Podcasts about attorney general holder

Eric Holder is the third longest-serving Attorney General in American history, holding the role from 2009 to 2015 under President Barack Obama. He's written a new book on voting rights called Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote. Holder joins Preet to discuss the likelihood that the Department of Justice will indict former President Trump, his fight against partisan gerrymandering, and what he makes of so-called “progressive prosecutors.”  Plus, the latest on the House January 6th Committee hearings: the allegation that GOP lawmakers sought presidential pardons for their roles in the Big Lie, and an eyebrow-raising testimony from a former White House lawyer.  In the bonus for CAFE Insiders, Preet and Attorney General Holder discuss their unsuccessful joint effort to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who the 9/11 Commission called the “principal architect of the 9/11 attacks,” in a civilian court in Manhattan. Mohammed, more commonly known as KSM, remains in detention at Guantanamo Bay. To listen, try the membership for just $1 for one month: cafe.com/insider. For show notes and a transcript of the episode, head to: https://cafe.com/stay-tuned/how-is-doj-doing-with-eric-holder/  Tweet your questions to @PreetBharara with hashtag #askpreet, email us at staytuned@cafe.com, or call 669-247-7338 to leave a voicemail. Stay Tuned with Preet is brought to you by CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Mark Joseph Stern to tee up the final weeks of the Supreme Court term. Several blockbusters are still to come, from abortion to gun rights to religious liberty to climate action—and then there's the shadow docket. Mark and Dahlia break it all down with insights into what to expect and what to watch for.  Dahlia also spoke with former Attorney General Eric Holder this week, and he made the clear and urgent case that if you want gun reform, you need to work on democracy reform. Attorney General Holder will be back on Amicus in July to talk about his book for our summer reading series.  In this week's Amicus Plus segment, as the Supreme Court investigates clerks over the Dobbs leak, and in the wake of the revelations of Ginni Thomas' involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Dahlia is in conversation with Noah Bookbinder of CREW about how to fix judicial ethics.  Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dahlia Lithwick is joined by Mark Joseph Stern to tee up the final weeks of the Supreme Court term. Several blockbusters are still to come, from abortion to gun rights to religious liberty to climate action—and then there's the shadow docket. Mark and Dahlia break it all down with insights into what to expect and what to watch for.  Dahlia also spoke with former Attorney General Eric Holder this week, and he made the clear and urgent case that if you want gun reform, you need to work on democracy reform. Attorney General Holder will be back on Amicus in July to talk about his book for our summer reading series.  In this week's Amicus Plus segment, as the Supreme Court investigates clerks over the Dobbs leak, and in the wake of the revelations of Ginni Thomas' involvement in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, Dahlia is in conversation with Noah Bookbinder of CREW about how to fix judicial ethics.  Sign up for Slate Plus now to listen and support our show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, Jordyn Shubrick '22 interviews Ambassador Harry Thomas '78. In their conversation, they talk about Harry's career, reflecting on some of the most memorable moments from his days serving as the US Ambassador. Their conversation showcases the enduring impact that friendships forged at Holy Cross can have on the world. Interview originally recorded on December 16, 2020.  Due to the ongoing effects of the pandemic, all interviews in season 2 are recorded remotely. --- Harry: And when you look at it representing your country, are you going to do the right thing? Easy to do the wrong thing, but are you going to do the right thing? Are you going to tell the truth? Are you going to represent our values of democracy, of free markets? Of very important freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The other thing that Jesuits I think are best at teaching us is to question authority. Don't take things for granted. Maura: Welcome to mission-driven, where we speak with alumni who are leveraging their Holy Cross education to make a meaningful difference in the world around them. I'm your host Maura Sweeney from the class of 2007, director of alumni career development at Holy Cross. I am delighted to welcome you to today's show. In this episode, we hear from Harry Thomas from the class of 1978. A member of the Holy Cross board of trustees, Harry served a long and successful career in the foreign service working in US embassies around the world before advancing through the ranks of the state department to