How the Civil War Began at Fort Sumter
December 18, 2021 9:35am
The Civil War began on April 12, 1861 with the Confederate cannonade against Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor.
On a recent visit to Charleston, South Carolina, I visited Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park where I interviewed Park Ranger Gary Alexander about what sparked the War Between the States and the details of what happened that day at Fort Sumter. We also discussed the two other incidents (one in Charleston and one in Pensacola) that some people say were the real opening shots of the Civil War.
That interview aired on WPNN Radio this morning and is now archived online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/211218
How the Supreme Court Should Correct Its Flawed Roe v. Wade Decision
December 2, 2021 9:58pm
Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. That case has the potential to correct the Court's flawed 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
In 2018, the State of Mississippi passed a law that prohibits abortions after 15 weeks. That law was challenged in a lawsuit filed by Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the state's only abortion clinic. The District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi and the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals both struck down the law as unconstitutional. So the State appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court which granted a Writ of Certiorari, meaning they'd hear the case.
Most people who have an opinion on abortion focus on whether or not it is moral to kill a human baby in the womb. I'm against abortion. I think it is morally wrong. But that is not the argument that needs to be considered by the Court. Because whether someone is pro-life or pro-abortion is legally irrelevant. Roe v. Wade was an unconstitutional federal power grab. Constitutionally, abortion is a state issue not a federal issue.
The court of original jurisdiction in Texas should have dismissed it in 1970. But it didn't. And in 1973, the US Supreme Court conjured up an imaginary constitutional right to an abortion by finding a non-existent right to privacy in the due process clause of the 14th Amendment
At 15 weeks, a baby in the womb has already developed into a very clear human form. Although the child is only about 4 inches long and weighs only around 2 1/2 ounces, the baby has an obvious human head, a neck, a torso, two arms with hands, and two legs with feet. And on those hands and feet are fingers and toes. The baby's heart is beating also. It is indisputable that it is a pre-born baby. It is not a meaningless clump of cells.
The majority of abortions performed after 15 weeks are dilation and evacuation procedures that use surgical instruments to crush the baby's skull and tear his or her body to pieces before removing the dead child from the womb. Well, the people of Mississippi, through their elected representatives and governor, have decided they don't want that done in their state. Is such a state law constitutional? Yes!
The Supreme Court got it wrong with Roe v. Wade. They can now correct that error and allow the states to enact their own abortion laws. It is at the state level where the moral arguments need to be made. Would some states have very permissive abortion laws? Yes. Do I like that? No. But I put our Constitution first. And the Constitution very clearly allows states to make their own laws on that subject.
The federal government is only supposed to deal with the specific responsibilities listed in Article 1, Section 8 of our Constitution. And the 10th Amendment says the powers not delegated to Congress belong to the States. Since abortion legislation is not listed as a federal power, regulation of abortion belongs to the States.
The Supreme Court's role is not to determine if abortion is good or bad. It is not to determine if abortion should be allowed in America or not. The Supreme Court's sole role is to determine whether or not states may have their own laws regulating abortions. And the Constitution clearly says they can. So there is only one constitutionally correct ruling for the Court. And that's to find in favor Mississippi and uphold their law.
The issue before the Court is one of Separation of Powers. It is NOT one of "abortion" or "privacy." That is so obvious, there shouldn't even be debate about it. If you don't understand what I'm saying, or if you think what I'm saying is wrong, go read the Constitution for yourself. I'll even give you an incentive to read it. If you read the Constitution, I'll pay you $1000 for every time you find the word "abortion" or "privacy" in it. Just cite for me the location of each time either word appears, and I'll send you a thousand dollars for each accurate citation.
It is a fool's errand to predict the outcome of a Supreme Court case. But I predict the Court will uphold Mississippi's law in a 5 - 4 ruling (with Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett forming the majority and Breyer, Roberts, Sotomayor, and Kagan dissenting).
We'll get the Court's decision in the Spring.
The Incredible Story of the Confederate Submarine Hunley
November 27, 2021 8:43am
Did you know the first submarine to ever sink an enemy ship was during the American Civil War?
Although successful in her mission, the crew of the Confederate sub “Hunley” never returned alive. On today's radio program, I interviewed Mike Scafuri and Johanna Rivera at the Friends of the Hunley exhibit at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in Charleston, South Carolina.
We discussed the Hunley's incredible Civil War mission, why she remained on the sea floor for 136 years, and how she is now being studied and preserved. That interview is archived online at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/211127
Kyle Rittenhouse Found NOT GUILTY on All Charges
November 19, 2021 12:22pm
The truth resulted in verdicts of "not guilty" on ALL FIVE charges against Kyle Rittenhouse.
Why did the so-called “news” media lie about Kyle Rittenhouse?
Because he defended himself against the monster they created and showed the world why a civilian would need an AR-15 with 30 rounds.
The Not Guilty verdicts prove that “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” was FAR different than what the propaganda press told us it was. Why did they do that? Because they are the enemies of the truth and, therefore, they are enemies of our Republic.
I wrote the truth on September 20, 2020. That post also explained how Big Tech aggressively censored the truth from being told.
If I knew the truth, why didn't the Big Media know? They did know. They just decided not to tell it. My objective is to inform; the objective of the Fake News is to inflame. It's disgraceful. And dangerous.
Florida Legislature Convenes to Vote for Freedom Over Fear
November 15, 2021 1:22pm
I am at The Capitol in Tallahassee where the Florida Legislature has just gaveled in a special session to pass proper laws that protect the citizens of Florida from Washington's overreach vis a vis COVID. All four proposed bills are good bills that should become law. And I expect them all to pass.
But I also expect a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth by the Democrats and their allies in the propaganda press as they accuse Governor DeSantis and the Republicans of being science deniers who are trying to kill Floridians. The truth, however, is that those who support these bills are NOT science deniers, and those who oppose these bills ARE freedom deniers.
These are the four bills under consideration:
House Bill 1B and Senate Bill 2B would prohibit employers from implementing COVID vaccination mandates for employees without providing exemptions for medical reasons, religious beliefs, immunity based on prior COVID-19 infection, periodic testing at no cost to the employee, and an employee agreeing to use employer-provided personal protective equipment. It would also prohibit vaccine mandates for government and education employees.
HB1 and SB2 and would also empower parents to control their children's health care decisions by prohibiting school boards from mandating that students wear masks and get COVID vaccines. DeSantis' executive order already prohibits such mandates, but the proposed legislation would give it the force of law, which provides much more solid legal grounds to defend it.
HB1 and SB 2 would also prevent schools from forcing asymptomatic students and teachers into quarantine just because they were believed to be in the presence of someone who has COVID symptoms or tested positive for it.
