Will Grigg, blogger and author of Liberty in Eclipse, discusses the origins and authoritarian tendencies of the Democratic and Republican parties, Alexander Hamilton’s role in quelling the Whiskey Rebellion and his legacy of centralized economic and military power, the carefully orchestrated packaging and branding of Barack Obama as an agent of peace and change, the U.S. Treasury Department’s usurpation of Congressional legislative authority and local law enforcement’s increasing role as tax collectors.

MP3 here. (1:09:37)

William Norman Grigg writes the blog Pro Libertate and is the author of the book Liberty in Eclipse: The War on Terror and the Rise of the Homeland Security State.

Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) discusses the expansion of the American empire after the collapse of the Soviet Union, how empires lead to the loss of liberty, security and wealth, and long term prospects of the current financial downturn.

MP3 here. (23:43)

Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) is a former Republican presidential candidate. He is the author of The Revolution: A Manifesto, Pillars of Prosperity and Freedom Under Siege.

Richard Maybury, author of the U.S. and World Early Warning Report, discusses the evolution of common law, the American Revolutionary revolt for natural rights, the “divine right” of the majority, the importance of self-defense to a society’s freedom, the imbalanced offensive/defensive cost ratio, Osama Bin Laden’s strategy of bankrupting the American empire, how to profit from a libertarian understanding of money and power, the emerging second Cold War with Russia, the moral questions around investing in government-tied businesses, the corruption of political power, the two-party system hoax and the coming second American Revolution.

MP3 here. (44:25)

Richard Maybury is the author of the investment newsletter, U.S. and World Early Warning Report and the Uncle Eric books.

William Norman Grigg, author of the blog Pro-Libertate and the book Liberty in Eclipse: The War on Terror and the Rise of the Homeland Security State, discusses the tragic death of the old American understanding of limited constitutional government under the rule of law: the ever increasing power of the presidency, the case of Jose Padilla, the absurdity of Christians approving of torture, the Milgram torture and Zimbardo prison experiments, the militarization and federalization of American police forces, the brutality and cowardice of the Denver Police Department, the impossibility of living under a republic while maintaining an empire, the horrible War on Drugs and its consequences for liberty and law, our neo-Benthemian surveillance state, the possibility of that most dangerous mix of conscription and military forces deployed in America, and some hope for the future.

MP3 here. (73:28)

William Norman Grigg writes the blog Pro Libertate and is the author of the book Liberty in Eclipse: The War on Terror and the Rise of the Homeland Security State.

Larry Velvel, dean of the Massachusetts School of Law and sponsor of the upcoming Justice Robert Jackson Conference On The Planning For Prosecution Of High Level American War Criminals, featuring Francis Boyle, Vincent Bugliosi, Philippe Sands and others, discusses the many crimes of the Bush administration, the history of unaccountability of our leaders, the legal gymnastics perpetrated by the Bush regime lawyers, the immunity clauses of the Military Commission Act and how they might effect potential foreign prosecutions of American war criminals.

MP3 here. (34:20)

Lawrence R. Velvel is the Dean of Massachusetts School of Law and a professor of law. Mr. Velvel is a 1960 graduate of the University of Michigan and a 1963 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, where he served on the law review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He was a law professor from 1966-1978, first at the University of Kansas and then at Catholic University . He has been a partner in major law firms in Washington , D.C. , and was the first chief counsel of an organization established to write United States Supreme Court briefs in support of state and local governments. He has been active in Supreme Court litigation, constitutional law, antitrust law and complex litigation. He is the author of a book dealing with constitutional aspects of the Vietnam war, of seventeen law review articles and of twenty-three articles for legal and daily newspapers. He has written thirty-three United States Supreme Court briefs and is editor of the MSLAW journal called The Long Term View.

Chalmers Johnson, former CIA analyst and author of the Blowback Trilogy, discusses his recent article: “The Military-Industrial Complex-It’s Much Later Than You Think” explaining the pervasive privatization of the intelligence industry, the history of corporatism and empire in America, total corruption of Congress and the inevitable end of empire.

MP3 here. (18:47)

Chalmers Johnson is an author and professor emeritus of the University of California, San Diego. He is also president and co-founder of the Japan Policy Research Institute, an organization promoting public education about Japan and Asia. He is the author of Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic.