serve as US ambassador to Bangladesh, the Philippines and Zimbabwe. A native of Harlem, Harry made his way to Holy Cross in search of a close knit community. Little did he know that his friendships from Holy Cross would continue to make an impact around the globe through his work in the foreign service. Despite all of his accomplishments, Harry is most proud of delivering the commencement address at Holy Cross in 2016. He's joined by Jordyn Shubrick from the class of 2022. In their conversation, they speak about their shared experiences as throwers on the Holy Cross track team. They also talk about Harry's career, reflecting on some of the most memorable moments from his days serving as the US ambassador. Their conversation showcases the enduring impact that friendships forged at Holy Cross can have on the world. Jordyn: Hello and welcome everyone. My name is Jordyn Shubrick, currently a junior at the college. And today I'm here with Mr. Harry Thomas class of 78. How are you, Harry? Harry: Hey, how are you Jordan? So good to see you. Jordyn: Yes. Nice seeing you too, along here on Zoom, but that's the price we pay for being in a virtual space, but all good things. Harry: Yes it is. Jordyn: Yeah. So just to kick things off, I love to hear the stories of why people chose Holy Cross. So why did you choose College of the Holy Cross? Harry: Well, I went to a large high school, 6,000 boys and two girls in New York city. And I did not thrive there. I thought it was too large so I was looking for a small college. And I visited Holy Cross during a Black Student Union weekend, met a lot of great people and felt that the environment would be perfect for me. And then I had to convince my parents. Jordyn: And how was that process of convincing your parents to go to Worcester, Massachusetts? Harry: Not easy. In fact, my father said, you know how it was, my father said, "No, you're not going. Too expensive." And that was it. And a couple of weeks later he said, "Yes, you can go." And it took many years before I found out that my mother had told him that he should let me go and they agreed. And it wasn't an easy decision because it cost them their life savings. Jordyn: Right. No, definitely. I think especially with Holy Cross being such a Jesuit school and all the values, but that price point is a lot. It is, it very much is, but I think it's so important to hear the stories of why people chose Holy Cross, because there's so many different unique experiences. But with that said, I know your time at Holy Cross you were an athlete. How was that being a student athlete on the Hill? Harry: Well, yes. I was on the track team. I threw the shot put in 35 pound weight, not as well as you, but I did have a few personal bests at Brown. It was good. A lot of people were into sports. We were very good in track and field and a lot of other sports. I also had a job working in Hogan and I look back on it and having so much time devoted to academics, athletics and working helped me focus. You couldn't afford to be too far behind. You had to keep up or you'll never catch up. And I definitely did not want to visit Father Fahey who was the Dean at that time and have to go home to my parents. That was a non-starter. Jordyn: Right, definitely. So I know you talked about having a job, but being an athlete and a student. How were you able to balance your time given that there is so much to do as a college student? You're growing into your own person, but... Harry: It was difficult. It really took, I would say into my third, fourth semesters to really learn how to do it, because as much as you say that you are disciplined, you're free for the first time. And you're interested in going to a lot of parties, hanging out with your friends and also keeping up with athletics, but also I had to work. And I had to because even though my parents paid, that meant they weren't giving me any spending money. So I wasn't on athletic scholarships so I had to work. So it was a lot and I was tired often and I did not initially utilize the weekends to study. I later learned that Saturday and Sunday mornings were a really good time to study, to write your papers and catch up, but I did not know that at the beginning. And it took time. Jordyn: Right. Definitely a big learning curve I would say. Everyone's faced with when they hit the Hill, then you got to learn how to navigate through that new space. But as you're talking, I wonder what was your biggest driver to push you both academically while you were on the Hill? Harry: Well fear. Fear of my parents, very honest. That I had to show them my transcript or whatever, I guess, report card every semester. There was no PII in those days, even if there were, I was going to have to show it to them. And they both were college graduates. In fact, my mother had a master's. So yes, my mother had a master's from NYU in social work. She had gone to Allen, HBCU undergraduate. My father went to Morris Brown after getting out of World War II. So