House Bill 3B and Senate Bill 4B would protect workers from undue retaliation by creating a public records exemption for personal medical information or information regarding an employee’s religious beliefs contained in files created during an investigation of an employer that refuses to provide the individual exemptions or terminates an employee based on COVID-19 vaccination status.
House Bill 5B and Senate Bill 6B would begin the process to withdraw the State of Florida from federal OSHA jurisdiction and assert state jurisdiction over occupational safety and health issues. While that may sound impossible or improper, twenty-one states plus Puerto Rico currently operate their own state plans that cover private employees and government employees. And an additional five states and the US Virgin Islands operate plans that cover only government employees. So the proposal that Florida handle occupational health and safety at the state level instead of being under OSHA's thumb has precedent.
House Bill 7B and Senate Bill 8B would repeal provisions of existing state law that could currently be interpreted to allow the state health officer to force vaccinations upon Floridians. That authority has never been used, and it's never been tested in court. But HB 7B and SB 8B would make that moot because it would remove any authority the state health officer may be perceived to have.
And just in case you're wondering, that current law has only been in effect since 2002. Prior to 2002, Florida law did not expressly authorize the Department of Health to order that an individual be vaccinated. But in the fear-induced aftermath of the anthrax mailings following the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Florida legislature empowered the state health officer to take additional steps to protect public health during a public health emergency. The way that statute is written, it could be interpreted to allow him to order vaccine mandates. If HB 7 & SB 8 become law, such authority would be specifically NOT authorized.
This special session is scheduled to run through Friday, but I expect the legislature to conclude its business and adjourn on Thursday.
UPDATED 11/17/21 @ 7:13pm: All four bills were approved by the Florida Legislature today.
Why Biden's COVID Vaccine Mandate Is Unconstitutional and Dangerous
November 11, 2021 9:46pm
Because of the deliberate dishonesty of the propaganda press and Big Tech's censorship of anyone who dares to refute the official party line on COVID, people think the illness is far worse than it is. The average American's fear of COVID is FAR higher than the facts justify. The fact is that COVID is really not that big of deal. The overreaction to it has made it a big deal, but COVID itself is not a big deal.
As of today, COVID has NOT infected 85.78% of Americans. And of the 14.22% who did get infected, 98.38% of 'em did NOT die. And when COVID deaths are calculated against the entire US population, 99.76% did NOT die from COVID. Those numbers, by the way, are CDC numbers based upon known cases and known deaths. But there have been studies that indicate as much as 90% of people who have been infected never got tested. And if that turns out to be true, then the official death rate is TEN TIMES HIGHER than it really is. And that would make the real COVID death rate align almost perfectly with the death rate of the typical flu.
Because of the deliberately manufactured fear of COVID, the pandemic has been used to justify endless infringements upon our rights. The "two weeks to flatten the hospitalization curve" was NINETEEN MONTHS AGO! Then it was businesses being forced to close. Then it was criminalizing getting together with friends in a private home. Then masks were mandated. Now vaccines have been mandated. And those mandates are absolutely unconstitutional, as are most of the other orders imposed under the guise of protecting us from the Coronavirus.
Individual liberties may NOT be denied just because a threat to public health exists. America's Founders knew public health threats existed. Smallpox and tuberculosis were both far more contagious and had far higher fatality rates than the COVID-19 Coronavirus. But our Founders didn't include any mechanism to permit the suspension of our Constitution when a pandemic occurs.
Yet Leftist tyrants have violated our Rights to free exercise of religion, peaceable assembly, free speech, keeping and bearing arms, freedom from unreasonable and warrantless searches, not being deprived of liberty or property without due process of law, and to speedy & public trials. It is disgusting that elected officials have imposed such tyranny. It's even worse that the American people have accepted it.
Because of the so-called "news" media promulgating unjustified and unscientific fear, most people were scared to death that COVID would kill us all if we didn't obey the commands of government officials who eagerly exploited that fear to lord over us with unscientific and unconstitutional rules that they themselves often didn't follow.
But even if COVID is as dangerous to society as the politicians and the propaganda press want us to believe, it's still not appropriate to mandate that we get vaccinated. And I say that for a few reasons. First, the vaccine does not do what most people think it does. And second, even if it did, neither your employer nor your government has the right to force a needle into your arm.
Do the vaccines even work? Well, that depends on what is meant by "work." If the definition of "work" is that they reduce hospitalizations and deaths for people who get infected, then yes, the data shows they work. But if the definition of "work" is that they prevent people from getting infected in the first place, the data seems to indicate the vaccines don't work.
The vaccines do seem to be effective in lessening the severity of an infection if a vaccinated person gets infected. Hospitalizations and deaths among the vaccinated are clearly much lower than among the unvaccinated. And people should take that into account when making a decision about whether to voluntarily get the jab or not. But that decision needs to be made by the individual not the government; not by the person's employer; and not by businesses the person wishes to utilize.
If people think that getting the vaccine will mean they don't catch COVID - and a lot of people think that is what the vaccines do - they're wrong. Big-government politicians claim that vaccine mandates are necessary because unvaccinated individuals are a danger not just to themselves but to society. They claim that the unvaccinated pose a danger to everyone else. Biden even called this "a pandemic of the unvaccinated." Yet the evidence shows those claims are not true. There was a study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal "The Lancet" two weeks ago that said, "fully vaccinated individuals with breakthrough infections have peak viral load similar to unvaccinated cases and can efficiently transmit infection in household settings, including to fully vaccinated contacts." In other words, there is no significant difference in COVID transmission between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. That study concluded that "although vaccines remain highly effective at preventing severe disease and deaths from COVID-19, our findings suggest that vaccination is not sufficient to prevent transmission of the delta variant." But that doesn't matter to the tyrants who demand we all get vaccinated. Who are the science-deniers, huh?
The vaccines pose some health risks that should be considered. We've been told by the liars on the Left that the vaccines are completely safe. But there are healthy military personnel who were ordered to get the vaccine and then suffered myocarditis! Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that is brought on by the body's immune system caused by an infection or a reaction to some other trigger.
So did the COVID vaccine trigger it? Yes! Is that my opinion? No. That's a fact. And it's a fact that has been deliberately suppressed by the propaganda press and by liars in the American government. But I had heard about it, so I did some digging. And I found a report published by the National Institutes of Health dated October 1, 2021. So what did that NIH report say? That report titled "Myocarditis Following Immunization With mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Members of the US Military" said some military personnel "presented with acute onset of marked chest pain within 4 days after receipt of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. All military members were previously healthy with a high level of fitness."
