Securing America with Frank Gaffney Podcast

David Satter, Senator Jon Kyl, John Fonte, Gordon Chang

What will 12 more years of authoritarian Putin rule mean for democracy in Russia and the future of US-Russia relations? Expert on Russia and the Soviet Union and author of the Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union, David Satter relays his views on the recent disclosure by Vladimir Putin that he will switch places with the current President, Dmitry Medvedev. What does this switch mean for the international community and, more importantly, for the national security of the United States? By admitting Putin has more influence in Russia than Medvedev, he is dropping any pretense that there is political competition in Russia. The Russian leadership wanted to be perceived as a democracy, without being one in reality. This sort of leadership is a throwback to the Soviet regime, which attempted to create a substitute for reality based merely on ideology. This habit of fooling and manipulating is deeply rooted in modern Russian culture. If this continues, Western leaders such as Obama will continue to be seduced by the Kremlin-like Russian government. Next, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona joins Frank to give his expert opinion on how Putin “ripped the mask off of” the current affairs in Russia. According to Senator Kyl, this is merely a continuation of the Soviet days, where the leadership took any effort to advance Russian interests, while harming those of the United States. The Obama administration is further curbing US interests abroad and exposing our weaknesses by ratifying the New START treaty. While this treaty is the most important treaty passed with the Russians for President Obama, it was an ill-advised method of arms reduction. The only means of reducing the impact that this treaty will have on the United States under the leadership of President Obama, argues Senator Kyl, is instigating a major push back from the Senate. The Senate must make its voice heard in order to stop Obama from reducing our nuclear deterrent plan. Additionally, the United States, by putting defense on the chopping block is “inviting trouble by not being strong.” John Fonte, of the Hudson Institute discusses his new book, “Sovereignty or Submission: Will Americans Rule Themselves or be Ruled by Others?” Sovereignty can simply be defined as a “self-government political community with nothing ruling above the Constitution.” The globalist movement occurring within the United States is sabotaging the supremacy of the Constitution. In the minds of these globalists, international law should dictate rulings in the American Supreme Court. This “downloading of international law” into the American judiciary system is even threatening to define the US’s role in war. According to Protocol 1 of the Geneva Convention, of which the United States is not a signatory, bombing raids can only be carried out after notifying civilians in the region. This has no place in the constitutional judiciary system, as judges should interpret law and not create it. Writer at Forbes.com and resident China expert here at Secure Freedom Radio, Gordon Chang concludes today’s show with the Chinese angle on Putin’s decision to swap places with Medvedev. Putin has always had an interesting relationship with China, as he is on the one hand competing with them and on the other hand participating in mischievous deeds with Beijing. However, Russia is facing the continued threat from the Chinese who are crossing the border and settling in far-east Russia. These Chinese are boosting the economy from trading and other industrious activities. This could be seen as an attempt by the Chinese to reclaim the portion of Siberia that they lost during the Qing Dynasty.

