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.