CMSAF JoAnne Bass is Unfit for Office

 

In November of 2020, CMSAF JoAnne S. Bass responded to me on her official Facebook page to express her disagreement with my viewpoint.  She then censored my comments and banned me from the page.  Ironically, my deleted comments included the comment that the First Amendment does not permit those, like Chief Master Sergeant Bass, to censor people due to their viewpoints.  After my ban I sent several messages to Chief Bass asking her to comply with the Constitution in order to avoid a lawsuit and negative press directed at our Air Force.  While at least one of those messages did make its way to Chief Bass, and despite the "response requested" box on the message form checked, Chief Bass chose not to respond.

So I filed a federal lawsuit thanks to pro bono representation from the Center for Individual Rights which resulted in Chief Bass being directed to unban me from the page and to change the rules of the page to make it clear that people cannot be banned or censored due to their viewpoint.  Chief Bass failed to abide by the court-signed agreement in the agreed upon time frame but, after the Department of Justice was made aware of Bass' breach, she quickly reinstated my account access to her official page and I have been able to post several comments there so far.

As a result of the lawsuit and the actions of Chief JoAnne Bass, the Air Force has garnered some less than stellar media attention including an article in the Wall Street Journal, Stars and Stripes, the John Q Public Blog, on Military.Com, on at least one Substack, and on other media sites.  Interestingly, the Air Force Times did not cover the story.  The Free Speech Project at Georgetown also mentioned the litigation.

Eight days after my court-agreement, the DoD published its first ever social media policy, DOD5400.17 which states:

Social media account managers will not remove social media content from official DoD accounts unless there is a factual or typographical error; violation of a law, policy, term of service, or user agreement; or an operations or information security concern. Removal of content will be publicly acknowledged and communicated to audiences to provide context and appropriate clarification for the action; managers must persistently monitor, communicate, and, where appropriate, responsively engage with users regarding such removal. Removal of content can unintentionally discredit DoD information if the action appears to be taken to:

(1) Avoid embarrassment;

(2) Stifle or silence discussion about a controversial topic; or

(3) Mislead users to believe an issue is inconsequential or of minor significance

Chief Bass' actions have also resulted in continued negative commentary across social media from Facebook to Twitter to Reddit.  Even folks outside of the Air Force and DoD have taken note of Chief Bass, with one vlogger providing an excellent analysis of Chief Bass' "non-apology" for the "hats" smearing of a PJ, asking the critical question "where are the officers?" and calling Chief Bass the biggest "cyberbully" in the Air Force.  The main thrust of this commentary from digital military trenches is that Chief Bass is a net negative on social media, that she acts like a high school girl who refuses to admit fault, and that she was an unqualified pick for the position of CMSAF who is doing a poor job in that role. 

In my view, this depiction of Chief Bass is correct.  She is not qualified for the office she occupies and her selection for it was a gross error.  Chief Bass does not demonstrate the seriousness one would expect of a senior leader in a military service which is often, although not always, to be expected from an individual so far removed from the serious aspects of the core military mission.  Rather, CMSgt Bass consistently role models petulance, hypocrisy, gossip, and vindictiveness.  Her actions make a mockery of her office, invite ridicule from those she is meant to lead, and only reinforce her glaring insecurity which results in her decision making being further clouded.

Further, the fact that Chief Bass repeatedly demonstrates an inability to own up to her failures (to include violating the very Constitution of the United States she has sworn to support and defend, in full view of airmen) and given that she had to be dragged into complying with a court-order indicates that Chief Bass does not have the proper respect for authority, be it our supreme law or judicial processes that direct her to comply with the law.  As such, Chief Bass is wholly and completely unqualified for the position she finds herself in.  A person who does not respect the laws and judicial processes of the United States has absolutely no place in public service in any capacity, certainly not as the highest enlisted member in the Air Force.

Chief Master Sergeant JoAnne S. Bass should be removed from office immediately before she further damages the mission of the United States Air Force and the security of the United States.  This is an opportunity for General Charles Q. Brown, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, to role model leadership by fixing his mistake for the benefit of the service and the nation.  Chief Bass should not be allowed to "quietly" go into the night through retirement.  She needs to be removed with a quickness.  The thing about the double-edged sword of social media, which General Brown would be wise to remember, is that all airmen are watching what he condones and what steps he takes, or does not take, for accountability and for the service and nation as a whole.  Not for "Team 19" or for his personal friends.  For the service and, most importantly, for the nation.