Pratish Shah, Caroline Glick, Rep. Sue Myrick, Gordon Chang

Is it possible to train our soldiers in combat situations without physically putting them through the trials of war? Director of Marketing for Quantum3D, Pratish Shah, says that his company already has a solution to this dilemma. The Expedition DI is a 3D digital combat simulator that puts combat soldiers in real life war simulations. The combat soldiers wear a head mounted display and a visual computer backpack that creates virtual imagery in any virtual world situation. The simulator is able to create the same environments such as marketplaces in Iraq and Afghanistan that would test combat soldiers’ ability to distinguish between civilians and enemies. This level of confusion or “fog of war,” have helped deployed soldiers in preparing them for realistic urban or rural warfare situations, as well as re-hone the skills of recently returned combat fighters. Shah says that the simulator is so realistic that troops are winded and sweating after being fully immersed in these combat situations. The value of the Expedition DI was recognized as the Industry’s first self-contained combat infantry simulator and honored with an editor’s choice award from Military Embedded Systems. Next, Senior Fellow for Middle East Affairs at the Center for Security Policy and deputy managing editor for The Jerusalem Post, Caroline Glick joins Frank to discuss the UN follies occurring regarding a solution to Palestinian statehood. Glick believes that this debate in front of the UN will only amount in escalated attacks against Israel. Additionally, she imagines that the conflict will drag out for weeks or months, in which time the UN will extract sufficient concessions from Israel to shut up Palestine. The current debate is not necessarily Palestinian statehood, as the UN has already twice recognized Palestine, but whether or not Palestine has a standing in the International Criminal Court, argues Glick. Furthermore, Israel is undermining its own leverage and the leverage of its international friends in the Israel-Palestine conflict as it refuses to cut off aid to Palestine. While some believe that Mahmoud Abbas, the current President of the Palestinian National Authority, has agreed to a two-state solution, Glick refutes these claims. In her view, Abbas has continually provided Hamas with funding and has tried to instigate political warfare and the destruction of the Israeli state. The Honorable Representative Sue Myrick of North Carolina’s 9th district spends a little time with Secure Freedom Radio to talk about the recent intelligence hearings on the situation of al Qaeda ten years after the 9/11 attacks. As Chairman of the House Intelligence Subcommittee on Terrorism, Human Intelligence, Analysis and Counterintelligence, Rep. Myrick considers these hearing to be a good step in getting the two committees together in open dialogue about the situation. While she states that al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan have been sufficiently weakened, she is worried that the organization is trying to recruit Americans to join in the effort to bring down the United States. This makes the situation even direr, as we no longer know who they are or where they are. Rep. Myrick urges the Obama administration to pay more attention to this matter and fully dedicate them to a counter-radicalization program. Rather than focusing on the growing Islamist influence abroad and in our own nation, however, the administration is trying to shut down any viewpoint on the issue that contradicts the administration’s own viewpoint. Writer for Forbes.com and weekly regular at Secure Freedom Radio, Gordon Chang concludes today’s show enlightening us on the growing tensions over the South China Sea. China has claimed all of the South China Sea as its own internal lake. This poses a great threat to international trade, as 50% of the world’s cargo shipping passes through the South China Sea. This declaration by China of ownership of the South China Sea and its drilling in the South China Sea also challenge the United States’ dedication to freedom of navigation. Moreover, Chang gives us an insight into the change of opinion happening in the Philippines. When its nice policies have failed to pacify Beijing, the leadership of the Philippines has reached out to the United States military.

Bing West, Arieh Eldad, Lt. Col. Ralph Peters, Gordon Chang

Over the weekend, the Taliban launched an attack on a US outpost in Afghanistan, injuring seventy-seven US troops. Author and Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs under Ronald Reagan, Francis “Bing” West joins Frank to discuss this attack on a small US outpost and how it exposes the weaponry inability of the Taliban to conduct a massive attack on or near major city. Mr. West, who just returned from a trip to Afghanistan, continues his segment enlightening us on the change in combat strategy occurring in Afghanistan. West also explains how Lieutenant General John Allen is focused on a “transition” strategy in which the US would turn the war over to Afghan forces, as opposed to General David Petraeus’s failed counterinsurgency strategy. Petraeus, West argues, came into Afghanistan with the idea that he could implement the same strategy that he used in Iraq. His focus on counterinsurgency was set up for failure, as West believes that only a shift to a big advisory effort would solve the problems in Afghanistan. Next, Chairman of the “Hatikva Party” of the Knesset for the National Union, Physician and Professor Arieh Eldad gives us his take on the recent storming by protestors of the Israeli embassy in Egypt. He further explains how Egypt continues to pose a serious threat to Israeli national security and how Israel paid very dearly for the thirty-year peace agreement with Egypt in which they handed over the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. Moreover, he expresses his fears that the Arab Spring might just be wishful thinking on the part of pro-democratic organizations, since most other organizations in the region do not want full democracy. Eldad also explains the extensive Islamization of Turkey and the threat it poses towards the democratic agenda of NATO and its allies. Retired United States Lt. Col. Ralph Peters and author of the recent book, Lines of Fire, Ralph Peters talks about the profitable business of scare-mongering that has become quite influential in the years following the 9/11 attacks. He believes that Americans should have a healthy and balanced relationship between caution and paranoia in regards to a potential terrorist attack happening again in the United States. Like the battle that occurred after Pearl Harbor, Peters says the United States went to war with al Qaeda and fatally weakened the organization in the process. He expresses the need to knock off political correctness and establish a more realistic approach to national security. Peters and Frank have a friendly disagreement on the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Western World, as well as the threats that al Qaeda’s regional franchises present for the Middle East. Writer at Forbes.com and resident China expert here at Secure Freedom Radio, Gordon Chang concludes today’s show examining the issues facing the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China. The new candidate for the Taiwanese presidency, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, if elected would move Taiwan further towards an official declaration of independence. He also enlightens us on the problems facing China’s currency manipulation. Chang expresses the need for the United States to increase pressure on Chinese currency manipulation since they have already conducted economic warfare on us. Moreover, Chang discusses with Frank the arms sales that China conducted with Qaddafi in July and August of this year. He states how this reflects badly on China in the international community.

