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.
______________
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
Supreme Court Upholds Arizona’s Election Integrity Law
July 1, 2021 9:59am
The Democrats and the media - but I repeat myself - are telling you to be outraged at the Supreme Court's decision to uphold Arizona's election integrity law. But any anger about this case should be because the decision wasn't unanimous.
This case rejected the Democratic National Committee's challenge to TWO election integrity measures in Arizona:
1) In-person, election day voters must cast their ballots in their county of residence (absentee ballots could be cast from anywhere on the planet).
2) Absentee ballots cannot be harvested by party operatives.
What could possibly be wrong with those two very reasonable rules that also exist in more than half the states in America???
But don't take my word for this. Go read the decision yourself at https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/19-1257_g204.pdf
Then ask yourself why the Democrats want loosey-goosey election processes and procedures.
How Facebook Will Hasten the Death of Our Republic
June 26, 2021 4:46pm
This is an example of what is wrong with Facebook and their Stalinist censors.
Democrats and the media - but I repeat myself - are allowed to post as many stories as they want falsely claiming that Georgia's new election integrity law is racist voter suppression. Well, I have read the entire law, and it is no such thing; not even close.
But when I commented on one of those fake news stories that was posted on Facebook with THE TRUTH about the law AND A LINK TO THE ACTUAL LAW ON THE GEORGIA LEGISLATURE'S WEBSITE, it was removed as "spam." How the hell can ONE link to a GOVERNMENT WEBSITE be spam???
Over the years, many of my comments with similar truth and links to the proof have been removed by Facebook. It's no wonder so many people believe the lies they are told since they're not allowed to see the truth! This kind of one-sided censorship will be the death of our Republic.
"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech." - Benjamin Franklin
This is the full text of my comment that Facebook removed along with the link:
"The fake news told you Georgia's new election integrity law eliminates Sunday voting. It does not. Georgia has 159 counties, and two-thirds of those counties have NEVER offered voting on Sundays. And some counties only offered a single Saturday of early voting.
"The new law requires ALL Georgia counties to offer TWO Saturdays of early voting and gives them the option of having two Sundays of early voting. So not only does the law NOT eliminate early voting on Sundays as the liars in the fake news told you, it actually INCREASES the number of early voting days across the state. This law doesn't REDUCE early voting. It EXPANDS it. DRAMATICALLY.
"But don't take my word for it. Read the law for yourself at https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20212022/201498?fbclid=IwAR2_u1bajEweiQ2sQbjlAwRrbJVBKTJinC6KIBPMt4cEOjL3EmMVh6AltM8"
UFO Report Released Today
June 25, 2021 9:59pm
The Director of National Intelligence released the government's report on UFOs/UAPs today. It is online at https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Prelimary-Assessment-UAP-20210625.pdf
The report is consistent with what Stephen Bassett of Paradigm Research Group predicted it would included when I interviewed him on May 22nd. That interview is archived online at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210522
Bassett didn't expect the report to reveal that Earth has been visited by space aliens. Instead, he expected the report to reveal just enough uncertainty to justify Congressional hearings on the matter. Time will tell if those hearings occur. But if they do, Bassett expects those hearings to reveal extraterrestrial visitors.
LGBTQ Pride Month Is Not Just an Innocent Celebration of Love
June 19, 2021 10:03am
www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210619
Every rainbow image in the above graphic is authentic. I copied them directly from each organization's official website or social media account. They were all created to celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month (June).
While most people think LGBTQ Pride Month is just an innocent celebration of love, it is not. If it was, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But I have researched it enough to know its real agenda. And its real agenda is very destructive.
Before I explain why, I want to put my views on Pride Month into perspective - not that it will matter to the intolerant mob; I know it won't. But at least I will be on the record saying it.
I completely agree with the Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas that invalidated state laws criminalizing private sexual conduct between two consenting same-sex adults. It was a correct ruling. It's none of the government's business - or anyone else's for that matter - what kind of sex people do in their bedrooms. And I also believe that people who are LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) should be treated kindly as the human beings that they are.
But I know none of that will matter. I will still be attacked for what I said on today's radio show because the intolerant mob demands one-hundred percent compliance with their agenda. But if I stayed quiet because I was afraid of being criticized and defamed, I would never be able to say anything. So I say what I want and let the chips fall where they may. So let's roll...
