A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted on Friday. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.
Listen to the new episode here:
Read a transcript of the new episode, including links to further information regarding the topics discussed, here:
The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity welcomes you to Five Minutes Five Issues.
Starting in five four three two one.
Hello, I am Adam Dick, a Ron Paul Institute senior fellow.
Let’s start.
Issue one.
The alarm is sounding in the media that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said in a Tuesday campaign speech that his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton should be assassinated, or something like that.
David A. Graham writes, for example, at The Atlantic that Trump’s statement suggests “the assassination of a presidential candidate—or the killing of Supreme Court justices, or an armed insurrection, depending on interpretation.”
Here is the supposedly alarming Trump statement:
Hillary wants to abolish, essentially abolish, the Second Amendment. By the way, and if she gets to pick — if she gets the pick her judges, nothing you can do folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is; I don’t know.
That’s it. Trump said nothing about killing anyone. To interpret Trump’s comments as a call for killing anyone is an ignorant or deceitful smear of Trump and gun rights advocates.
Issue two.
While more attention is paid to United States military activity in wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, the US military is playing a large role in other wars as well.
A Monday Air Force Times article by Oriana Pawlyk lists six lethal air strikes in Yemen this year that the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) has announced. The US military also has provided much assistance to Saudi Arabia and allied nations in their bombing of Yemen. Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT) spokeswoman Kiley Dougherty is quoted in the article saying “we’ve flown 1,144 aerial refueling sorties totaling approximately 9,793 flying hours and providing 40,535,200 pounds of fuel to 5,525 receiving aircraft.”
Issue three.
“You know, you shouldn’t have anybody who’s on a terrorist watch list be able to buy any gun at all.” Libertarian Party vice presidential nominee Bill Weld said that in an interview this month with revolt.tv. Weld thus supports the US government arbitrarily depriving individuals of guns. That doesn’t sound libertarian, does it?
In June, Ron Paul Institute Executive Director Daniel McAdams addressed a US Senate vote on an amendment proposing something similar to what Weld advocates. McAdams wrote:
… individuals appearing on any federal watchlist have not been found guilty of being “dangerous terrorists.” They are not even terrorist suspects. In fact we have no idea why they are on the list or how they got there, as the process of getting on — and getting off — the list is secret.
Issue four.
Last week, it was revealed that in January the US government flew $400 million dollars in cash to Iran.
Hold on. The US government has prohibited Americans from leaving the country with over $10,000 in cash without reporting it to the government.
It’s none of the US government’s business how much cash we carry, so we should not have to disclose any amount. As an interim step, let’s raise the limit to $400 million. If it’s OK for the government, it should be OK for us too.
Issue five.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is still paying each month for the US government’s 1860’s war against the Confederate States. Curt Mills writes at US News and World Report that each month Irene Triplett receives $73.13 from the VA. The payment is for the military pension of her deceased father, a US soldier in the war that ended over 150 years ago. Moses Triplett, the father, was 83 years old when Irene was born.
Now 86 years old, Irene Triplett is the last person receiving military pension benefits arising from the war.
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That’s a wrap.
Transcripts of Five Minutes Five Issues episodes, including links to related information, are at the Ron Paul Institute blog.
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