Walid Phares, Gordon Chang, Andy McCarthy

In 10 years after 9/11, where do we stand?  “Basically we are still in 1942,” says Dr. Walid Phares.  Phares, Professor at the National Defense University, joins Frank for two segments to discuss the state of America and the Middle East in the War on Terror, 10 years removed.  “Not only the enemy is not defeated, the enemy is not even identified,” he says, remarking how in the three years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States had both recognized and secured victory against Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan in the Second World War.  Shaped by campuses, the media and the bureaucracy, today the national dialogue merely asks, “Is Jihad 24/7 Holy War, or Yoga?” Phares continues his discussion by detailing the “neo-Ottoman” rise of Turkey, and its increasing tensions with Israel.  The author of The Coming Revolution: Struggle for Freedom in the Middle East explains the “Erdogan Flotilla,” and what we should be weary of in the region, from Gaza to Syria. Then, Gordon Chang provides his weekly China update, and delves into their “Gangster trade.” By ignoring environmental rules and imposing export restrictions, China is capturing virtually all the world’s rare earth production.  These materials are vital to advanced weapons technology, and China is “engaging in every predatory trade practice imaginable” to secure these valuable resources, and make the U.S. military beholden to the Communist regime.  Chang then explains why we should kick out Huawei, the telecommunications company founded by a retired People’s Liberation Army Officer, and the latest on Iran’s nuclear program. Finally, weekly commentator Andy McCarthy, Contributing Editor of National Review, also considers the condition of America 10 years after 9/11.  McCarthy is pleased that contrary to campaign promises, the Obama Administration has bought onto the counter-terrorism strategy of Bush and Cheney, by keeping Guantanamo Bay open, maintaining military tribunals and increasing the use of predator drones, putting us in a better place than we were ten years ago.  However, on the Ideological front, “we are in a much worse position,” he says.  “We’ve made great progress against the militant Jihad and the ‘Soft Jihad’ is making great progress against us, unfortunately,” he concludes.  The author of The Grand Jihad, also comments on the successes of the NYPD thanks to Commissioner Ray Kelly’s intelligence-based counter-terrorism, derived from “the quaint notion that the police actually have to do the police work” in keeping the greatest target in the U.S. safe, nearly 10 years and counting.

Caroline Glick, Luke Bencie, Gordon Chang

On today’s edition of Secure Freedom Radio, Frank is concerned that while we may be distracted by hurricanes and earthquakes, our country continues on course toward European style multiculturalism and “diversity,” allowing groups like the Muslim Brotherhood to systematically destroy the West from within.  Call him crazy, he says, but as the Director of National Intelligence relies on Muslim Brotherhood for “advice, counsel and wisdom,” the new Obama strategy for local law enforcement requires collaborating with enemy front organizations, and Hillary Clinton works with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to curb expression that will have “negative consequences for Muslims,” Frank merely points out the sinister goals of these organizations, namely a global caliphate.  While the Left collaborates with totalitarian states, Frank is inclined to listen to the warnings of Mark Steyn, Bat Ye’or and Andy McCarthy who are not disillusioned by a post-modernist and post-nationalist ideology that capitulates to civilization jihad.  It is past the time for Americans to awaken to the dangers of Shariah. Caroline Glick, of the Jerusalem Post, joins Frank to discuss the recent attacks on Israel from the Sinai Peninsula, where the Egyptian military is turning a blind eye to the increasingly lawless area.  Once a buffer for Israel’s security, the August 18th attack from Sinai has proved the nefarious situation our ally finds itself in the wake of Egypt’s Arab Spring.  The Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy says Israel must resist requests to amend its longstanding peace treaty with Egypt, which would only invite more aggression from its adversaries.  Glick also informs on the upcoming UN General Assembly vote for a Palestinian state and why “anything less than a complete veto would be unacceptable” from the President. Next, Luke Bencie, Managing Director of Security Management International, explains the growing phenomenon of industrial espionage and how he protects government and business from this little known threat.  In this past year, $300 billion in intellectual property was stolen or attempted to be stolen.  Whether state-sponsored or private industrial espionage, “old school KGB” style thieves are stealing secrets and selling to the highest bidder, says Bencie, whose company works to equip companies to meet this risk.  Bencie, the public point-of-contact for all new business inquires at SMI, also gives tips for keeping your secrets safe given the many ways we are vulnerable as “gaining access to your email information while you’re ‘WiFi-ing’ in the lounge is pretty easy to compromise,” he says. Finally, Gordon Chang, of Forbes, gives us his weekly China update, where the latest wikileaks cable could prove the most detrimental to America’s security.  The document, sent by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last January to the embassies of Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand, warned against an impending Chinese nuclear missile launch.  The question Chang asks is how did we know?  With a retired People’s Liberation Army General, Xu Guangyu, stating “if China could no longer keep secret its missile launches, it would not be able to launch a surprise attack on the US,” it is clear what the Communist country has been planning and “we ignore at our own peril,” says Chang.