that was extremely important in our family. And I had many members of my family I've come from a large family. My mother's one of eight, my daddy one of 10 and many in going to college and university, even grand uncles. My father's elder sister graduated from Claflin University in 1939 and a great uncle who graduated from Allen in 1916. Harry: So I was not the first. You couldn't pull a, this is so hard. So they're like, no, we did this. So that was extremely important. Luckily, even though I wasn't so fond of my high school. It was one of the three top academic high schools in New York city. So in terms of science, it was an engineering school. So sciences and math, I was really prepared. Even though I did well on the English part of the SAT and all that, in terms of learning how to write and write clearly and concisely and orally communicate, I really improved those skills through the rigors of the courses I took at the Cross. Jordyn: Right. Yeah, definitely. Holy Cross is reflection time, write papers, you have to be able to definitely be able to convey your ideas on both paper and as you speak. But as I'm starting to listen to you more and more, were there any mentors that helped you throughout your time at Holy Cross? I know you say your parents were a big influence as well. Is there any people that come to mind? Harry: So many. As they say, it takes a village and when I would go home, neighbors would give you $5, $10, a dollar and just encourage you. And that made you feel very good. Before we started at Holy Cross, Stan Grayson who is class of '72 had a bunch of us to his apartment in Manhattan. An apartment in Manhattan, I was impressed with that. How do I get one of these? But even from there on Stan was one of my closest friends and he was the groomsman in my wedding. Was able to assist me whenever I needed. There wasn't instant communications in those days. You had to call somebody which you had to pay for or writing letters as we did. But this, all we do so it was okay. But also, I remember Clarence Thomas coming to campus and talking to the Black Student Union about how we should perform. Ted Wells... Harry: So you never felt alone. Father Brooks took a great interest in all of us. Father Honore, who was the only black Jesuit, had us down every Friday to Loyola where the Jesuits lived and remember the drinking age was 18. So he taught us how to eat properly with all those forks and knives, the finger bowl, you're laughing, but those things were hard. We didn't know. But he also gave us wines, bourbon just to know. He wanted us to graduate. And there was another priest who's late now also in Campion house who would have us over. And I remember when we were about to graduate, he gave us a line book. All of this was education. There were all kinds of people there to encourage you on campus and so many programs. And we thought that in those days, just men who were graduates that those guys did it, so we could do it. We just had to figure out how they did it. Harry: They were impressive. And Eddie Jenkins also was great football player, was somebody who would come back and talk to us. And just those, whether they were formal or informal, gave you beliefs that you could do it. Of course, we were trying to change the world also. We were very activist as students are today and protest marches and things like that coming out of the civil rights move, we thought that was part of it. So yeah, and that was another great reason I chose Holy Cross because my high school was too large to have mentors and a lot of close friends. So I was able to get that at the Cross. Jordyn: Yeah, the community. Community is what it is, and I definitely think that's a very important part. And as I hear you speak, you speak about the people in part in the community which is great to hear. Switching gears a little bit, what did you major in when you were at Holy Cross? Harry: Political science. Jordyn: Oh, very nice. How was that? I'm a sociology major, so I don't take too many political science classes. Harry: I had a few Sociology courses with Dr. Imse, who's a great teacher. But political science was something I thought I wanted to go to law school and I thought that was the major that would help prepare my analytical thinking. But by the time I was a senior, I decided that I had no interest in the law. And I remember Stan Grayson telling me that the people who do best are those who love the law and I reflected, "Well, no, I don't love the law. And so let me change up." Jordyn: Right. Yeah, of course. Any favorite professors you had that sticks out in your mind? Harry: Oh yeah. Tony Kuzniewski who is later also Father Kuzniewski. He was a chaplain for athletic teams for years. But in those days he was a seminarian and he looked younger than anybody on campus. He's always mistaken for a student and I look, years later, he was prematurely gray. It was like, the hair was white, but I just remembered him looking younger than me when I was at