To be clear, the number of military personnel who were adversely affected was quite small. And in percentage terms of the total number of vaccinated servicemen, the percentage is very small. But it absolutely happened. That report concluded that "myocarditis occurred in previously healthy military patients with similar clinical presentations following receipt of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Further surveillance and evaluation of this adverse event following immunization is warranted." But is the US government advocating further surveillance and evaluation? No! The US Government is moving full speed ahead with forcing people who don't want to get this new and potentially risky vaccine to get the jab or lose their jobs.
Another fact to consider as evidence that Biden's COVID policies have nothing to do with public health is that on Monday, the United States opened its borders to international travel. But the rules for it are absolutely ridiculous, illogical, and prove that the rules are not based upon trying to prevent infections in America.
International travelers from countries that have high vaccination rates are required to show proof that they have been vaccinated or they cannot enter the United States. But international travelers from countries with low vaccination rates do NOT have to show proof of a vaccination. So think about what this means.
If you're from a country with a high vaccination rate and therefore, according to the Biden Administration, high vaccination rates equals safety in the community - that's what they're saying to justify their mandates for US citizens anyway. If you're from a country with a high vaccination rate, you're less likely to have the virus, right? But you have to show proof that you've been vaccinated.
But if you come from one of the countries with the 50 lowest vaccination rates you DON'T have to show proof of vaccination. But we're told low vaccination rates mean higher risks of infection and transmission. Yet it is travelers from LOW vaccination rate countries who DON'T have to show proof they've been vaccinated!
How does that make any sense at all? It doesn't. Because none of these vaccination policies have anything to do with public health whatsoever. It's all about the elitists in power lording over us because they think we're stupid and should submit to their superior intellect and authority. That's what it is. This is about submission to authority. It's not about combating the virus.
Illegal immigrants don't have to get vaccinated either. And that's not just the ones who sneak through uncaught. People who cross our border illegally AND GET CAUGHT don't have to get vaccinated for detainment OR release into our communities.
Welfare recipients don't have to be vaccinated either. It is WORKERS who the Democrats want to force an unwanted needle into!
Biden's COVID policies aren't about combating the Coronavirus; they're about waging war against YOU. They're not about reducing infections; they're about reducing freedom. They're not about making you safer; they're about conditioning you to submit to the authority of big government.
I'm certain you've heard that the Supreme Court said vaccine mandates were perfectly constitutional. But what you probably haven't heard is that the case where they decided that has almost nothing in common with today's COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
The fake news has said the Supreme Court said vaccine mandates are perfectly OK. The case they base that on is the 1905 case of Jacobson v. Massachusetts. But they rarely cite the case by name because you might go read the decision yourself if they do; and they don't want you to do that. The propaganda press only tells you what they want you to know. And they omit what they hope you never find out on your own. And since most people just regurgitate what they've been spoon-fed by the fake news, they think they know what they're talking about even though they absolutely don't. Well, I researched Jacobson v. Massachusetts myself months ago, which is why I know the media has been misrepresenting what the case was about.
In Jacobson v. Massachusetts, the US Supreme Court ruled that the State of Massachusetts was not out of line when they imposed a vaccination mandate in response to an outbreak of smallpox. The law didn't actually mandate the vaccine, however. But if someone refused to be vaccinated, they had to pay a $5 fine (that's the equivalent of about $150 today).
The Supreme Court ruled 7 - 2 that law was "necessary in order to protect the public health and secure the public safety." It's important to note that the Court acknowledged that there were many medical professionals who said the vaccine would not prevent the spread of smallpox, and that there were health risks from the vaccine. But the Court decided that it was the duty of the legislature not the judiciary to weigh those risks and determine whether or not to mandate vaccines. It is also important to note that Jacobson never claimed a religious objection to being vaccinated.
And most importantly, the vaccination law was enacted via due process of the state legislature. It wasn't an executive order by the governor. And it was a state law not a federal law. The federal government is only supposed to deal with the specific responsibilities listed in Article 1, Section 8 of our Constitution. And the Tenth Amendment says "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." So for a vaccination mandate to be even remotely constitutional, it would have to be implemented at the state level. The President of the United States sure as hell doesn't have the power to impose a vaccination mandate on his own. And even if the Congress were to legislate such a mandate, it would still be unconstitutional because it is not within the purview of the federal government.
So all the people claiming Jacobson v. Massachusetts has anything whatsoever to do with the current vaccine mandate Biden imposed are absolutely wrong. If the issue ever reaches the US Supreme Court, they will certainly rule that Joe Biden has grossly exceeded his authority. But while we wait for that to happen, millions of people will lose their jobs because they exercised their constitutional rights.
What is my opinion on the COVID-19 vaccines? Well, first of all, I do acknowledge that they are effective in reducing the severity of a COVID infection. And they do not contain microchips that the government will use to track you or to trigger to kill you. Some people believe that nonsense, but that's just what it is. Nonsense.
Having said that, just because they are shown to be effective in reducing the severity of a COVID infection does NOT mean I think everyone should get vaccinated. And I absolutely, one-hundred percent oppose ANYONE - the government, employers, or anyone else from forcing people who do not want to get the vaccination to get it. It should be an individual choice.
I'm not anti-vax. I got all my childhood vaccinations and so did both of my children. And when I went to Africa two years ago, I got three vaccinations before the trip. But all those vaccinations - both my kids' childhood inoculations and my pre-Africa inoculations were vaccines that had a long track record not only of effectiveness but of safety as well.
How safe are the COVID vaccines? Well, most Democrats and most bureaucrats who work for the government will tell you they're completely safe. But they're speculating. The first COVID-19 vaccine was announced publicly on November 9, 2020, less than a week after Election Day. As of today, that's not even 53 weeks ago. The vaccines do appear to be fairly safe in the short term. But nobody knows how safe they are long term. And anyone who says they do know is lying.
So get vaccinated if you want to. And don't get vaccinated if you don't want to. And if your employer says to get vaccinated or get fired, make 'em fire you. Don't quit. If you quit, your legal options will be more limited than if they terminate you.
A few final points about COVID I'd like to share:
1) COVID-19 is definitely a bioweapon. It may or may not have been intentionally released. Absent evidence it was deliberate, I'll accept the lab leak theory - although I wouldn't put it past the Chinese Communist Party to have released it deliberately. But absent evidence of that it would be irresponsible to say they did. However, it would be consistent with communist win-at-all-cost methodologies. Remember, the Chinese Communists killed nearly a hundred million fellow countrymen last century. What's a few million foreigners to them now?
2) Dr. Fauci absolutely authorized funding for gain of function research by the Chinese lab in Wuhan. And he absolutely committed perjury when he lied to Congress saying he didn't.