Does General Charles Brown think his pick for CMSAF accurately represents and speaks for the backbone of our service?  Does he even care how well our enlisted force is represented?

That General Brown has not corrected his mistake of selecting this CMSAF after episode after episode of blunder from her and despite the calls from so many for her to be held accountable, calls into question General Brown's respect for our enlisted troops.  Perhaps he does not think it important for them to be accurately represented by somebody of quality?  If so, that also needs to be addressed.  Our enlisted men and women deserve better than an embarrassment to represent and speak for them.

 

13 Sept 22 UPDATE:  The Army's top enlisted leader's PA team banned a soldier on social media.  It was brought to his attention.  He quickly fixed it and drove on.  That's how it's done.  There are way more pressing issues to focus on than Day Care internet bullshit.  Leaders in the actual profession of arms understand that given our incredibly dangerous world.

6 Sept 22 UPDATE:  I am told that Chief Bass has uncensored my comments on her page that she previously hid from public view.

1 Sept 22 UPDATE 2:  Chief Bass' censorship-filter took out a response I made on her page.  So I split my response up into little bits and it all got through, except, interestingly enough, the phrase "...to add to the corporate distraction bread-for-the-masses..."  Why would Chief Master Sergeant Bass have an unconstitutional censorship filter set up to not allow the phrase "corporate distraction" or "bread-for-the-masses?"  The graphic below shows my commentary and the censored comments are highlighted.

1 Sep 22 UPDATE:  Chief kicked off the new month with her usual disdain for our judicial system by censoring a comment from myself and from another retired special operator in response to her upcoming "coffee talk."  First I'll provide the comments that were not censored and then show the comments that were censored.  See if you can determine why those particular comments were not allowed by Chief Bass as it appears there is a theme here:

And these were the comments that were censored:

24 Aug 22 UPDATE:  Today's breach of the court agreement when Bass censored this comment:

18 Aug 22 UPDATE:  Another day, another court-agreement violation by Chief Bass.  This response to Dave below has been censored from the official page:

17 Aug 22 UPDATE:  My second comment was censored today on Chief Bass' page in breach of the court agreement.  It would appear that my comment was censored through a filter that auto-hides certain content (making it only visible to the person commenting and their FB friends).  I tried to investigate the particular terms that might have triggered the filter but could not isolate the term.  "China" does not appear to be the trigger, nor does the combination of "China" and "General Milley" so I'm not sure what about this comment below triggered Chief's auto-censorship filter.  I am sure, however, that these filters constitute a violation of the First Amendment as one federal court has already ruled:

My other comment response was not auto-censored, so there is something about the comment above that triggers the Chief's filter:

  Minutes after the exchange above, the comment from Stefano was hidden or deleted...

13 Aug 22 UPDATE:  Chief Bass is yet again in breach of the court agreement. Not only has she immediately censored a comment I made today on her official page, but she has also, in her latest post, hidden a comment from somebody else.  I can't see that individual's comment, so I have no ability to determine the merit of her decision to censor that person.  In my case, however, Chief Bass has yet again violated a court agreement; she has an apparently strong insurrectionist streak that doesn't recognize our laws or government judicial authority and she violates our laws with abandon.  This will be addressed shortly.  The comment about China, in response to a post from Bass about the Chinese military versus the American military and the importance of culture (which she hid from all but my Facebook friends) is reproduced below:

The Air Force Agrees to Fix the CMSAF Bass Glitch After My Lawsuit

 

I have been unbanned from the CMSAF official Facebook page and the CMSAF has changed her Facebook page "rules" to make clear that views cannot be censored simply because she, or anybody else, disagrees with those views.

See this Wall Street Journal article for more information on our First Amendment victory.

Stars and Stripes also has an article on the free speech victory, as does the JQP blog.  Military.Com covered the story here.

For more information on the discussion that led to the now-overturned ban, please visit this blog post.

The United States of America is a Puppet Government of China

 

It's not a new thing.  It's not a conspiracy theory.  The United States government has operated puppet governments around the world for some time now.  We're just not yet at the point where we can recognize that such power is a two-way street.  But it is.  If you just sit and think about it, it's not hard to understand.  Money buys politicians.  Dollar diplomacy.  And the United States government is practically a vending machine for anybody who wants to deposit money which includes corporate America (like the NBA for example) which has long sold out to China.  These things matter and they have effects.

