The following is the text version of my YouTube video which can be viewed by clicking here: https://youtu.be/e6-wJv6iJqc
You can subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIb4k41f3A1lftMXivcvj5g.
Opening video of Liberty Man Van shows him peeking out from behind his chair. He wonders out loud if it is safe to come out again. He is scared because it looks as if Trump may be moving us closer to a war with Russia. How? Because on the 100th anniversary of America’s entry into WWI an American warship bombed a Syrian military air base.
- A town in Syria was apparently hit by sarin gas bombs dropped by Syrian government jets killing dozens, including women and children.
- Assad and Russia say that a cache of chemical weapons were accidentally hit during a bombing attack on a rebel positions.
- Many, including President Trump and the mainstream media, immediately assumed that Assad was lying and began lobbying for American military reaction to the event. (Video of Trump statement.)
- There were a few cool heads that did not jump to conclusions. In this video a CNN reporter just can’t believe that Rep. Thomas Massie would question the mainstream narrative that Assad ordered a chemical weapons attack (video clip of Massie interview).
- Trump immediately ordered a cruise missile attack on a Syrian air base(videos of Trump discussing his decision and of cruise missiles being launched).
- Trump tweeted multiple times when a similar event occurred in 2013 criticizing Obama for acting too hastily. Video shows tweet(s).
- I am not saying and Russia are telling the truth. All I am saying is that at the time Trump launched the cruise missiles we did not have much information yet. It seems our reaction was to attack first and ascertain the facts later.
- Since Trump was elected the democrats have been pushing the narrative that he was cozy with Russia’s President Putin and that Russia interfered by hacking with the election process. This might have contributed to him being “trigger happy” to show that he is no pawn of Putin.
- Let’s take a step back for a moment. One jocular aspect of this story emerged. Rachel Maddow’s show was preempted by Brian Williams in order to show this breaking news story. Her fans labeled CNBC “sexist.” Video of headline. The left shouts sexist, bigot, racist, homophobe, xenophone constantly. This story shows why we should consider them the boy that cried wolf.
Now back to the sarin gas story. The fundamental question remains- Did Assad really gas his own people again?
- We never got definitive proof that Assad ordered the first gas attack back in 2013.
- Trump and our Secretary of State had just made statements two days earlier that the international community should accept that Assad is in power. (Video clip of Secretary of State Tillerson making statement).
- Assad was already winning the civil war in his country.
- What incentive would he have to turn international opinion against him and possibly draw the U.S. into the conflict against him?
- The mainstream media immediately accepted the “Assad is guilty” narrative. Could it be that war sells more newspapers and creates more viewership?
- It didn’t take long for the usual suspects to call for the U.S. to “make ’em pay.”(video of Senator McCain and Graham).
- It was encouraging to see that not all of Trump’s supporters just fell into line after he elected to fire those cruise missiles. I was surprised by what Ann Coulter had to say(video of Coulter comments).
- Here we go again? Every time we take out a secular leader in the middle east it results in utter chaos- Hussein in Iraq, Kaddafi in Libya. How well have those turned out? What is the end game this time. Who we be installed in power? ISIS?
- Just a “one off” attack to show he is not a Russian patsy and not the beginning of an ever increasing U.S. troop presence in Syria? If so, maybe there is still hope and Trump will not get into another unnecessary conflict. We will give him the benefit of a doubt for now. Stay tuned.
And now for a little libertarian humor. Did you ever wonder what a libertarian Jesus would look like? Video of scene of Jesus admonishing one of his disciples with the caption “I told you to feed the poor… not create laws that steal from people to do it.”
And another scene from the libertarian Jesus. Video of Jesus to his disciple saying “Blessed are the tax collectors, for true charity comes not from the heart, but through the glory of government confiscation.”
In our last episode I predicted that the GOP’s attempted replacement for Obamacare, the American Health Care Act, would not succeed. Now we have the results of that effort and it looks like this- show video of plane crashing on take-off.
- Candidate Trump promised to repeal and replace Obamacare
- torpedoed by the House freedom caucus, not the democrats
- lukewarm bill would have done little to change Obamacare
- Trump attacks freedom caucus, not moderate Republicans, promises to go after them in the midterm election
- Too many Republicans don’t really want to repeal Obamacare. They favor government intervention into the economy. They give a double meaning to RINO 1) Republicans in name only and 2) repeal in name only.
- Republicans started from a moderate position. Contrast this with how the Democrats start negotiations when they are in power.
Liberty Man Van: I believe that in order to engage in many political discussions it would be wise for folks to have a basic understanding of economics because many ideas proposed by our political leaders show a lack of understanding on this topic.
Our next story is a lesson in economics and it comes from the island of Puerto Rico. Before we get into that lesson let’s take a brief look at American involvement there.
- A U.S. territory
- The Spanish controlled the island until 1898 when the U.S. invaded and the Spanish ceded control to the United States.
- Roosevelt appointed Rex Tugwell as governor in 1941. He would serve in that position until 1946.
- Tugwell was a New Deal economist and part of FDR’s “brain trust”, a group of Columbia University academics who aided with New Deal policy making. We’ll come back to him in a moment. Let’s fast forward to today.
- Puerto Rico is on the verge of bankruptcy.
- Double-digit unemployment rate has not been below 9.7% in forty years.
- Its per capita debt is four times that of detroit, which has already gone bankrupt.
- Almost half of the island’s 3.7 million residents live below the U.S. poverty line.
- Nearly 40% of households get food stamps.
- Until recently, the retirement age for government school teachers was as low as 47.
Now back to Professor, rather Governor Rex Tugwell. He
- Directed the island from its natural comparative advantage in agriculture and into manufacturing. After all, the climate seemed right for it.
- So much for the thriving sugar cane and coffee industries.
- He lobbied for all the aid and welfare from the mainland he could get and set the tone for decades to come.
- Other New Dealers would come to the island after he left to offer more of the same- a highly regulated business environment and more welfare.
- So remember the lessons from Detroit and Puerto Rico and next time you here a politician offer to give you “free stuff.”
- Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once famously said “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
That’s the show for today. Be sure to join us next time for another exciting episode of Liberty Watch.