Scott Horton Interviews Karen Kwiatkowski
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Karen Kwiatkowski, columnist at lewrockwell.com and retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel, discusses her run for Congress in Virginia’s 6th District; the media’s steadfast refusal to mention Ron Paul’s near-win in the Iowa straw poll – because he “can’t win;” why the RNC may have nominated John McCain in order to purposely lose the 2008 presidential election; why Congressional Reps should have to actually read and write the bills they vote on, instead of having aids and lobbyists do it for them (and should lose pensions and health benefits for good measure); how to convince the electorate to rein in the US empire, without actually saying “empire;” and why the steady drumbeat for war with Iran emerging from the Republican primaries must be stopped.
MP3 here. (20:17)
Karen Kwiatkowski, Ph.D., is a retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel, who spent her final years in uniform working at the Pentagon’s Near East/South Asia bureau (NESA). Her assignment was to work on policy papers for the Secretary of Defense and other top brass at the Pentagon. Shortly thereafter, she was assigned to a newly-formed bureau inside the Pentagon called the Office of Special Plans, which was created to help the Pentagon deal with issues in Iraq.
Deeply frustrated and alarmed, Kwiatkowski, still on active duty, took the unusual step of penning an anonymous column of internal Pentagon dissent that was posted on the Internet by former Colonel David Hackworth, America’s most decorated veteran. She lives with her freedom-loving family in the Shenandoah Valley, and among other things, writes for lewrockwell.com.
James
August 16th, 2011 at 4:59 am
Let’s see… the media anointed GOP front runners are, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michelle Bachman, and ever lurking in the wings, Sarah Palin. Ever get the impression that the GOP presidential race has devolved into a beauty contest? Me neither. Can we see the bathing suit competition next?
Bruce Richardson
August 16th, 2011 at 5:25 am
Karen Kwiatkowski is a true American hero. What a wonderful ticket would manifest as Ron Paul for president and Karen Kwiatkowski as his running mate. Though this is perhaps a voters pipe-dream, one can only hope for the welfare of the Republic and the world.
George W. Bush
August 16th, 2011 at 5:40 am
Ron Paul will never win if he keeps talking about taking away people's entitlements and the banker's free money. The reality is everyone in America wants cuts as long it is not there hair.
Winston
August 16th, 2011 at 5:58 am
"Can an Anti-Establishment Candidate Win?"
Nope. The idiocracy is sufficiently ignorant and propagandized to prevent that. After all, there are literally trillions of dollars to steal at stake, so the forces against change are extremely well funded.
eCAHNomics
August 16th, 2011 at 6:09 am
Tea Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Brothers. Welcome to the looting of U.S. Karen. You're on the winning side now.
James
August 16th, 2011 at 6:10 am
Let's see… the media anointed GOP front runners are, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Michelle Bachman, and ever lurking in the wings, Sarah Palin. Ever get the impression that the GOP presidential race has devolved into a beauty contest? Me neither. Can we see the bathing suit competition next?
eCAHNomics
August 16th, 2011 at 6:11 am
Put differently, if god had meant us to vote, he would have given us candidates. (H/T Howard Zinn)
kev
August 16th, 2011 at 6:15 am
eww
NavyVietnamWarVet
August 16th, 2011 at 7:31 am
Ron Paul has a sensible message – but – he does not appear to be anyone's 'puppet' – that will keep him from ever being elected.
Only 'puppets' to the military -industrial complex and to AIPAC / Israel will be elected.
Tralala
August 16th, 2011 at 10:51 am
Note to Karen Kwiatkowski. Obama is NOT a democrat, he is a Trojan Horse republican. He has done everything the Republicans had wanted him to.
Continue the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? check
Continue Guantanamo? check
Continue the Bush tax breaks for the ultra rich? check
Continue the Patriot Act? Check
Continue government secrecy and lack of transparency? check
Continue the lobbyist culture in Washington DC? Check
Orville H. Larson
August 16th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Let's stipulate that the U.S. Government is broken. It's well and truly f–ked. The District of Corruption is exactly that. It's bought-and-paid-for. Every K Street lobbyist with a checkbook has his/her hooks into the members of the Parliament of Whores–er, Congress. The Supreme Court, with its hard core of Federalist Society shysters (Roberts, Scalia, Alito, and Thomas) hands down authoritarian, anti-freedom rulings.
Foreign policy–specifically, "Middle East policy"? This is controlled, not by the U.S. Government (!) but by–well, I'd better not mention the country's name, that'd get everybody all riled up. Let's say it's a criminal Zionist entity in the Middle East, and leave it at that.
Well, that's my summing up of the general situation. What to do about it? Shit, I wish I knew. Certainly, keep nullification and secession in mind.
Colonel Kwiatkowski, I wish you the very best.
dink
August 16th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Perry is a boob, along with most of the GOP. Kwiatkowshi makes sense. We will not forgive Obama for unconstitutional war.
dink
August 16th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
so they say
Antiwar.com’s Week in Review | August 19, 2011 « Antiwar.com Blog
August 19th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
[...] Horton had Karen Kwiatkowski on to discuss her bid for Congress and how to convince Americans that the empire needs to be reined [...]
Ryan
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:02 am
Hey Karen I will vote for you I still am signed up for D6 in VA
Ryan
August 22nd, 2011 at 9:04 am
my cousins will vote for you as well out of Harrisonburg