junior or senior. But he was really good. We took a course on immigration and I was praising the Statue of Liberty and he said, "Don't you dare praise the Statue of Liberty. My ancestors were not wretched refuse." I was like, "Ooh, there are many ways to look at this." So it was one of the life lessons. You have to look at things very differently in terms of what you look. Harry: The other great professor for me was Blaise Nagy, who was in Latin and Latin literature. I took Latin for two semesters and Latin lit. I took him four times so maybe he was my favorite. He was young also. So when you're young, you want young people and he had long blonde hair and he was handsome and we used to call him Blaz Nagy, because we thought that sounded cool. And I think he retired a few years ago, but man, he was great. He was demanding, but he also explained things. If you messed up he would embarrass you in public. Has happened to some people. But I'm from New York, we can take that. We're just used to go on back at somebody. You want to go back and Blaz, but yeah, he was fantastic. Harry: And as I said, Dr. Imse, he wasn't sociology was philosophy. His course was depth. Now think about it. First thing he said is a person only dies once, but an athlete dies many times. I never forget that. An athlete dies when you pour in a meat, when you fail in a game, after you are no longer an athlete and what are you going to do with that? So those were shocking thoughts when you're 18 or 19. I wanted to go to, which I never was good enough to go to, I wanted to go to the Penn relays. You have dreams of the Olympics, no matter how unrealistic they are, but those are the dreams, right? I wasn't that good, but those things, his message on depth has helped me in so many parts of my career. Harry: You're going to fail, you're going to go up against road blocks and how do you restart? How do you get back up? And how do you get back up with thought because in my day it was like, just brush it off and get up and go. And we know mentally, we didn't even talk about mental health. That was seen as weakling, but we know that is something that's needed now. And thank goodness that we had Dr. Imse who... He was the first professor that was telling us to reflect, take time on these things. So that was important. Very important. Jordyn: Yeah, definitely. Sounds like he pushed you a lot, challenged you in different ways. I think reflecting does something, really makes you look at yourself in a different way, but also who you are becoming. And that, it sounds like what Dr. Imse and your other professors helped you do. Helped you grow throughout your years at Holy Cross. And I know you touched upon it a little bit, but as you think about your career as an ambassador, what are some of the life lessons you learned at Holy Cross that were able to transfer over in your career? Harry: Well, first of all, I wish I had taken languages wth Fr. Honore because I wouldn't have had to work so hard once I joined the foreign service, so trust me, but Honore, we only had ABCDF in those days and Honore was, a 90 was a C. Nah, not for me. So I wish I had more courage. But I think the Jesuit values is something I take very seriously and honor duty, honor country, which is West point's motto, that's important to me. We were known as the Catholic West point believe it or not. When you look at it, representing your country, are you going to do the right thing? easy to do the wrong thing, but are you going to do the right thing? Are you going to tell the truth? Are you going to represent our values of democracy, of free markets? Of very important freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The other thing that Jesuits, I think were best at teaching us is to question authority. Don't take things for granted. Harry: There were conservative and liberal Jesuits and some of the conservative ones, I really didn't like. Their opinion was different than mine, but they taught me to look at somebody else's opinion who differs with you and listen to them. Don't just try to get to change their mind because that's not going to work more often than not, but listen and try to understand where they're coming from. And instead of just jumping in and say, "Hey, you should do ABC and D." And that was part of reflection, you had to reflect and do that. But I take that the ethics and honesty, which I credit my parents for also, but from the Jesuits. They were tough. A lot of these guys were World War II veterans, like father Brooks and others. Harry: So that was extremely important. Father Markey was there. He was a Dean of men, you didn't want to see him. He was one of our greatest basketball players. But yeah, I can't undervalue the importance of ethics and honor and doing the right thing, that my parents and the Jesuits and the professors put into me. And we were honest, there were no locks on the doors in our day and no locks on anywhere. And sometimes your friends might come and take a bite of