Amb. Yoram Ettinger, Ken Jenkins, Richard Holm, Gordon Chang

Former Israeli Ambassador Yoram Ettinger joins Secure Freedom Radio to discuss the upheavals in the Middle East, namely in Libya with the recent reports of Qaddaffi’s imminent fall.  While some praise the so-called “Facebook revolutions,” Amb. Ettinger explains why the tribal, ethnic and religious fragmentation of the region will not allow for a march to Democracy.  The rise of the rebel forces in Libya may be another example of the ascendancy of radical elements due to America’s eroding posture.  A consultant to Israel’s Cabinet, Ettinger explains why the elections in Egypt will be very telling for the future role of the Muslim Brotherhood, and also how Sinai is rapidly becoming a “mini Afghanistan” with a surge of terrorist attacks, making it apparent that the U.S. and Israel secure victory in the region, not coexistence or cease fire agreements. Ken Jenkins, Deputy Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Secret Service, heads the counterfeiting branch, a task that poses new challenges in the digital age.  Jenkins breaks down the distinctions between foreign and domestic counterfeiting and and tells of the work he is doing to combat it.  The agency was first established for this purpose, has since seized over $129 million in fake counterfeit bills through “Project Colombia,” and also works against cyber crime and identity theft.  Counterfeiting is most prevalent in Colombia and Peru, with the Peruvian note appearing most in the U.S.  Agent Jenkins, a 20-year veteran of the Secret Service, also explains how investigations are underway into possible counterfeiting originating from Hezbollah and North Korea. Then, Richard L. Holm, former station chief for the CIA, joins Frank to discuss his new book, The Craft We Chose: My Life in the CIA, an account of his work within the agency beginning in 1961, at the height of the Cold War.  Holm explains why intelligence gathering is infinitely more difficult today than in the past.  “You simply don’t meet these guys at a cocktail party,” says Holm, about our enemies in the War of Terror, as Jihadists transcend national borders.  The recipient of the Distinguished Intelligence Medal, the highest award the agency can bestow, Holm also details his courageous story working in Laos and the Congo, where a plane crash left him stranded for 10 days.  Suffering from severe burns covering 30 percent of his body, only a balm made from snake fat from the Natives saved his life.  His remarkable story magnifies the importance of human intelligence in warfare, and is demonstrable of the valor of our clandestine services. Finally, after the Mr. Biden goes to China excursion, Gordon Chang, of Forbes, recaps the venture in which the Vice President made his best attempt at placating the Chinese.  Chang explains why his efforts only “made the Dragon’s ego bigger,” in a culture that respects strength, not weakness.  Our resident expert on all things Asia discusses how the Communist structure prevents any transfer in leadership from impacting the government, saying “you could put the Pope in as General Secretary of the Communist Party” and nothing would change.  He also notes that America is encouraging all the wrong tendencies in China by not selling F-16s to Taiwan, and predicts more protests will spring up in the country.