Pat Buchanan, political analyst, columnist and author of Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World, discusses the British politicians’ colossal blunders that led them into World War I and II and the collapse of their empire, the consequences of American intervention in WWI and imposition of the Versailles Treaty, Hitler’s motive to regain the lands lost in the east and willingness to forsake former German provinces in the west out of his desire to avoid war with England and France, what really happened at Munich, the folly of the British war guarantee to Poland during their dispute with Hitler over Danzig and the real lessons of the second World War.

MP3 here. (43:37)

Pat Buchanan is an American politician, author, syndicated columnist and broadcaster. Buchanan was a senior adviser to American presidents, Nixon, Ford and Reagan, and was an original host on CNN’s Crossfire. He sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1992 and 1996. He ran on the Reform Party ticket in the 2000 presidential election. He co-founded The American Conservative magazine and launched a foundation named The American Cause. He has been published in Human Events, National Review, The Nation and Rolling Stone. His new book is called Churchill, Hitler, and The Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World.

Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, discusses the upcoming “Restoring The Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties” conference on June 6-8 in Reston Virginia, why libertarianism ought to be the real center of Left and Right, how libertarian views are those of the founders and the only hope to save America from statism and empire, the importance of habeas corpus in a free society, the backgrounds of the conference speakers and the problem of conservative state worship.

MP3 here. (41:25)

Jacob Hornberger is founder and president of The Future of Freedom Foundation. He was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and received his B.A. in economics from Virginia Military Institute and his law degree from the University of Texas. He was a trial attorney for twelve years in Texas. He also was an adjunct professor at the University of Dallas, where he taught law and economics. In 1987, Mr. Hornberger left the practice of law to become director of programs at The Foundation for Economic Education in Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, publisher of The Freeman and Freedom Daily. Fluent in Spanish and conversant in Italian, he has delivered speeches and engaged in debates and discussions about free-market principles with groups all over the United States, as well as Canada, England, Europe, and Latin America, including Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Argentina. He has also advanced freedom and free markets on talk-radio stations all across the country as well as on FOX New’s Neil Cavuto and Greta van Susteren shows. His editorials have appeared in the Washington Post, Charlotte Observer, La Prensa San Diego, El Nuevo Miami Herald, and many others, both in the United States and in Latin America. He is a co-editor or contributor to the eight books that have been published by the Foundation.

Chris Floyd, author of the blog and the book Empire Burlesque, discusses some antiwar activists’ misplaced admiration for Adm. Fallon, his characterization of the Iranian people as “ants” to be “crushed,” the de-facto replacement of U.S. ambassadors by admirals and generals, the shallowness of the American media, the obvious and yet somehow unpopular fact that foreigners are people, the ongoing American atrocity in Somalia and the Democrats’ bankrupt “liberal interventionism.”

MP3 here. (36:16)

Chris Floyd is an award-winning American journalist, and author of the book, Empire Burlesque: High Crimes and Low Comedy in the Bush Regime. For more than 11 years he wrote the featured political column, Global Eye, for The Moscow Times and the St. Petersburg Times in Russia. He also served as UK correspondent for Truthout.org, and was an editorial writer for three years for The Bergen Record. His work appears regularly CounterPunch, The Baltimore Chronicle and in translation in the Italian paper, Il Manifesto, and has also been published in such venues as The Nation, the Christian Science Monitor, Columbia Journalism Review, The Ecologist and many others. His articles are also featured regularly on such websites as Information Clearing House, Buzzflash, Bushwatch, LewRockwell.com, Antiwar.com, and many others. His work has been cited in The New York Times, USA Today, the Guardian, the Independent and other major newspapers.

Floyd co-founded the blog Empire Burlesque with webmaster Richard Kastelein, who created the site using open-source software. Floyd is also chief editor of Atlantic Free Press, which was founded and designed by Kastelein. Floyd has been a writer and editor for more than 25 years, working in the United States, Great Britain and Russia for various newspapers, magazines, the U.S. government and Oxford University.

John V. Walsh, regular contributor to CounterPunch laments the failures of the progressive Left, paleo Right and libertarians to get their act together in a real antiwar coalition.

MP3 here. (28:56)

John V. Walsh, a frequent contributor to CounterPunch.com and Antiwar.com, is a member of the Green Rainbow Party of MA. He is also a member of Physicians for a National Health Program. Some years ago he ran for U.S. Congress and won the endorsement of the Boston Globe.