your sandwich or beer, but we just trusted people. And there was that value of trusting people and opening your eyes. Jordyn: Right. Yeah, no, definitely. And I think you hit on it perfectly, trust. I think that's so big, we talk about it nowadays. Just being able to trust in the community you're with, I think it's so important. But this question popped into my head, but the black student union. Some of the values and different things. Talk a little bit about how that was for you being on campus and like you said, you have Eddie Jenkins and Stan Grayson, you have all these wonderful people, part of the Black Student Union, and now you're being able to add to this legacy. How did you see yourself in the black student union at your time on the Hill? Harry: Well, we were young and we were advocates. We argued among ourselves a lot about different strategies, protest marches, which we did. Remember we didn't have presidents and vice, we were ministers. We were like black panthers, we were in college and that was pretend if I look back at it. But we took ourselves and those things very seriously. So we were advocating for things like more black professors, more courses that we could relate to, even food in Kimball, which I think was bad for everybody in those days. Except once a month, somebody gets steak and then once a Sunday steak and eggs, but on track team before meets you got steak. I don't think they will feed your steaks now, they look at nutrition, but everyone gets a good meal. But we really took ourselves seriously. And so many of us were involved through the Black Student Union with other things as big brothers, big sisters. And those programs that you saw are a lot of BSU members in. Several on the radio and those things, that was really important. I wish that I had joined more organizations, that I learned more things because Holy Cross offers a lot of organizations. Harry: And then one of the things I would encourage current students to do is don't listen to the thought police, follow whatever you want to do, especially things that you have never done before. My close friend, Dr. Keith Crawley from my class at position, was the first black guy I ever saw the golf club. We're like, "Oh, we don't do that." My game would have been a lot better now. But really there were clubs on economics and trade and business. I wish I had done that. One of the things I'd love to see, and at Yale where I am a senior fellow, each college has its own endowment and the students with fund managers manage it. So they learned at young age, not everybody's going to go to Wall Street, but they learn a lot of finance and nowadays with FinTech and other things being an opportunity, Holy Cross is much smaller than Yale, but some way for... We need financial literacy in minority communities first, but also about businesses. My father was a small business person and I had to work in his store all weekends and all this stuff. So I definitely want to go into business. Harry: I don't want to be a small business person, but I wish I had learned more about economics and trade, international trade those things and that was open to me, but I chose not to do it. So I encourage people to try something different. Jordyn: Yeah, definitely. I think I'm experiencing that now. Junior year you're halfway through and you're like, where's the time going? It's going by so fast. So definitely trying new things is definitely how you're going to grow, right? In those uncomfortable situations, that's when you grow the most and I think that's so important. And as we think about the Holy Cross' mission, men and women form with others, how did you see that not only at your time at Holy Cross, but throughout your career? Because I think it's such an impactful statement that it really just can carry someone throughout their challenging moments, but also in those great moments. So how did you see that mission go along with you as you grew up? Harry: Well, one of the things I learned from Father Brooks and others was don't brag when you do charity. Do it because it's the right thing or because you want to do it, but just don't tell people I'm good at this, I'm doing it. It's like me saying, I'm a good father. Well, I'm supposed to be, right? What, I want to metal for that? I signed up for this. So it's the same thing. But let me tell you Jordyn, when I was ambassador to Bangladesh and their was I visited a school for boys who had been trafficked to the middle East to be camel jockeys. And they've been rescued and brought home. Their parents didn't want them because they had been raped and these boys were five, 10 years old. And it was embarrassment to the family. There was an American woman that had an orphanage that I visited for these boys and they were overcrowded, no latrine. Harry: And I asked my classmates many of whom I met when I lived in Clark. These were all whites and dear friends of mine for funds. And they gave funds for school rooms and bathrooms. In fact, there