Why was June chosen as LGBTQ Pride Month? Because on June 28, 1969, New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. That raid lead to six nights of protests and riots. Consequently, it is credited with kick-starting the Gay Pride Movement, even though there had been smaller gay rights movements before that.
Over the years, that 1969 protest has grown into a month long celebration of how the LGBTQ community has sex. If the goal of Pride Month was to encourage people not to hate or bully LGBTQ folks, it would be fine. That's a laudable goal. And it's what most people think the month is about. But much of what really occurs is the dangerous sexualization of children.
It's one thing for American Airlines and United Airlines to market themselves with rainbow flags because LGBTQ individuals purchase air travel. It's one thing for Absolut Vodka and Budweiser to run rainbow ads this month because their products are for adults over 21. But it is entirely another thing when companies marketing to children do so. Yet Disney Channel, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon, Mattel, and Hasbro all did.
Do the people who run those companies really believe children need to be brainwashed with propaganda that promotes homosexual behavior? Or ANY kind of sexual behavior??? How about letting kids be kids, huh?
The fact that the NFL, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League all felt it necessary to change their logos to rainbow colors for Pride Month is bad enough. But do you know what other sports league did it? Little League! The youth baseball league for kids age 4 - 16 changed their logo from red, white, and blue to rainbow colors to celebrate Pride Month.
Can you explain to me how anyone with an ounce of decency in them found it necessary to celebrate and promote homosexuality and transgenderism to 4 year olds? Or even 16 year olds? Why does a kid's sports league find it necessary to promote how people have sex? If Little League's effort was about teaching kids not to be bullies, I'd support it. But if that was the purpose, the message would be against bullying anyone, not just against bullying homosexuals and the transgendered.
PBS stations aired LGBTQ-themed shows to preschoolers! And the executives at Nickelodeon thought it was necessary to indoctrinate kids six and under with LGBTQ propaganda on the "Blue's Clues" TV show. They produced a LGBTQ-themed video with a sing-along song with lyrics using the words, "families with two mommies," "families with two daddies," "non-binary," "trans members of this family," "ace, bi, and pan grownups can love each other so proudly," "allies to the queer community can love their queer friends so proudly," and "Happy Pride Month." The accompanying video showed a cartoon gay pride parade complete with a drag queen appearing prominently on screen leading the children in song. This was aimed at kids under seven years old! What the hell is wrong with those people??? If you think I'm exaggerating it, go watch it yourself at www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4vHegf3WPU
Public libraries are hosting Drag Queen Story Hours where men dressed in flamboyant female clothing with a ridiculous amount of stage makeup are reading books to little children. And that would be bad enough if these drag queens were reading innocuous children's storybooks like "Go, Dog. Go" and "The Little Engine That Could." But these drag queens are reading propaganda books like "Uncle Bobby’s Wedding," "Heather Has Two Mommies," "King & King," and "Daddy's Roommate" - all of which are corrupting our children's minds with atypical sexual themes at an age where they shouldn't even be thinking about traditional sexual acts.
To be clear, the First Amendment absolutely, one-hundred percent allows Drag Queen Story Hour events to take place. And the First Amendment also absolutely, one-hundred percent allows me to denounce them as the dangerous sexualization and harmful indoctrination of children that they are. It is disgusting that they take place. And it is disgraceful that parents allow their children to attend them. It's a form of child abuse.
Those are just a few examples. This post barely scratches the surface of all the pro-LGBTQ propaganda directed at children that is happening across America. I cited more instances on the radio today. But even that was just a fraction of how Pride Month is being used to indoctrinate and sexualize little children.
I know some of you will misinterpret this post and today's radio show as me being some kind of an intolerant hater. And if that's what you want to believe - if you are only capable of seeing the world as binary (which if you support Pride Month, you shouldn't because you're supposed to believe there are an unlimited number of genders, not just two) - but if you see this kind of issue as "all in" or "all out," and you fail to see the fifty shades of grey in what I'm saying, then you need to work on your critical thinking skills.
If all you can understand is either total love & acceptance or total hate & rejection, then you need to quit being such a simpleton and learn about nuance and complexity. Because despite me thinking Pride Month being so widely celebrated by government, corporations, schools, and the media is inappropriate and destructive, the fact is I couldn't care less if you're Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, or whatever. Your sex life is not my concern. As long as what you're doing is between two consenting adults, what you do in your bedroom is your business not mine. But keep it in your bedroom. The public doesn't need you to march down the street wearing bottomless leather chaps, a halter top, and a dog collar connected by a leash to your lover who's dressed equally as ridiculous. And I'd say the same thing if it was a heterosexual couple proselytizing about their sex life.