The effects are easy to spot when you look at all the anti-American actions taken by our so-called "public servants."  It wasn't long ago that traitor, General Mark Milley, literally worked for the Chinese military in opposition to the sitting President of the United States.  Was Milley charged with treason as he should have been?  No.  He wasn't even fired.  Why not?  Well, that's because both of our so-called political parties are owned by China.  Money and media are both integral to elected office regardless of made-up party affiliation and that center of gravity is why we no longer have meaningful political checks and balances in our government.

Why did Biden just send millions of barrels of oil to China from OUR strategic oil reserves while Americans are being bled at the pump?  Why did our government print us into inflation and destroy our economy after a virus from China?  Why is divisive and racist nonsense being pumped into our military?  Why are we destroying our combat capability by booting people out of the military for not getting an experimental shot while at the same time ignoring congressional laws on religious accommodation?  Why hasn't a single General officer resigned while mission and people have been gutted by insanity from above?

The destruction of America is being done purposefully by those in our government taking their orders from foreign power.  That foreign power is China, which employs, as its western face, the World Economic Forum.  The WEF operates in the western world by pushing neo-Communism through various policies such as "equity" and "social justice" and "climate change" which all prescribe the destruction of private property and authoritarian control of assets through a global government that erases sovereign nations.  This isn't a conspiracy theory, but those who wish to label every uncomfortable truth as such, should be reminded that conspiracy theorists, as Jimmy Dore says, are 5-0 these days.

The tentacles of the WEF have invaded every inch of corporate America and both political parties.  Even so-called conservative, Dan Crenshaw, is a poster child of the WEF.  The WEF has managed to find useful idiots not only in conservative politicians like Crenshaw and the many other actively serving Republican politicians (along with tons of Democrats) that attend World Economic Forum events in a foreign nation, but also enjoys support en masse from the so-called "liberal" side of America.  That's the side that is actively participating, supporting, or condoning with their silence the destruction of American cities and the destruction of American institutions.  And that is the side of the American public that actively promotes Communism (whether blatantly stated or stated through advocacy for "equity" of outcome -- by literally taking property from others and giving it to so-called oppressed people as managed by government).  This Communism (which you might remember is a hallmark of China) is promoted, in one form or another, by nearly half of the American population today as it has been inculcated for decades through our institutions of higher learning.

There is a war waging right now and it's China (and its puppets throughout world governments) against the entire Western world.  And they are winning.

Our nation is a Made-in-China-America and that is the reality.  And after the shaping operation that was the Russia hoax, Americans don't have the focus or the willpower of the average Black Friday shopper to care about it.

But they will.  As Tucker says, China will be a "cruel master" indeed.

The Military's Purging of Principle

 

I'll keep this short with just a couple of observations and thoughts.

1. While it is my view that the First Amendment does not protect the right of service members to have religious accommodations, the fact is that Congress passed laws and the Supreme Court has upheld those laws, recognizing that our military is to provide religious accommodation when an impact to national security by such an accommodation can be mitigated.  I think it's unquestionably the case that those religiously opposed to the vaccine can be accommodated as such.
   
2. In our current culture, principle and moral courage are a rarity.  While the number of people who accept a free meal for simply wearing a uniform is high, the number of people with actual principle and integrity is, in my experience, exceedingly low and especially in the officer ranks.  Whether one agrees with the religious principles of those in the shoes of the F-16 student pilot in this podcast or not, the mere fact that he is willing to risk a life's dream and his career (as the podcast host did with remarkable principle) demonstrates not only a valuable character trait necessary for public service, but one that is lacking to the point of being itself a national security issue.
3. The host's indication that these policies appear to be intentional to destroy the military are spot on.  There is zero chance that what we are witnessing in our military is the product of incompetence.  It is the intentional destruction of America's military capability coinciding with the intentional destruction of America's economy and social structure.
4. I would like to know more about the O-6 A-10 pilot who requested retirement and was denied, only to be later given an order to take the vaccine under threat of separation without retirement benefits.  While this makes my blood boil either way as a phenomenal slap in the face to a service member and a grave injustice, I would also like to know if she has a service commitment.  Without a service commitment, the threat to separate her is inexcusable on every level.
   
5. While I have yet to verify the claim (that the current vaccines were developed using cells taken from humans inside the womb, without anesthesia, to harvest fully functional kidneys), if that claim is true, it is beyond appalling and it shouldn't be only religious people who object to the vaccine but all people.
   

