about his plans, and then his aides work behind his back to thwart him. In many of those cases the aides are successful. Porter believes that in the case of withdrawal from Syria, however, Trump is serious about making this happen, and despite an initial delay he’s telling his generals to get it done in about six months. Getting out of Syria, explains Porter, is in the interest of the American people, Syrians, Russia, and Turkey. Even the Kurds will be able to make an alliance to preserve their safety. The only player that can’t stand U.S. withdrawal is Israel, basically because it would give Iran a symbolic victory, which they absolutely cannot tolerate.

Discussed on the show:

• “How Trump Thwarted Calculated Israeli Effort to Keep U.S. in Syria” (The American Conservative)
• “Mike Pompeo to Newsmax TV: US Troops ‘Are Coming Out’ of Syria” (Newsmax.com)
• The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
• Jewish Museum of Belgium shooting
• “Seymour M. Hersh · The Vice President’s Men · LRB 24 January 2019” (London Review of Books)
• Iran–Contra affair
• “Vice Squad” (The American Prospect)

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.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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Dr. Ron Paul joins the show for an assessment of President Trump’s foreign policy so far, about half way into his first term. Paul says that compared with Bush and Obama, Trump doesn’t look too bad. His instincts are better, especially in the way he questions why America even has troops in some of the countries it does, but Paul points out that despite good instincts, most of the bad policies remain in place and there’s been very little troop drawdown so far. President Trump has, however, reiterated in the last several days that he’s serious about withdrawal from Syria and Afghanistan, even after some of his Republican allies contradicted the story.

Discussed on the show:

• “Trump’s Neocons Reverse His Syria Withdrawal Plan” (antiwar.com)

Former congressman and American hero Ron Paul is the host of the Ron Paul Liberty Report and director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. Dr. Paul is the author of numerous books, including Swords into Plowshares and The Revolution: A Manifesto. Follow him on Twitter, @RonPaul.

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.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.

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