LGBTQ people should be treated as the human beings that they are. But this Pride Movement, which began with the reasonable request that society tolerate their existence, has since morphed into a demand that we also promote their lifestyle. Tolerance is no longer considered to be enough. If you don't also accept everything the LGBTQ activists demand, then they consider you to be a homophobic hater. Well, I'm not homophobic at all. Not only do I have many gay/lesbian friends, my dentist is married to a man! And no, my dentist is not a woman.
I don't object to people who identify as LGBTQ. I object to the full court press of the LGBTQ agenda that sexualizes children. It's a deliberate destruction of childhood and decency. And since Pride Month is part and parcel to it, we shouldn't be doing it.
I gave a much longer and much more detailed explanation on today's radio show. If you want to hear it, it is archived online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210619
Juneteenth Is NOT What You've Been Told It Is!
June 18, 2021 7:45am
Today is the first Juneteenth to be observed federally as a legal public holiday (Because June 19th falls on a Saturday this year, it is being observed on a Friday).
While Juneteenth is certainly an important historical event worth commemorating, it does not deserve to be a paid day off for two reasons.
The first reason is that we shouldn't have an additional day when we pay people to not work. Most people who will be paid to not work today are people whose salaries are paid by taxpayers. But who will still be at work today? Most taxpayers! There is something seriously wrong with that.
The second reason is that the significance of Juneteenth has been grossly misrepresented by politicians and the press.
We've been told that the original Juneteenth was when Union forces reached Galveston and told the slaves in Texas that they were free. So far, so good. But then we've been told that June 19, 1865 was the last day slaves were held in the United States. And that is false. Slaves were legally held in the United States until December 6, 1865. And do you know where one hundred percent of those last slaves were? In UNION STATES! Seriously. Few people know that. But it's true.
When President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, not a single slave was immediately freed.
The Emancipation Proclamation did not free anyone in the slave-holding states of Missouri, Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware that sided with the Union against the Confederacy. In fact, it didn't free any slaves anywhere because it only freed "all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States." It also exempted areas in Confederate states that were already under Union control.
In other words, slaves in the rebellious South were declared to be free but were still held in bondage because the Union could not enforce it; and slaves held in the North and in the Occupied South, where the Union forces COULD enforce it, were not granted freedom.
The Emancipation Proclamation was of great benefit because it was used to free southern slaves as Union forces spread throughout the South. But some Union states continued to legally hold slaves until the ratification of the Thirteen Amendment on December 6, 1865.
So if we are to commemorate "the last slave in America being freed," that would be December 6th not June 19th.
Is that important? People have accused me of being pedantic by obsessing over minutiae. But details matter. The "big picture" is comprised of little details called "facts." When we ignore the little facts, we get the big picture wrong. Somebody's gotta correct the errors. So I do.
We should use Juneteenth as an opportunity to teach real history. We should acknowledge the horror of slavery. And we should celebrate that America ended it. But we shouldn't use it as an excuse to give federal bureaucrats another day off work.
With that said, I've gotta get back to work. I'm private sector.
How California's Assault Weapons Ban Was Ruled To Be Unconstitutional
June 12, 2021 8:35am
www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210612
On today's radio program, I discussed the good news out of San Diego that California's ban on so-called "assault weapons" violates the Second Amendment Right to keep and bear arms. U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez, who was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush in 2004, ruled in the case of James Miller v. Rob Bonta. His decision threw out the ban, but he stayed his order for 30 days to allow the State of California to file an appeal with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals - something that is certain to happen. That decision can be read at https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Decision%20--%20Miller%2020210604.pdf
The 94 page decision is worth taking the time to read because it completely eviscerates the deceptions, false claims, and outright lies the gun banners always use when trying to infringe upon our rights. I found the entire decision to be quite entertaining to read as Judge Benitez picked off each falsehood one at a time as if they were ducks in a shooting gallery.
But if you don't have time to read the entire decision, you can listen to the highlights on the podcast of today's Mike Bates Show which is now online at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210612
America's Forgotten 14th Colony
June 5, 2021 8:46am
Podcast link: www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210605
During the Revolutionary War, how many British colonies were in what is now the United States? Thirteen? No!
On today's radio program, I interviewed Mike Bunn, the author of "Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South During America's Revolutionary Era."