The Ultimate Red Flag -- America is Now An Overt Fascist Tyranny

 

The slippery slope has long since slid.  It's no longer the fashion to dub others "conspiracy theorists" and the "tin foil hat" memes have fallen largely silent.  Attempts to ridicule Americans who point out the legitimate threat to the freedom of Americans have been replaced with the more traditional government methods of dealing with dissidents.  Violence.  Imprisonment.  Censorship.  Murder.

The fusion of violence between a regime-backed mob, like the Black Shirts of Italy or the Brown Shirts of Germany, and the official violence of a government apparatus spells the end of a free state.  What happened in Germany in the 1930s has already happened in America today.  What was once seen as hyperbolic and tin foil from those willfully ignorant has now been revealed as accurate.

America today is a tyranny.  That isn't an exaggeration.  I have blogged about this trend for quite some time as I tried to remind military officers of their oaths of office because, as I told them, that fidelity would be tested in the years to come.  At this point, it seems a fool's errand to even try to convince anybody of anything as the country I was attempting to support and defend no longer exists.  What stands in its place is a tyrannical government at war with its own citizenry and it has grown so bold and so confident that it readily admits this.

Our government has completed its transformation as it completes the fusion between the Brown Shirt mob and the official tools of government violence via a new bill (which is set to pass thanks to the support of ten Republican senators) which will use federal taxpayer money to fund States to enact "Red Flag laws" against their citizens.  As politicians tend to be attracted to money and as the line between state law enforcement agencies and federal agencies has blurred, ironically due to Fusion Centers, the result of this bill is not hard to predict.

These publicly purchased State laws will enable anonymous tips to law enforcement claiming a person is a danger of some kind, to serve as justification for armed government to break into your home in the middle of the night, put a gun to your head, handcuff you, search your home, and confiscate your firearms.  Without any due process whatsoever.  All that will be required is the ever-so-valuable "anonymous tip" which has been so useful to corporate media when they wish to lie to the American people, and which has served as the justification for police raids of conservative voices through so-called SWATTING.  Police have no duty or desire to require identification for those providing these anonymous tips, because, well, why would you require that for accountability purposes before breaking into a person's home like they're Osama Bin Laden?  And, depending on the actual motivations for the armed government action that lead to the anonymous tip, Americans might well meet the same fate as Bin Laden.  There will be no accountability because police in America have qualified immunity, because even in the rare case that a cop is charged for murder they almost always get off despite clear video showing the murder and, let's not forget, you were making a furtive movement and reaching for something when awakened at 3AM in the darkness.  The police officers feared for their safety.  As they did in Uvalde, but with a different ending.

This unconstitutional hallmark from straight-out-of-the-history-books (as well as a scene from V for Vendetta) -- a law allowing armed government to treat you like you're currently hijacking an airliner without any actual evidence you've done anything wrong -- is not meant to stop the rare school shooting that gets played ad nauseum by our propaganda networks that pretend to be the Fourth Estate.  Rather, it's meant to complete the transformation of the United States into the spitting image of fascist authoritarianism.  They have been building the fascist machinery for some time now, both parties in the single party that actually exists, and this final addition will be used, and is meant to be used, to silence, intimidate, punish, and even murder traditional Americans on a case by case basis.  The target is Americans who believe they have rights.  Those who speak out against their tyrannical fascist actions.  I know exactly how and why these laws will be used.  I have firsthand experience.

In 2017 after retiring from the military, my wife and I moved to our condo we had purchased years earlier on Bainbridge Island.  While there I criticized a particularly dishonest local politician named Clarence Moriwaki.  I criticized him on my own public Facebook page for his partisan action, and inaction, as a board member of a national public memorial.  In response to my public criticism, Moriwaki got his personal friend, a local municipal court judge, Sara McCulloch, to force me (and my wife) to turn our firearms into the local police department.  She did this while admitting earlier that she couldn't legally disarm me as the standard for such an action had not been met.  She even admitted that I had not threatened Moriwaki and that I had no history of violence or threats in my past.  Still, all the same, her justification was "safety" because Moriwaki claimed he felt "threatened" by my criticism of him to others on a public social media page.

