Dan McKnight | The Libertarian Institute

The Specter of ‘Defense Secretary Cheney’

by Dan McKnight | Oct 24, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Politics

I believe one of the biggest political stories of the year is the attempted resurrection of the Cheney legacy. This is a family whose political prospects were dead and buried in 2022—in no small part from the contributing efforts of Bring Our Troops Home. But Liz Cheney is out on the campaign trail again, now appearing with Kamala Harris and encouraging Americans to re-elect the Biden team. From the national debates to local meet and greets, Vice President Harris and Tim Walz are thanking Dick Cheney for his support and praising his public service—including the illegal invasion of Iraq,...

What Did the Vice Presidential Debate Teach Us?

by Dan McKnight | Oct 3, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Politics

Tuesday night was the final debate before the November election, and it was the first time a significant number of Americans were formally introduced to the vice-presidential nominees, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Like me, Vance was a U.S. Marine; there's still some comradery there. (OORAH!) In 2005, Vance deployed to Iraq for six months as a military journalist. He departed right before I began my eighteen-month combat tour in Afghanistan. My deployment was as a member of the Idaho Army National Guard. Walz served in the National Guard for twenty-four years,...

What Donald Trump Told the National Guard

by Dan McKnight | Sep 2, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy, Politics

One week ago Donald Trump spoke in Detroit, Michigan in front of the National Guard Association. He recognizes that the National Guard is the backbone of the U.S. Armed Forces, but is too often dismissed as a critical branch. “We always can count on you. I’ve counted on you a lot. The National Guard is America’s first and last line of defense. And you do not get the credit you deserve; but actually you do because down deep everybody knows it,” Trump said. As some of you regular readers may recall, my first stint in the U.S. military was in the 1990s, first as part of the U.S. Marine Corps...

Joe Biden Wants To Steal Your Children

by Dan McKnight | Jun 24, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

I made the decision to join the United States Armed Forces twice in my life. First, in the early 1990s after school when I enlisted and trained as a U.S. Marine. Then, following the 9/11 attacks, I signed up for the Idaho National Guard and was later deployed to Afghanistan. Those were my decisions, ones I made because I believed in service, and knew the military would be good for me. But what if it wasn’t your choice to join the military? What if it wasn’t your son’s choice? What if, suddenly, your daughter was forced to join the military? There are amendments to the annual National Defense...

Biden Lied, Now People Will Die

by Dan McKnight | Jan 16, 2024 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

Sometimes when you’re celebrating a victory you get a big reminder of why that victory matters. As you should all know, last week the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed the Defend the Guard Act, which would keep their National Guard units out of overseas wars that haven't been declared by Congress. I couldn’t ask for a better start to the legislative season. And last Thursday, President Joe Biden unilaterally launched an attack on the Houthi government in Yemen. For longtime readers of the Libertarian Institute, you’ll be aware that the United States has been meddling in Yemen...

Selling Your Soul, And Your Country

by Dan McKnight | Oct 16, 2023 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

What is treason? The U.S. Constitution defines “Treason against the United States” as “only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.” “Enemies” is a high bar, and ought to be—the penalty for treason is death, after all. But there is a level below explicit treason, a betrayal of public trust and revelation of disreputable character in the service of a foreign government. Examples of this go all the way back to the founding of our country. Edmund Randolph of Virginia was the first U.S. Attorney General, and George Washington’s second Secretary...

Let’s Start Minding Our Own Business

by Dan McKnight | Sep 20, 2023 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

I look at this country and I see too many veterans unable to reenter society because of their trauma from fighting these endless wars. I look at this country and I see political prisoners like Julian Assange locked up for practicing honest journalism. I look at this country and I see too many kids failing basic reading and math requirements. I look at this country and see the necessities of life getting more expensive, and people being punished for saving money. I look at this country and see problems that are painful, but solvable. That’s why I founded Bring Our Troops Home, to solve the...

‘Defend the Guard’ Phone Bank Was Huge Success

by Dan McKnight | Aug 25, 2023 | Blog, Foreign Policy

This Bring Our Troops Home newsletter is reprinted with permission. To receive them in your inbox, sign up at the top of the page. Friends, I could use this newsletter to give you an update about the Republican primary debate last night. Candidates talked and talked and talked. But I’d rather give you action. Yesterday my Director of Field Operations Diego Rivera hosted a phone bank for our Defend the Guard efforts in New Hampshire. Here’s the memo brief he just sent me. It’s incredible. More than 60 people donated their time to calling legislators and pressuring them to pass Defend the...

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