3) Dr. Fauci definitely funded the torture deaths of puppies in Tunisia. And while that's an outrage, I'm more disgusted that people are more bothered by that than they are by his advocacy that our Republic be tortured to death with the unconstitutional policies he supports.
4) Before Donald Trump was inaugurated, Dr. Fauci said there would definitely be a pandemic during Trump's presidency. Don't believe me? Watch him say it during his January 10, 2017 speech at Georgetown University. It's on Georgetown's YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNXGAxGJgQI
Everything I have said in this blog post is accurate. But don't take my word for it. As Ronald Reagan said, "trust but verify." Click on the links I included. Read those documents I cited. Explore further on your own. You will see for yourself that the so-called "news" media has been lying to you about COVID since the very beginning. And you'll understand not only that most COVID mandates are unconstitutional but that they are not designed to control the virus. They're designed to control YOU. Don't let 'em.
History of the Blue Angels
November 6, 2021 9:17pm
The U.S. Navy Blue Angels flew the final air show of their 75th Anniversary season this afternoon in the skies over Pensacola Beach.
On today's radio program, I shared details of the interesting history of the Blue Angels from their formation in 1946 through their transition to the F/A-18 Super Hornet this season. That episode is now archived online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/211106
Video of my flight with the Blue Angels is at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/blog/201108-1111
George Washington's Victory at Yorktown Is When the United States Was Really Born
October 19, 2021 7:18am
When was America born? July 4th? Arguably not. Declaring independence is one thing. Achieving it is another. Our independence was earned in battle. And the last major battle of the Revolutionary War was at Yorktown in 1781. British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington on October 19, 1781. The story of how that American victory was achieved is fascinating.
On September 30th, I met with Park Ranger Robbie Smith at the National Park Service's Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center to discuss how the Continental Army prevailed. Our conversation aired on the radio three days ago and is now archived online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/211016
The 20th Anniversary of the September 11th Attacks
September 11, 2021 8:49am
www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210911
Today is the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on America that killed nearly 3000 innocent people.
On today's radio program, I wanted to commemorate that terrible day. But unlike everyone else in the media who's focusing on the day the Islamic terrorists sucker punched us, I focused on the day SEAL Team Six sent Osama bin Laden to Hell.
I interviewed Will Chesney, a member of Seal Team Six who was on the raid that killed bin Laden. That episode is now archived online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210911
#NeverForget
Days of Steel Rain
September 4, 2021 8:55am
One of the most terrifying aspects of being on a Navy ship in the Pacific during World War II were the Japanese kamikaze attacks. And those were in addition to the typhoons!
I recently read Brent E. Jones' book "Days of Steel Rain: The Epic Story of a WWII Vengeance Ship in the Year of the Kamikaze." It was a very well-written book that told the valiant tale of the USS Astoria (CL-90) and her brave crew as they helped defeat the Japanese in the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa in addition to supporting attacks on the Japanese Home Islands.
While the history of the Astoria is interesting enough itself, Jones brought the story alive with accounts of what individual crew members did while serving aboard the light cruiser. And because he read their diaries and interviewed them, he also included their most personal thoughts about their service; the highs and lows of their triumphs and fears.
I interviewed Brent E. Jones about his book on today's radio program. That episode is now archived online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210904
Biden's Disgraceful Death of Afghanistan AND of America's Credibility
August 18, 2021 4:14pm
Once again, Democrats have betrayed our allies, abandoned them on the battlefield, and left them to die at the hands of oppressive, authoritarian rulers.
Because of America's poorly executed withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban have taken control of 33 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces. The only province not under Taliban control is the Panjshir Valley which is about a hundred miles north of Kabul. But that last holdout does not negate or even mitigate the fact that Joe Biden gave Afghanistan back to the terrorists.
Many have compared Joe Biden’s irresponsible pullout of American forces from Afghanistan to the Fall of Saigon in 1975. And while there are certainly some parallels between Vietnam and Afghanistan (for example, BOTH betrayed our allies, and BOTH are 100% the fault of Democrats), but when you look at the details, what happened in Afghanistan is actually worse than what happened in Saigon. Much worse.
Saigon fell on April 30, 1975. But American combat troops had left in March 1973. So there were two years of South Vietnam defending itself before Saigon fell. So the Fall of Saigon was not a failure by the U.S. military. It was a failure of the South Vietnamese military. But that failure was a direct result of the communist-sympathizing Democrats who controlled the U.S. Congress. Do you remember what those treacherous Democrats did?
On January 27, 1973, North Vietnam, the Viet Cong, South Vietnam, and the United States all signed the Paris Peace Accords. That agreement called for four main things:
1) The United States military would depart Vietnam within 60 days.
2) The 17th Parallel would separate North Vietnam and South Vietnam as it had before the war.
3) North Vietnam would not use force to reunify Vietnam.
4) The United States would provide arms to South Vietnam to maintain their military forces at the level they were when the cease fire began.
We agreed to keep the South Vietnam military supplied at the same levels as before the cease fire - meaning if they lost a tank, America would give them another tank. If they lost three helicopters, America would give them three helicopters. If they expended 100,000 bullets, America would give them 100,000 bullets. That was the deal.
So then what happened? President Nixon resigned in August 1974, and Gerald Ford assumed the presidency. The following November, Democrats expanded their majorities in the House and Senate. Those Democrats, many of whom participated in anti-war protests themselves, refused to fund the military aid to South Vietnam our country had promised. When it came time to actually uphold our end of that deal, the Democrats refused to honor the commitment we made to our allies.
In an address to a joint session of Congress, President Ford begged the Democrats to honor the commitments we had made and to not betray South Vietnam. Many Democrats childishly walked out of the House chamber in protest. And the aid promised to South Vietnam was never given.
This, of course, emboldened the North Vietnamese government to test American resolve by violating the peace accords and invading South Vietnam. Although Ford wanted to help defend South Vietnam against that illegal aggression, he was prevented by the Democrats in Congress from providing any aid. Seeing that the Americans wouldn't lift a finger to prevent it, the NVA pushed south and took village after village, town after town, and city after city. When Saigon fell, the war was over. And just as the Democrats wanted, the Communists won. And what did those Communists do? They systematically murdered the South Vietnamese people. Millions were sent to reeducation camps where many were tortured and starved to death. Nearly two million South Vietnamese fled to the sea where at least 250,000 perished.
Why did the Democrats betray South Vietnam? Well, beside the fact that many Democrats were Marxists who actually wanted communism to prevail over capitalism, they were appeasing the anti-war protesters who had elected them. And who funded those anti-war protests? The Soviet Union!