With me disarmed, Moriwaki then set out cataloging all our seized firearms to his online mob, evoking gasps and howls and caricatures involving terms like "weapons cache."  He even liked a public call for my death on his own public Facebook page and (after I fled the corrupt island and moved to the Florida Keys) emailed the local police department to tell them I was a threat who should be approached with extreme caution, filed paperwork suggesting that he believed I would respond with violence if approached by the police, and requested the police consider arresting me.  He did all of this while I was disarmed, living in the Florida Keys, and while his mob members were calling for my death and while one of his Antifa associates left threats on my phone and on the answering machine of my parents. Further, despite me living literally as far away from Bainbridge Island as is possible in the United States (I fled the island immediately upon the corrupt judge's protection order ruling knowing Moriwaki would lie to have me arrested or worse) he filed two false police reports alleging that I twice had broken into his home.  Fortunately the police were not swayed by his lack of evidence and they tested fingerprints in his home which all belonged to him, so his creative story that I had broken into his home to hide his cheese slicer while he slept in that same apartment, did not spur the police to arrest me in the Florida Keys.  

While I ultimately beat Moriwaki in State court, and later in federal court, and had my firearms returned (but only after the Bainbridge Island Police Department strangely made me pose with my firearms for a photo as a condition of releasing my firearms back to me), the fact is Moriwaki did everything he could to disarm me and to weaponize police violence against me.  He did this because I criticized him on my own public social media page.

Moriwaki is good friends with, and a former staffer for, Governor Jay Inslee who used to be a federal Congressman and unsuccessfully ran for President.  While Moriwaki is an unimpressive city council member and low level politician, he is part of the same corrupt political machine that is set to enact the federal funding of Red Flag laws.  While Moriwaki is a Democrat, the machine is bipartisan.  Given that Moriwaki was able to weaponize the machinery of government against a retired military officer (who literally refused to do violence in violation of the Constitution despite Moriwaki's false claims of me being a violent threat) and my Harvard graduate wife who clerked for a liberal justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, there is no doubt how the fascist machine he is a small cog in will utilize these new bald-faced-tyrannical powers against average Americans.

These dots can be connected.  This new unconstitutional Red Flag power (brought into existence by traitor, Lindsay Graham, as well as Trojan Horse so-called-conservatives like Dan Crenshaw and Adam Kinzinger) is part of a larger fascist push.  Graham was unsatisfied when he, along with Jay Inslee, made it "lawful" for the American government to use the military to round up Americans, in America, without charge or trial, and imprison them indefinitely (this power was central to my criticism of Clarence Moriwaki and his role with a public memorial that has the express purpose of ensuring that exactly such a power did not happen again).  Lindsay Graham was also not satisfied that the federal government was using the military to assassinate Americans without charge or trial outside war zones (something I refused to do while in the military and tendered my resignation over).  So he is now, along with nine Republican senators, ensuring that armed government agents can raid our homes and disarm us based on the same anonymous tips that brought us the revelation that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, that Donald Trump colluded with Russia, and that continue to target liberty-minded voices.

And these powers will be used under the backdrop of a nation that continues to have political prisoners over a massively overblown protest and riot on January 6, and while Julian Assange remains in prison and Edward Snowden remains exiled.  A nation where the FBI and other federal agencies are increasingly weaponized against Americans protesting insane school board actions at the same time the government creates a Ministry of Truth to target the free speech of Americans when they complain about the war against them by their own government.  And that backdrop, importantly, includes the ongoing economic collapse of the nation which historically plays a significant role in the transition from a western democratic government to outright tyranny.  As it did in Germany, and as it is doing in the United States of America.

All that is left now is the body count.  There won't be any smokestacks this time as the carbon footprint would be much too high for the World Economic Forum that so many of our congressmen attend.  But the transformation is complete and it's merely a matter of numbers at this point.  It has already begun with one here, two there.  Little FBI created Reichstag fires here and there, a leading Michigan candidate for governor arrested for protesting with clear political timing, attempts to keep certain politicians from running (because they were somehow supportive of a protest relating to the mysterious election of Joe Biden under highly questionable -- even if not yet conclusive -- circumstances), an assassination attempt on a Supreme Court justice with the "wrong" views and with burning cities in recent memory.

