William Hartung returns to the show for a quick episode about a press release he published at the Institute for Public Accuracy. Hartung describes the current setup of America’s ICBMs. The missiles are spread across the country, sitting on hair-trigger alert. It’s a setup that many experts admit is dangerous, and unnecessary. Yet any effort to roll back the program has been blocked by the Senators who’s states benefit the most from the presence of silos, as well as the companies that build them. Hartung explains what’s at stake if the status quo is allowed to continue. Discussed on the...
Lobby
News Roundup 9/29/2021
US News YouTube suspended the German RT YouTube channel claiming it was pushing covid misinformation. A German RT host then started a new channel to get around the suspension. YouTube then deleted both channels. [Link] After voting against $1 billion in additional military aid for Israel, the Israel lobby attacked Rep. Thomas Massie. [Link] France France signed a deal with Greece to sell warships. France says it is looking to be more independent after the AUKUS agreement. [Link] North Korea North Korea claims to have tested a hypersonic missile. [Link] Afghanistan The Department of...
9/22/21 Hassan El-Tayyab on How We Can Help End the War in Yemen by Tomorrow
Scott talks with Hassan El-Tayyab about tomorrow’s vote to end all support for the Saudi campaign in Yemen. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is going to be debated on the floor this afternoon (September 22nd). Scott and El-Tayyab urge everyone to call their representatives and tell them to vote to end support. El-Tayyab’s organization has set up a phone number to make the process easy: 1-833-STOPWAR. Call this number now and help bring one of the worst atrocities going on in the world today to an end. Discussed on the show: https://www.fcnl.org/ Hassan El-Tayyab is a...
Episode 614: Bullying Politicians Successfully w/ Will Fite of NAGR
65 Minutes PG-13 Will Fite is a lobbying for the gun rights group the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR). Pete asked Will to come on the show and explain his strategy of bullying Republican politicians into voting for more gun rights, and against legislation that would restrict it. He explains exactly what NAGR does and talks about activism in relation to his libertarian beliefs. National Association for Gun Rights Will on Twitter Get Autonomy 19 Skills PDF Download The Monopoly On Violence Pete's Patreon Pete's Substack Pete's Paypal Pete's Books on Amazon Pete on Facebook Pete...
7/30/21 Justin Cornett and Josh Eakle: Mobilizing Tennesseans to Empower People and Limit Government
Scott interviews Justin Cornett and Josh Eakle about their organization, For All Tennessee, which they describe as a lobbying group for the people. Cornett and Eakle target specific reforms that just about everyone in their state can agree on, bringing together moderate liberals, Trump supporters and democratic socialists on issues like ballot access, civil asset forfeiture, police chokeholds, no-knock SWAT raids and excessive emergency gubernatorial powers. For All Tennessee met with great success this year, and they hope to do even better going forward. This episode of the Scott Horton...
5/13/21 Ben Freeman on Saudi Arabia’s Covert Influence in American Politics
Scott interviews Ben Freeman about his research into the Saudi lobby's activity in American politics. Freeman explains that while it's illegal for foreign governments to donate directly to politicians in this country, it's easy to get around these restrictions by hiring firms in the U.S. to make contributions and to lobby on behalf of governments like Saudi Arabia. Freeman has found hundreds of such filings per year, totaling tens of millions of dollars in contributions. He reminds us that all of this activity contributes to painting Saudi Arabia in a positive light while they continue to...
5/13/21 Phil Weiss on the Growing Recognition of Israeli Apartheid
Scott talks to Phil Weiss about Israel-Palestine in light of the violence of the last few days. Weiss begins by pointing out that Human Rights Watch has finally declared Israel to be a single apartheid state. In other words, the two-state solution is dead, and the supposed Palestinian territories are really just occupied Israeli lands. Other human rights groups have echoed this same sentiment. The growing acknowledgement of this fact has helped to fuel recent tensions and violence, says Weiss, but more importantly, it's helping to increase awareness of the plight of the Palestinians. With...
4/9/21 Hassan El-Tayyab on Yemen’s Dire Humanitarian Crisis
Scott interviews Hassan El-Tayyab from the Friends Committee on National Legislation about the effort to end the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. Although the Biden administration announced an end to support for "offensive operations" in Yemen, thanks to the Saudi blockade of the Hodedah port, the country is still experiencing the worst humanitarian crisis in the world. The UN has estimated that 400,000 children could starve to death in 2021—it's entirely in the power of the U.S. government to stop it. Discussed on the show: "UN Warns 400,000 Yemeni Children May Starve To Death In 2021"...
3/18/21 Brian McGlinchey on the Brutal Realities of Economic Sanctions
Scott talks to Brian McGlinchey about the realities of America's economic sanctions, which many believe are a more humane alternative to outright war. But this couldn't be further from the truth. McGlinchey reminds us that in essence, sanctions mean denying basic goods to a country's civilians in the hope that their government will give in to our demands. This isn't substantially different from terrorism, which by definition involves acts of violence against civilians for political purposes. Even the supposed exceptions for things like humanitarian aid often don't pan out in reality,...
News Roundup 3/11/21
China Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with top Chinese officials in Alaska next week. [Link] Blinken said the US will take action against those who commit human rights violations in Hong King. [Link] Myanmar The US sanctioned the children of Myanmar’s military leader. The US also sanctioned six companies the children own. [Link] The Myanmar Army removed the Arakan Army from the country’s terrorist list because the group has been helping to ‘establish peace.’ [Link] Middle East An Israeli-Canadian firm, Dickens and Madson Canada, will be paid $2 million by the Myanmar military...