That doesn't mean every protester was getting paid, of course. Most were not. But enough were on Russia’s payroll that the anti-war protests were a bought-and-paid-for tool of our nation's enemies. That is not a conspiracy theory. That's fact. After the Soviet Union fell, we saw proof that the KGB paid for many of those anti-war protests.
Something similar is happening today because Joe Biden has once again selfishly abandoned our allies on the battlefield where they will meet certain death at the hands of a conquering force. What do I mean by "Biden once again"? I mean that in 1975, when it was obvious that the North Vietnamese Army was going to take South Vietnam by force, President Ford wanted to evacuate many of the South Vietnamese people who had helped us during the war. But do you know who objected to evacuating those allies? The junior Senator from Delaware who had been elected just 2 1/2 years earlier in 1972 - an immoral buffoon named Joe Biden.
Although Biden was only in his third year in the U.S. Senate, he served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And that gave him some authority on the matter of what to do with our South Vietnamese allies. In that capacity, he asked for a meeting with President Ford. Then on April 14, 1975, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee met at The White House with President Ford, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and Defense Secretary James Schlesinger. And at that meeting, Senator Biden told President Ford - and this is a quote, "I will vote for any amount for getting the Americans out. I don't want it mixed with getting the Vietnamese out."
So with that historical context in mind, nobody should be surprised that Biden has abandoned our allies in Afghanistan and left many of them to face a certain death. He did it to our South Vietnamese allies then. Why wouldn't he abandon our Afghan allies now? It's consistent with what a despicable person Joe Biden is. It seems Joe Biden and the Democrats almost always sympathize with America's enemies, so they're perfectly happy to see the Afghans who aided us get killed by the Taliban. And that is disgraceful.
The collapse of Afghanistan was completely predictable. Yet on July 8th, Biden was asked about the possible Fall of Kabul and how it might compare to the Fall of Saigon. He responded, "There’s going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the — of the United States from Afghanistan."
But what did we see? People being evacuated by helicopter from the American embassy in Afghanistan. Why? Because the entire country was being swiftly overrun by Taliban forces, and they were closing in on Kabul which was putting our embassy and our embassy personnel at risk. Yet the unconstitutionally elected interloper in the White House said at that same press conference that "the likelihood there's going to be a Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely."
It wasn't just NOT "highly unlikely," Joe. It was pretty much certain to happen. Yet you failed miserably in your handling of the situation. You failed the Afghan people who assisted U.S. forces because they're going to be killed by the Taliban. And you weakened America by once again allowing our allies to be murdered after we cut and ran.
Do you know who Khairullah Khairkhwa is? He was one of five Taliban commanders who were illegally released from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp by Barack Obama in 2014 so they could be exchanged for the deserter Bowe Bergdahl. Remember that?
Well, after his release from GITMO, Khairullah Khairkhwa set up a Taliban-in-exile embassy in Qatar. And he was one of the Taliban leaders who orchestrated the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan after our forces pulled out. So now we have terrorists who should still be incarcerated at GITMO running Afghanistan. And they're running it as a brutal Islamic theocracy armed with captured American weapons. Way to go Barack Hussein Obama. You've got blood on your hands in this mess also. And THAT was predicted in 2014 too! But Barack Osama assured us they would never return to the battlefield or support terrorism.
Who was Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund? He goes by "Mullah Baradar," which is a nickname he was given by the the founder of the Taliban, Mohammed Omar. Mullah Baradar was a co-founder of the Taliban. He served as Mohammed Omar's second in command. And he is married to Mohammed Omar's sister. Baradar was a high-ranking Taliban leader. Omar died in 2013. Mullah Baradar - Omar's deputy - was captured and imprisoned in Pakistan by a joint CIA/Pakistani Intelligence Services raid in February 2010. But the Trump Administration asked for his release in October 2018. And shortly after that release, he was appointed to be the chief of the Taliban's diplomatic office in Qatar. And in that capacity he signed the Doha Agreement on the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan on behalf of the Taliban.
Care to guess what Mullah Baradar is doing today? He returned to Afghanistan yesterday and is expected to become the President of Taliban-run Afghanistan. So America's failure to keep terrorists imprisoned and off the battlefield is a problem created by both Democrats and Republicans.
But that doesn't negate the fact that it was Biden who allowed Afghanistan to be overrun by the Taliban. It doesn't change the fact that that Taliban takeover was completely preventable. And it doesn't mean the people won't suffer terribly because Joe Biden's chose to abandon them on the battlefield to die.
We've all seen the videos of Afghans at the airport in Kabul desperately trying to get out of the country. At least two were so desperate to escape that they held on to the OUTSIDE of a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane as it took off. I don't know what made them think they'd still be on that plane when it landed. But they both fell to their deaths shortly after takeoff. The airport is now surrounded by Taliban militants, and they're not letting many people in. I've read a few accounts of people with legitimate travel documents and passports who by all rights can legally leave Afghanistan being turned away. Who knows what fate awaits them? What we do know is that that fate won't be a good one.
As Taliban forces advanced across Afghanistan, they executed Afghan National Security Forces, police officers, and civilians who had ties to the Afghan government. The Taliban announced that people who had worked with Americans would be forgiven and granted amnesty. But they were required to register with the Taliban who they were and what they did. Upon registration, they were given documents guaranteeing their safety. Then, after people foolishly registered, the Taliban went back to them and, with their own registration as proof of their so-called "crimes against Islam" for aiding the Great Satan, executed some of them.
If the United States had simply kept open its air bases in Afghanistan, we could have killed advancing Taliban with minimal risk to American lives. And we could have decimated any Taliban forces as they moved out in the open from province to province during their takeover of the country. A handful of well-placed bombs and some carpet bombing of Taliban fighters on the open roads and fields would have killed a lot of terrorists.
But we didn't even try. We weren't prepared to. Because Joe Biden cut and ran. He ordered American personnel to leave the air bases. And in the case of Bagram Air Base, we left in the middle of the night on July 2nd without even telling the Afghan military general who was responsible for the base. We just up and left with no notice. The Afghanistan National Security Forces didn't know the base had been evacuated and abandoned until two hours after we left.
During those two hours, the base was ransacked and looted. According to the Department of Defense's own tally, 3.5 million items were left behind at Bagram. Some of that was armored vehicles, weapons, and ammunition. Do you know what else we left at Bagram Air Base? Any goodwill and trust that we earned over two decades of spilling American blood and treasure to help the Afghan people. All of it is gone! We literally abandoned them on the battlefield. It was disgraceful. But it happened because the occupant of the Oval Office failed to plan and execute a strategy to prevent Afghanistan from falling into the hands of the Taliban.