There will be no persuading Americans in the controlled pseudo-public square that exists today.  There is no chance of defeating this tyrannical government with the tiny minority of Americans who care anything about liberty (and there are few of us regardless of political party affiliation) and who are cataloged and tracked by an immense surveillance apparatus far beyond anything the Taliban endured with their nearly-Luddite culture.  There will be no hiding off grid and hoping it passes us by.  There will no longer be the go along to get along option that so many patriot-in-private-conversations-yet-silent-in-public Americans exercised which played such a huge role in getting us here.  That options will no longer exist.  If you have a voice or you do not, if you exercise it or not, regardless of the views you express or do not, whether you are rich or you are poor, whether you try to fight the power or stay silent and off the radar, this tyranny will visit you.  There is no such thing as off the radar in this world we find ourselves in.  Those days are long gone.  Now it's just a matter of waiting for the "anonymous tip" against you.  Because somebody doesn't like you.  Because you posted the wrong thing on Facebook.  Because you voted the wrong way or supported the wrong candidate or declined to join the new digital dollar currency or to take a vaccine.  The same climate of fear and paranoia that marked other victims of tyranny who were so frequently reported by their family members and neighbors to the armed government security state, will become the new normal in our Made-In-China-America in which we find ourselves.

There is no positive outlook when it comes to reality.  There is just reality and our ability to deal with it.  And the reality is that America has been defeated from the inside.  And not just by the fascists inside the government who had no concern for their oaths of office, but by the average American who simply did not care enough about the principles that required that oath of office and that once made this nation the best to ever exist prior to its defeat.  Our nation has been decimated by unprincipled parents who raised unprincipled children devoid of American values, instead thinking that identifying as a Republican or a Democrat would suffice, and this has been happening for generations.

We did this to ourselves and like the theft and fiscal irresponsibility that is now having entirely predictable results despite the denials from those who lack the courage to follow evidence to a logical conclusion, there is no escaping the nightmare that follows.

Dan Crenshaw: The "Conservative" Obama

Thanks to the time I was deluded enough to believe Obama when he was on the campaign trail saying all the right things, attending events, giving him a max campaign contribution, attending his inauguration on a brisk DC morning only to see him do the opposite once he was in office, I now don't trust politicians when they tell me what I want to hear.  I guess you could say, thanks Obama.

So when Dan Crenshaw popped on the scene and started hitting up the airwaves and SNL and all the darling media and the Joe Rogan podcast, I listened skeptically.  And I got a bad feeling.  He said many of the right things and he had an eloquence.  Not as eloquent as Obama, but fairly close.  But one of the beauties of the long form Rogan podcast is he had enough time to make it clear that he didn't actually hold the values he professed.

So then when he came out in support of government confiscating firearms without due process, that was it for me.  I didn't even have to know he was part of the World Economic Forum to figure out he was a plant.  Despite his military pedigree which my two decades has taught me means absolutely nothing when it comes to caring about our nation, and despite him hailing from Texas which talks a big game but is little more than New York City in a cowboy hat.

People are beginning to wise up to the reality that the same forces own both political parties.  Our tightly controlled media propagandizes Americans like putting on a puppet show.  There is one puppet master with two different puppets on two different hands that seem to fight each other for the amusement of the children.

A better analogy is that of the Bullfighter.  We're the bull.  The Bullfighter shows us a red flag and we charge it and get a blade stuck in us.  We turn around to face again, now the other side of the flag shows us blue and we charge that only to get stuck again.  Rinse and repeat until we are exhausted and die, having never seen the Bullfighter, too blinded by alternating red and blue.

The Bullfighter today is getting its red flag ready, knowing we are exhausted and hurting from staring at the blue and its purposeful destruction of our nation.  Enter Dan Crenshaw and Adam Kinzinger and Lindsey Graham and most all the rest of them.  They stand ready to use words like "country" and "patriotism" and "constitution" to redirect our anger and energy.  But they are more of the same and counting on us to continue, like the dumb bull who never learns, to justify our bad decision making with arguments like the lesser of two evils.

And the Chinese Communist Party and the WEF folks are truly enjoying the show while America is quite literally bleeding out and dying.

Declining an Interview Request from NPR/KUOW's Noor Wazwaz

 

21 September 2022 Update: I just received another email from the Fiasco team.  The email I received was:

Dear Mr. Rynearson, 

This is Leon, the host of the Fiasco podcast about Anwar al Awlaki, the war on terror, and the Obama administration. I work with Noor Wazwaz, who reached out to you back in April. I'm reaching out now, again, in hopes of convincing you that sharing your story with us would be worth your while. 

Some background on me: I was a print reporter for about 10 years before turning to audio. I worked at the New York Observer, the Boston Globe, and then Slate, where I started the hit podcast Slow Burn. From there, I struck out on my own as the founder of Prologue Projects -- an independent studio based in New York -- and the host of Fiasco. 