Clifford May, Barry Rubin, Sen. Jim Demint, Gordon Chang

Foundation for Defense of Democracies President Clifford May joins Frank to discuss our current foreign policy woes, including the practice he terms, “Borrowing from the Communists to pay the Jihadis.”  May states the irony of the historically unprecedented transfer of wealth from the West to the Middle East, made possible by borrowing from China.  And what is it supplying the Chinese?  “I don’t think they’ll use it for No Child Left Behind programs…[or] for health care.  They’ll use it to build up their military,” says May.  He also gives his take on the perils of Rostam Ghasemi of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps taking command at OPEC, the Neo-sovietism policies of Russia under Putin and Medvedev and finally how economic dynamism can bring America back to dominance. Then, Barry Rubin, Director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center documents the latest development in Turkey’s transformation towards stealth Islamist government after the mass military resignations, last week.  The Editor of the Turkish Studies journal explains how Turkey has inched closer and closer to an Islamic Theocracy as nearly every system from the media, courts, to education and now the army has been overtaken by the radical Justice and Development Party.  Rubin also unravels the guiding philosophy of the Obama Administration towards Islamic extremism, in a word: denial. One of our favorite Senators, Jim Demint, author of The Great American Awakening: Two Years that Changed America, Washington and Me gives a behind the scenes look at the Senate in a time of the Tea Party, town halls and rallies across the country.  “I have no power at all unless I’m standing with millions of Americans who feel the same way,” says the Senator, who explains that it is really the next two years that will determine the future of our nation.  Via the Senate Conservatives Fund, Demint helped elect Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey and others last November, and explains how he will continue to fight in the election year ahead, and why now more than ever we must preserve “Peace through Strength.” Finally, Gordon Chang previews Vice President Joe Biden’s upcoming trip to Beijing, which he affirms will be another opportunity for the Administration to bow down to China.  “The Chinese should be coming to Washington from China, not the other way around,” says Chang, as he predicts they will lecture the U.S. on the debt and the impending arms package with Taiwan.  The Forbes contributor explains the importance of Taiwan, why we must sell the Taiwanese all they are willing to buy and China’s strategic play in Australia to pry them away from their alliance with America.

Jon Perdue, Mark Krikorian, Ryan Mauro, Gordon Chang

Will a downgrade in our credit rating lead to a downgrade in our nation’s security?  Standard and Poor’s announcement on Friday comes on the heels of a significant cuts to the military budget and significant growth of threats around the world.  But first, Jon Perdue, of the Fund for American Studies, joins Frank to discuss Hugo Chavez’s use of Cuba’s universal health care and the latest developments with an alleged deal between U.S. Federal Agents and the Sinaloa drug cartel.  Perdue reports on Chavez’s visits for cancer treatment from a Spanish Doctor in Cuba, and points to his younger brother, Adán Chávez, as a possible successor in the event of his death.  He also informs on the newly surfaced tape of Attorney General Eric Holder speaking in 2009 about Operation Gunrunner, proof against his current stance of ignorance on Fast and Furious.  Perdue, the Director of Latin America Programs, also explains how lawsuits of President Rafael Correa have “frozen free speech in Ecuador,” as more and more nations in the region begin to take pages out of the Chavez playbook. Next, Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies Mark Krikorian discusses the latest activities along our Southern border.  Unlike the metaphorical U.S. “War on Drugs,” Mexico is literally engaged in a military struggle with drug cartels, threatening to leave a power vacuum for terrorist groups like Hezbollah to fill so near to home.  Krikorian explains how the notion of a more secure border than ever is becoming a punch line with a fence that “your Grandmother could hop over.”  Krikorian also calls attention to the significant Lebanese and Iraqi immigrant communities in Mexico, as well as the legal battle between the Justice Department and Alabama, which will likely need to be settled by the Supreme Court. Ryan Mauro, Founder of Worldthreats.com, joins Secure Freedom Radio to examine the possible repercussions of the devastating helicopter crash in Afghanistan carrying 30 American soldiers, 22 of whom were members of Seal Team Six.  Mauro explains how the insurgent strike may serve as retaliation in the minds of the Taliban for the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and hence boost their morale.  Mauro, author of Death to America: The Unreported Battle of Iraq, also explains why the fall of the Assad regime in Syria would be good for the West, the increasingly likelihood of Turkish intervention there, and finally the perilous situation in Yemen, where all forces vying for control are antithetical to the U.S. Gordon Chang, our resident Asia expert, concludes today’s show by discussing S&P’s downgrade of America’s credit rating and how it has proven China to be an enemy of the United States.  After years of seeking to supplant the U.S. Dollar, immediately following the downgrade China’s official news agency Xinhua suggested the international community should monitor U.S. monetary printing.  The State-owned People’s Daily also called for treasury holdings to be used as a “financial weapon” against the U.S.  Chang explains how our trade-deficit with China is financing their military build-up, and how President Obama refuses to mention the hostile and belligerent China regime, and Washington’s refusal to confront the ugly truth that the Chinese want to do us harm.