As the Taliban advanced rapidly across Afghanistan, Biden ordered 6000 troops into Afghanistan to evacuate Americans from Kabul. And all the embassy personnel were evacuated, so at least we won't have a repeat of when Jimmy Carter allowed our embassy personnel to be taken hostage in Iran in 1979. But there are still thousands of Americans in Afghanistan, and the State Department and Defense Department have both said they cannot ensure their safe passage out of the country.
Joe Biden says he had no choice in the decision to pull out from Afghanistan. But he also says he stands by his decision. That makes no sense because on one hand he says he had no choice, and on the other hand he says he made the right choice. Well, which is it, Joe? And why hasn't anyone in The White House Press Corps asked him that question???
It is true that the Trump Administration agreed to a May 1st deadline for the withdrawal of American troops. But it is NOT true that Biden had to abide by it when the facts showed that doing so would result in disaster. And to be clear, troops were not removed by May 1st. Biden changed that deadline to September 11th. So right there is a prima facie acknowledgement that Biden was not obligated to abide by every jot and tittle of the deal Trump worked out.
That deal mostly called for the Taliban to not attack the U.S. and its allies or allow Afghanistan to be used as a safe haven for terrorists. But critically, it also required the Taliban to agree to a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire and to enter into intra-Afghan negotiations to peacefully come up with a government to lead Afghanistan. The Taliban obviously violated that latter; time will tell as to the former.
I am not optimistic that Afghanistan won't harbor and train international terrorists even though it would be in the Taliban's political interests not to. Because the last time they did, they were ousted from power with military force. You may recall that President Bush told the Taliban in 2001 that if they would just turn over Osama bin Laden, we wouldn't invade. But the Taliban refused, so we invaded.
Would we invade again if the Taliban gives safe haven to international terrorists? I don't know. I doubt it. But that will really depend upon who those international terrorists attack and who the political leaders are in America when those attacks happen. But if terrorists are not allowed to train in - and operate out of - Afghanistan, I don't think America will really care what they do domestically in their country. They could be the most violent and oppressive government the world has ever seen, and I don't think we'd care as long as they keep it within their borders. So if the Taliban is smart, the best way to preserve their power would be to prevent international terrorists from using Afghan soil. But is the Taliban that smart? Even if they are, they're Islamist idealogues, so maybe pleasing Allah is more important to them. I don't know. Time will tell.
But the point vis a vis the current situation is that the Taliban has already clearly violated the terms of the agreement they made with the United States last year. That legally invalidates any obligations on our part, so Joe Biden could absolutely refuse to abide by the terms of the agreement if he wanted to. He just doesn't want to. He and his fellow Democrats want America out of Afghanistan with no regard for the consequences.
And here's an important point to make about any agreement with a Muslim. This is not anti-Muslim. This is pro-truth. Muslims are allowed to lie, cheat, steal, and perjure themselves in pursuit of jihad or to save themselves from persecution or death. It's called "taqiyya." And it's authorized multiple times in the Koran. That's why the word of jihadists can never be trusted.
On Monday, Biden said the Taliban takeover would have happened no matter when we left - whether it was five years from now or fifteen years from now. But that's a cop out. If we had just kept enough forces in Afghanistan to safely provided close air support to Afghanistan National Security Forces doing the dangerous fighting on the ground, we could have prevented the Taliban takeover.
We could take out Taliban safe houses and training centers from 50,000 feet with B-52s and other bombers. And decimating Taliban convoys traveling out in the open would be like shooting fish in a barrel. So why didn't we doing that? Because Joe Biden didn't want to.
I wonder what the Democrats will say when things get worse in Afghanistan as a result of Biden's misguided and mishandled withdrawal. Probably nothing. And it will certainly get worse in Afghanistan. It will also get worse in the West when terrorists trained in Afghanistan attack us.
But the damage to America goes far beyond just what is happening in Afghanistan. America will pay a heavy price for Biden's stupidity for years to come. Not only will the jihadist movement around the world be emboldened, but what will our allies think? Especially our allies in the Middle East? Will they trust us to be there for them if the need arises? What about people we ask to be our allies in the future? Why would they trust America? Why would anyone trust that America has their back?
Do you think Taiwan feels safer or more endangered after seeing America cut and run from a bunch of backwards, semi-literate, 10th century, tribal misfits? I am certain China sees Taiwan as an even easier takeover target now. You know and I know - and China knows - that Biden won't do anything to help Taiwan defend itself when Beijing decides the time is right to invade and capture it.
Do you think Putin and the Russians respect our military more or less than they did a year ago? While our military is quite capable against ANY foe, when they have to follow the orders of idiot civilians, they're emasculated and weak.
Did I just call Joe Biden an idiot? Yes, I did. Because it's the truth. Joe Biden is an idiot. He was the only person who advised Obama NOT to authorize the raid killed Osama bin Laden. Barack Obama did the right thing when he ordered Operation Neptune Spear to kill bin Laden. But remember that he did it AGAINST the advice Joe Biden gave him.
For the record, I do (and did at the time) give Obama credit for authorizing the raid that killed bin Laden. But it must also be stated for historical accuracy and perspective that the mission that killed Osama bin Laden was made possible because of intelligence information gathered through means both Obama and Biden opposed and denounced.
So now that Joe Biden has abandoned Afghanistan, we have to ask what we accomplished during that nearly twenty year war. The war in Afghanistan cost around $2 trillion, resulted in almost 2500 U.S. military personnel killed, another roughly 3800 American civilian contractors killed, 66,000 Afghanistan Security forces killed, and somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 Afghan civilians killed (depending on whose numbers you believe).
And for what??? What did we accomplish after 20 years of spilling American blood and treasure? With the exception of Afghanistan no longer harboring Osama bin Laden, we're right back where we were in 2001. Taliban terrorists control the country. The Afghan population is subjugated under the Taliban's fundamentalist view of Islam and Sharia law and the violence they use to enforce it.. And there will probably be a base of operations for international terrorists to train and launch attacks. It truly is a shameful act by the Democrats.
Although it's really NOT a return to the pre-war status of twenty years ago. Because now the Taliban has billions of dollars worth of sophisticated American military equipment from rifles to artillery to armored vehicles to tanks to helicopters to attack planes. Joe Biden has just made the Taliban the most heavily armed terrorist organization the world has ever seen. I wonder how soon some of those aircraft will be in the hands of Russian and Chinese engineers who will gain valuable knowledge about our advanced avionics and weapons systems. If that hasn't happened already, it certainly will soon. So actually, Biden's irresponsible and ill-conceived pullout has made the situation far worse for not only Afghanistan but for America and the West.