His book describes the role of Florida's Gulf Coast during the American Revolution. And that colony of British West Florida, with its capitol in Pensacola, extended from the Apalachicola River all the way to the Mississippi River. So it included parts of what are now four states: Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Its northern boundary was well north of Florida's modern-day border. It extended up the Chattahoochee as far as what is now the Alabama side of Fort Benning (just south of Columbus, Georgia) and up the Mississippi as far as what is now Vicksburg. It included what are now Baton Rouge (LA), Jackson (MS), and Montgomery (AL).
That's a lot of land! Yet almost nobody knows about it (including me until I read the book). How could the history of such vast real estate go unknown among most Americans for so long?
Mike Bunn shared that fascinating history on The Mike Bates Show today. That episode is now available online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210605
Memorial Day Tribute to the Fallen
May 29, 2021 8:44am
Memorial Day is a day decent Americans honor and remember the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military.
On today's Mike Bates Show, I shared the history of Decoration Day – as it used to be called - along with some heroic stories of those who died while securing and maintaining our freedom.
That episode of the radio program is now available online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210529
I hope you have a great Memorial Day Weekend. I just hope you also take some time to remember what it's for. May those who gave their lives for our country rest in peace. May God Bless the United States military. And may God Bless America.
Pilot of Helicopter in Famous Saigon Evacuation Photo Dead at 88
May 28, 2021 9:40pm
The above photo was taken on September 16, 2015 while I was on the rooftop of the apartment building at 22 Lý Tự Trọng Street (formerly 22 Gia Long Street) in Saigon when Harry Simons and I were in Vietnam doing research for our radio documentary. That's the building in the famous UPI photograph depicting an Air America (run by the CIA) Huey helicopter evacuating Americans and South Vietnamese from the rooftop on April 29, 1975 one day before the Fall of Saigon.
Many people mistakenly believe that was the rooftop of the American Embassy. It was not. Although there were also helo evacuations from the rooftop of the American Embassy a few blocks away, this building was an apartment building used by the CIA's Deputy Station Chief. The Huey was atop the building's elevator shaft.
The pilot of that helicopter, Bob Caron, died in a car wreck two days ago. He was 88 years old. The story about Caron's death is at https://www.pnj.com/story/news/2021/05/28/bob-caron-pilot-iconic-vietnam-war-photo-dies-traffic-accident/7487501002/
If you're interested in how the Americans in Saigon were secretly, yet VERY publicly, alerted that they needed to immediately evacuate in April 1975, it is described at the conclusion of "AFVN: The GI's Companion," the radio documentary Harry Simons and I produced. It is archived online at http://rockradioscrapbook.ca/afvn.html. The evacuation story begins at the 1:53:22 point in Episode 5.
Rest in peace, Bob Caron.
What Will the U.S. Government Reveal About UFOs on June 25th?
May 22, 2021 8:44am
Today’s radio program about UFOs/UAPs is now available online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210522
On the night of October 30, 1938, earth was violently invaded by Martians. But that turned out to just be "The War of the Worlds" radio drama by Orson Welles, which was based on H. G. Wells' novel of the same title.
Then on July 8, 1947, the U.S. Army Air Forces announced the recovery of a damaged flying disc that had crashed at a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico. But that press release was quickly retracted, and we were told it was just a downed weather balloon.
In the decades since, countless sightings of UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) or UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) have been reported. Most people dismissed the claims as delusions by the mentally ill or as lies told by dishonest publicity seekers. And the military, despite acknowledging formal investigations, told us there wasn't anything credible to report.
But tucked away in the nearly 5600 page Coronavirus relief bill President Trump signed into law on December 27, 2020 was the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which contained a short but important requirement that the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense release an unclassified report about what the U.S. Government knows about UFOs/UAPs by June 25th - a little over a month from today. And the verbiage of that law says it has to be a "detailed" report.
On today's Mike Bates Show, I spoke with Stephen Bassett, the Executive Director of Paradigm Research Group about what that report is likely to reveal. It was a fascinating conversation about what could be the most life-altering news mankind has ever heard. Even if you're a skeptic, it's worth your time to listen to the program (if for no other reason than to just have advanced knowledge that the DNI/SecDef report is coming).
That episode of the radio program is now available online as a podcast at www.TheMikeBatesShow.com/podcasts/210522
Update on June 25, 2021 @ 10:03pm: The report was released today. It is at https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Prelimary-Assessment-UAP-20210625.pdf