Jamie Fly, David Yerushalmi, Roger Noriega, Gordon Chang

Jamie Fly, Executive Director of Foreign Policy Initiative, joins Frank to discuss the latest debt ceiling compromise and to what extent the Defense budget will be cut. Fly notes that in the initial stages the details are few, however, the two phases of the compromise appear to amount close to $1 trillion in cuts, over 10 years. “It hasn’t been defense that has been ballooning over the last few years,” says Fly, rather that the Department has actually been shrinking, in lieu of an expanding domestic agenda. With an Administration that prefers providing food stamps to providing for the common defense, Fly relates the debate with the determination of what role in the world the U.S. will have in the future.

Then, David Yerushalmi gives his response to a scathing article from the New York Time’s, which names him the “Man Behind the Anti-Shariah Movement.” The Times rebukes Yerushalmi’s attempts to uphold the Constitution by introducing the American Laws for American Courts Act that prohibits the use of International law in the U.S. The paper paints Yerushalmi, who provides General Counsel to the Center for Security Policy, as a fear monger, while dismissing the notion that Shariah poses a threat at all. The Anti-Defamation League also accuses Yerushalmi of “anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant and anti-black bigotry,” while the Times fails even a passing reference to the tenets of Islamic law, which calls for the stoning of homosexuals. These accusations are “par for the course,” says Yerushalmi, who defends his efforts amidst a media narrative that seeks to make the voices against radical Islam appear even more extremist than those Yerushalmi is fighting against.

Next, Roger Noriega, our resident Latin America expert, offers insights into Hugo Chavez and his protégés. Although Chavez recently celebrated his 57^th birthday, Noriega, Visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, reports that he may not live to see his country’s 2012 elections. Members of the regime are “not a sentimental bunch,” says Noriega, and the Cuban-backed affiliates are quickly posturing for power in the event of Chavez’s death. Noriega also informs on President Rafael Correa’s assault on Ecuador’s free press and other Chavez loyalists in the region.

Finally, Gordon Chang, of Forbes, reports from Sydney, Australia, as that the nation may move away from the U.S. toward China, with whom its economy is closely tied. Back in Washington, Chang gives his take on the Law of the Sea Treaty, concluding that it is not treaties, but the U.S. Navy that insures the peace of international waters. Chang also offers an explanation as to why China is moving to buy Greek debt, in what he describes as terrible economics.

Douglas Murray, Cynthia Ayers, Jeremy Rabkin, Gordon Chang

Douglas Murray, Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, joins Frank to discuss the massacre in Norway and warns against those who may use the tragedy for political motivations. Murray cites the division between the urging to not jump to conclusions when an attacker cries “Allahu Akbar,” versus immediately asking “Why did Sarah Palin do it?” when Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot. Murray sees parallels to the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, as he understands Anders Behring Breivik to be a lone wolf with an “entirely insane view,” and fears the attack in Olso will bring more calls for censorship in Europe, much like Tucson brought cries for “civility,” in America. Next, Cynthia Ayers, Vice President of EMPact America, discusses how our electric grid is vulnerable to an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) event, either naturally from a geo-magnetic storm or by an attack from our adversaries. Ayers’ warns that a high altitude blast could devastate the electric grid, knocking the U.S. back to the technology of the 1800s, leading to massive casualties. With the recent news of China’s development of an EMP weapon, as well as being overdue for a geo-magnetic storm, Ayers encourages the passing of the SHIELD act in congress to protect the grid. Jeremy Rabkin, Professor of Law at George Mason University, then joins Frank for a special sovereignty watch. The author of Law without Nations?: Why Constitutional Government Requires Sovereign States, expresses his concerns for the Administration’s acts of lawlessness from potentially invoking the 14^th amendment as a means to raise the debt ceiling, to abandoning the enforcement of the Defense of Marriage Act. He also talks about the situation in Libya, where there is no precedent for a four-month long military action without congressional approval. Rabkin asserts the rationale for the unilateral action: “It doesn’t matter if this is not consistent with our Constitution; it’s consistent with somebody’s.” Finally, Gordon Chang, our resident China expert, sheds light on what Asians generally believe about the debt ceiling debate and whether or not the U.S. will default. Chang, of Forbes.com, also explains how North Korea wants to restore the six-party talks, and why the U.S. would be foolish to do so.