Democrats have a long history of siding with - or in some cases just failing to oppose - America's enemies. Jimmy Carter, the godfather of Islamic terrorism was a fool. He supported the Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran from exile in Paris because Carter said he - the Ayatollah - was a "religious man" and, therefore, not violent. Bill Clinton could have killed Osama bin Laden long before the September 11th attacks but was too busy playing golf. Barack Obama was a Muslim sympathizer and apologist. And now we have Joe Biden who is a half brain dead incompetent fool.
With the benefit of hindsight and seeing the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, does Joe Biden now think his decision to pull American forces may have been a mistake? No. Just this past Monday AFTER the Taliban takeover, he said "I stand squarely behind my decision." What an idiot!
But because the Supreme Court refused to do anything about the unconstitutional election that put him in The White House, we're stuck with him and his poor decisions for the next 3 1/2 years. Unless he leaves office early. But then we'd just get Kamala Harris. And she's even dumber than Biden.
The Role of Naval Aviation During the Cuban Missile Crisis
August 14, 2021 10:04am
In 1962, the world came closer to nuclear war than at any time before or since. You know what U.S. Air Force U-2 spy planes did during the Cuban Missile Crisis. You know what U.S. Navy ships did But do you know that naval aviation played an important role also?
On today's Mike Bates Show, I interviewed Ken Jack about his book "Blue Moon Over Cuba: Aerial Reconnaissance During the Cuban Missile Crisis." Ken served in the Navy's Photo Reconnaissance Squadron 62 (VFP-62) that flew RF-8 Crusaders over Cuba to photograph the Soviet missile sites, so his information is based upon first-hand knowledge. The book is also based on the memoirs of Captain William B. Ecker, the commanding officer of the squadron.
Today's episode of the radio program is now available online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210814
America Is Woefully Unprepared for an EMP Attack That Would Kill 90% of Us
August 7, 2021 9:53am
If America were to be attacked by a weaponized EMP - an electromagnetic pulse - probably 90% of all Americans would be dead within a few months. Yet we have done almost nothing to harden our infrastructure against it.
On today's Mike Bates Show, I interviewed William R. Forstchen about his books "One Second After" and "One Year After." Both novels are about the destructive aftermath of an electromagnetic pulse attack on the United States.
Today's episode of the radio program is now available online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210807
Quint Studer on Building a Vibrant Community: How Citizen-Powered Change Is Reshaping America
July 31, 2021 9:49am
Every community wants to be a great place to live, work, and raise a family. So why do so many communities fail to do that?
On today's Mike Bates Show, I spoke with businessman and philanthropist Quint Studer about his book "Building a Vibrant Community: How Citizen-Powered Change Is Reshaping America."
This well-written and informative guidebook explains what it takes to bring enjoyment and economic prosperity back to our cities. And it's not just theory. Success stories are included. It contains valuable information about a lot more than just the physical infrastructure of a city. While the book primarily focuses on how Pensacola revitalized, its concepts are applicable to any city.
Today's episode of the radio program is now available online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210731
How Democrats Intend to Legalize Election Fraud
July 22, 2021 9:48am
The above photo is of my 2016 Halloween costume. Now in 2021, Democrats are aggressively trying to make election fraud a lot easier to commit.
The deceptively named "For the People Act of 2021" (HR 1), which has already passed the U.S. House but is stalled in the Senate, would mandate the following loosey-goosey election laws nationwide: vote-by-mail without witness signatures, 24/7 voter registration over the internet; same day registration without IDs; registration of 16 year-olds; voting rights for felons as soon as they get out of prison; curbside voting from inside cars; early voting at polling places determined by the feds; unmanned drop boxes for ballots nationwide; federal control of voting districts that would create voting districts based upon quotas for racial, ethnic, economic, language, and gender identity; ballot harvesting; and it would empower Washington bureaucrats with the authority to decide what kind of campaign advertising is "disinformation" and therefore illegal.
Anyone who thinks those would result in clean elections needs to put down the crack pipe.
But since the Democrats and the media - but I repeat myself - have misrepresented what HR 1 does, go read it for yourself at www.congress.gov/117/bills/hr1/BILLS-117hr1eh.pdf. You will find that my synopsis is accurate.
Some Republicans have been telling us not to worry about it because what HR 1 would do is unconstitutional and would be thrown out by the Court. Well, first of all , they're wrong. And second, do you trust the courts to follow the Constitution? I don't. There are too many examples of where they've ignored it - sometimes at the Supreme Court but OFTEN at the District Court and Circuit Court levels.
In fact, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, who served on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for 38 years, was the poster boy for judicial malfeasance. He was appointed to the federal court by Jimmy Carter. And this Leftist malcontent not only had zero respect for the Constitution, he bragged about it! When he was questioned about why he had so many decisions of his overturned by the Supreme Court, he bragged - and this is a quote, "They can’t catch ‘em all." So this enemy of our Constitution KNEW his rulings ran contrary to the supreme law of the land, but he didn’t care because he knew that most of his blatantly unconstitutional rulings would not be overturned (because the Supreme Court hears fewer than one percent of the cases they're asked to take). Fortunately, he died in 2018, so he's not currently damaging our nation. But there are plenty of activists in robes just like him who are. They're just not so brazen as to brag about it.
But the Constitution does NOT prohibit Congress from imposing those loosey-goosey rules upon every federal election nationwide. The first half of Article 1, Section 4, Clause 1 says, “The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof.” But the second half says, “but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.”
So while some of what HR 1 would do is certainly unconstitutional, most of it – as bad as it is – is NOT unconstitutional. It’s improper. It’s bad. It’s destructive. But Congress does have the authority to do it. Most of it anyway.
Democrats oppose literally every process and procedure that would make voter fraud more difficult to commit. And they want to impose processes and procedures that would make voter fraud easy to commit. Why is that? There's only one answer which very few people are comfortable to admit. But since it's the truth, I have no problem acknowledging it. And that is the Democrats want it to be easy to commit voter fraud because they benefit from it. It’s disgraceful. And dangerous. And so is the so-called “news” media’s misrepresentation of the facts.
What Is Happening in Cuba?
July 17, 2021 8:34am
www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210717
The above photos were taken in Havana, Cuba at the Gran Teatro de La Habana Alicia Alonso following President Obama's speech on March 22, 2016. The journalist on the left is Sheyla Paz, a Cuban-born American citizen who resides in Nashville. She and I met while we were serving with the Official White House Press Corps in Havana during Barack Obama's visit. I looked for a single photograph of us together but apparently we never took one.