To date, we have produced five seasons of Fiasco, including one on the 2000 election, one on the Iran-Contra scandal, and one on the Benghazi attack in Libya. For each of these projects, we've interviewed dozens of primary sources in service of presenting a version of the story that feels fair, credible, and alive to our listeners. Our goal is to present riveting renditions of history that will make people think hard about the past in relation to the present. 

From reading your blog, I know you have a unique perspective on the Obama administration, as well as strongly held beliefs that you are not shy about sharing. I remain hopeful that you'll agree to have a conversation with me and Noor about your experience. We would love to do this even if it has to be off the record. We would also be more than happy to answer any of your questions about the project. 

Let me know, or just give me a call -- you can reach me on my cell at [redacted]. 

Leon

I responded: "Leon, while I am not interested in discussing my refusal of an unlawful order with the media, I am looking forward to your episode."  He replied with "Thanks for writing back. Off the record -- won't use this anywhere -- do you mind telling me why you're not interested in discussing it with the media?"

I did not respond to that email. 

MAIN BLOG POST:

Earlier this year I got an interview request from Lt Col (ret) Wayne Phelps for the Fiasco podcast.  I politely declined.

I today got a similar interview request from Noor Wazwaz.  Her email read:

Hi Rick,

I hope this finds you well. My name is Noor Wazwaz, and I'm a journalist working on a podcast called Fiasco. It's a documentary-style series that looks at pivotal moments in American history and politics. Previous seasons have covered the 2000 US election, the Iran-Contra affair, and the AIDS crisis. Our season about the 2012 Benghazi attack was recently named one of the 50 Best Podcasts of 2021 by The Atlantic.

For an upcoming season, we are exploring different aspects of the war on terror through the story of Anwar al-Awlaki. We’ve been speaking with retired military officers about drones and their experiences in the military. As we’ve been researching, we came across this video of you talking to law students about an incident in which you were ordered to kill an American citizen and refused. It sounds like it was a difficult decision, and we’re wondering if you would be open to speaking to us about it, and why you decided to not follow that order. 

I’d be happy to tell you more about our project by phone, if you are open to it, and answer any questions you might have. 

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

Noor

 

I responded:

Ms. Wazwaz,

Good luck with your project.  Unfortunately my experience with KUOW and Bill Radke in particular does not persuade me to discuss anything with KUOW journalists.  Mr Radke mischaracterized, mocked, and disparaged my successful litigation effort (backed by the ACLU no less, who filed an amicus brief in support) to get an anti-First Amendment law struck down in Washington State.  If you are interested in that experience this video might illuminate the bad taste I have in my mouth for the KUOW organization: https://youtu.be/3tXGg9Y4LhQ

Unfortunately I cannot discuss such a sensitive and important topic with an organization that employs subpar journalists like Bill Radke.  But I wish you luck with your podcast and hope you give the topic the effort and integrity it deserves.

v/r

Rick

 
Ms. Noor clarified:

Hi Rick,

Thank you for your response. I’m sorry to hear about your experience with KUOW. However, I believe there might be a misunderstanding! I do not work for KUOW. In fact, I never have. But I can understand your confusion. When I searched for my name on their site, an article I wrote from 2018 popped up. It appears that they picked it up after it was originally published by NPR. I hope that clarifies things! 

The company that produces the podcast Fiasco is called Prologue Projects. I’ve included the link so you can read about our staff and our work.

You can hear the first season of our show, on the 2000 election and the Bush v. Gore decision, at this link. I’m confident that, in listening to our work, you’ll hear that our aim is not to do “gotcha” journalism, but to allow our subjects to say what they really want to say. 

Finally, I’ll mention that our team goes through a very rigorous fact-checking process – not only to make sure that we got our facts right, but to ensure that we are telling a fair and nuanced story. 

 

I’m happy to answer any other questions.

 

Also, if interested, I’d also be happy to connect you with our host, Leon Neyfakh. 

 

Thanks again,

Noor

 

 And I responded:

 

Thank you for the clarification.  Good luck with your project. 

Fired Space Force Commander Highlights Push to Destroy Our Military

In my view, it is obvious that China's infiltration of our government has resulted in a purposeful destruction of our military capability.  The evidence for this goes well beyond the military.  Domestic enemies working for foreign enemies in much the same way as our government propped up puppet governments around the world.  Principled military officers are being systemically purged from our military ranks when they point out these actions inside the military.