In light of the civil unrest in Cuba protesting the communism-induced shortages of freedom, food, electricity, gasoline, and medicine, I asked Sheyla to come on my radio program this morning to share the insight she has from living in Cuba for 28 years. We discussed the situation in Cuba and what she hopes the protests will accomplish.
That episode aired on WPNN Radio this morning and is now archived online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210717
To learn more about Sheyla, you can read her blog at www.YourTourGuideToCuba.com. She can arrange your travel to Cuba once it reopens to foreign visitors. It is definitely worth visiting.
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P.S. I was in Cuba reporting on the president's visit for WEBY Radio. But I also filed some special reports about the trip for the Pensacola News Journal. If you care to read them, they are still online at the Pensacola News Journal website.
3/19/16: Column: Visiting Cuba with President Obama
3/21/16: Mike Bates in Cuba: Traveling no easy task
3/21/16: Mike Bates: Enthusiasm, optimism in Cuba
3/22/16: Presidential visit, baseball game help with the healing
Harry Chapin (12/7/42 - 7/16/81)
July 16, 2021 1:38am
Exactly forty years ago today, on July 16, 1981, Harry Chapin was driving on the Long Island Expressway enroute to a meeting before one of his many charity benefit concerts when his 1975 Volkswagen was struck by an 18-wheeler truck. He died in the fiery crash, and the world lost one of the greatest musical artists of all time. Not only did his songs weave beautiful stories that captured the joys and sorrows of life, he was an incredibly humble man who dedicated his life to fighting world hunger.
In 1986, Harry was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his philanthropic work. Also in 1986, I dined at the table with Harry's brother (and band member) Tom Chapin at an awards banquet in Washington, DC the night he presented the Harry Chapin Memorial Humanitarian Award to Bob Geldof for Bob's work on the Live Aid benefit concert that raised $127 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
VH1's episode of "Behind the Music" about Harry Chapin is online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-GgDccwnSg
The epitaph on his grave contains these lyrics:
Oh if a man tried
To take his time on Earth
And prove before he died
What one man's life could be worth
I wonder what would happen to this world
At 38 years old, Harry Chapin was taken from this world much too soon. He is the one artist I wish I could have seen live in concert but never did.
Rest in Peace, Harry. You are still missed.
Second Amendment Upheld by Federal Appeals Court
July 13, 2021 6:54pm
Today, the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled that the 1968 federal law that outlawed the sale of handguns to 18 - 20 year-olds is unconstitutional. That law is the deceptively named "Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968."
The validity of this decision should be obvious to anyone who understands and respects our Constitution. Yet other courts have ruled otherwise. And the Biden Administration will certainly ask for an en banc hearing that, if granted, would probably reverse today's ruling by a three judge panel. The two judges on the majority side of today’s 2 -1 decision were both appointed by Republican presidents (George W. Bush & Donald Trump). The dissenting judge was an Obama appointee.
The plain text of the Second Amendment makes very clear that the Right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental, individual right that shall not be infringed. But just last month, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker, an Obama appointee, upheld Florida's 2018 law that made it illegal to sell any firearm to 18 - 20 year olds in the state. What makes Florida's gun sale law so egregiously unconstitutional is not just its prohibition on sales to 18 - 20 year-olds. It is that if those 18 - 20 year-olds are serving in the military or police, they CAN purchase a firearm.
So the law as it stands now in Florida is that Second Amendment Rights are EARNED through service in the military or law enforcement and are, therefore, not fundamental rights to which all citizens are entitled. That is anathema to our free Republic.
Today's decision in Richmond, while proper, is far from restoring constitutional rights to 18 - 20 year-olds, as it is certain to be appealed. It also has no legal effect in Florida because Florida is in the Eleventh Circuit. But hopefully, the Supreme Court will grant a writ of certiorari to settle the issue once and for all nationwide. You can read today's decision at https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/20988578/document20.pdf
The History of the Blue Angels
July 10, 2021 8:44am
www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210710
In 1995, I researched and narrated a twenty part "History of the Blue Angels" series that aired on the radio during the four weeks preceding the team’s homecoming airshow at NAS Pensacola. As a result of that radio documentary, I was invited to fly with the Blue Angels in the back seat of the #7 jet piloted by Lt. Ryan Scholl on November 8, 1995.
After a 3.1 G vertical takeoff from Sherman Field, we flew south over the Gulf of Mexico where he took me through a variety of maneuvers the Blue Angels perform including rolls, loops, inverted flight, a carrier brake where we hit 7.1 Gs, and we even went supersonic as we broke the sound barrier. All of it was fun, but my favorite maneuver was the vertical roll where the jet flies straight up while spinning on its axis with the smoke trail forming a corkscrew in the sky behind the plane. During our 45 minute flight, he gave me the stick for a little while and talked me through a few maneuvers including the aileron roll and a few loops.
It was an unbelievably spectacular flight. If you care to see the cockpit video of my flight, I posted it to my blog on November 8, 2020, which was the 25th anniversary of my flight. It's at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/blog/201108-1111.
In July 2009, I flew aboard “Fat Albert” - the Blue Angels’ C-130 - during an airshow at Pensacola Beach. While that flight was nowhere near as intense as the F/A Hornet flight was, it was wonderful to have been aboard.
On today’s radio program I shared the fascinating history of the Blue Angels. That episode is now available online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210710
If you’d like to see the Blue Angels perform, they’re scheduled to fly this afternoon at the Pensacola Beach Air Show.
Nothing to See Here. Move Along...
July 6, 2021 10:52am
Did you notice how quickly the propaganda press dropped the story of the "dangerous, heavily armed militia" involved in the nine hour stand-off with Massachusetts police along Interstate 95 once the identity of the suspects was known?
Since the fake news won't tell you who they were, I will. The men were part of an anti-government Islamic militia group known as "Rise of the Moors." They believe they are not subject to the laws of the United States due to the 1787 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the U.S. and Morocco.
They believe they are "the organic or original sovereigns of this land - America." They fly the Moroccan flag, refuse to pay taxes, refuse to get driver licenses, refuse to register their vehicles, and refuse to register their firearms (they're correct on that last point although their reasoning for it is flawed). It is alleged that the group sustains itself by engaging in widespread financial fraud. They share origin with Louis Farrakhan's Nation of Islam as both groups were offshoots of the 1913 Moorish Science Temple of America.
Imagine how much media coverage there would be if they had been white, Christian, Republicans with Trump bumper stickers.
Fake news doesn't have to be false. It can also be fake through the editorial decisions to hype some stories while suppressing others.
You can read more about the Rise of the Moors' ideology at www.riseofthemoors.org/faq.html