wasn't enough initial money for the bathroom and my friend Nina Riccio on her mother built a latrine. And when I visited, they named it after her. So she still has the pictures, I think. And when I went to the Philippines, there was a place called smokey mountain where kids climb up a hill that produces gas from the refuse to get their food. The stench is unbelievable. And we work with them to have a field of dreams and baseball, softball for girls and provide tutoring. But again, I asked my friends from Holy Cross, the send baseball equipment and they did, bats, balls, gloves. Harry: And even though one of the owners of the San Francisco Giants lived in the Philippines, our outreach to him did not succeed, but my classmate who lives in San Francisco Lori Stasukelis got with the San Francisco Giants and they sent out equipment and we brought Ken Griffey Jr. there of course too to tease them. But now I moved to Zimbabwe and a Zimbabwean playwright wanted books. He wanted books on black literature, black plays. He envisioned building in a park right across my office, a theater in the park where he was using trailers. And I said, "This thing looks terrible, but let's try." And reached out to my friends most of whom this time were African-American and family and they gave the books. They gave hundreds of books that he started a library with the train playwrights. When my wife was trying to work with kids who live... There are kids will live in game parks without much clothing. Again, it was our friends from Holy Cross and along with my family who shipped clothing for these kids. So I know in so many ways I could always reach out to my school mates from Holy Cross to help people that they've never met and never will meet. Jordyn: Right. Wow. That's just amazing to hear that story. I think this is great to have this opportunity to get to know you better, but also hearing about how Holy Cross has evolved over the years, but that foundation of community and helping people will always be there. Always. Yeah, I think that's great. So as we're continue to talk about your amazing career, what is one of the most memorable moments you can think about? And I know there's a lot, because you did great things, a lot of different things. So if you could pinpoint one or a couple, I would love to hear about that. Harry: Well, I'll try to give you three briefly. One was working at the White House on 9-11. Maybe I shouldn't even be here today if that plane going into the White Houses as planned and surviving that and then going with Secretary Powell to Kabul, Afghanistan within five months and seeing that embassy maintained, reopened, and being scared on the helicopter ride from Bagram Airport to Kabul, but seeing the embassy had been maintained and Powell wanting to give people rewards and the Afghans said, "Okay, but there are no women deserving." And he goes, "Okay, that's cool. No women, no rewards." They produced all the women who had worked, so don't compromise on things like that. And that was secretary Powell, but I worked for Dr. Rice in the White House. Wonderful person. In the Philippines, our United States Agency for International Development, which is our lead humanitarian agency, their director came to me and said that there were over 4,000 women dying each year from bleeding in the uterus after they give birth. Harry: In America and the developed world they get a drip that prevents the bleeding and costs a dollar a day, but people couldn't afford it. They had a dollar, they spent it on the other things. And we know what happens to boys and girls who lose their mothers at a young age, their lives are wrecked. And most of these would not be first time parents. So we work with an American pharmaceutical company and the Philippine government and we came up with a shot, a syringe that could go in the fatty part of anybody's body, woman after she gave birth, they chose to use midwives. And now we're saving several thousand people's lives each year. A fun thing was in June, 2012 we brought the president of Philippines to meet president Obama. And the night before, we were very worried about China and the Philippines going to war. Harry: And we did something that you don't see a lot. But we were in the Mandarin Oriental hotel in DC for a meeting and we cleared out the kitchen and we met with the president of the Philippines and some of his cabinet in this kitchen. And when I was there in the kitchen, I learned that the New York Football Giants who were world champions were coming to the White House that day. And they were like, "Oh wow, that's sweet." So, went upstairs and there were two of my Filipino American friends waiting for me and we have a drink and we spied Linda Johnson Rice of the then Ebony magazine, the publisher. And one of the women with me Lloyda Lewis, her husband Reginald Lewis was the first African American billionaire. Harry: And he had been in the magazine but she had never met him. Today if you go to the African-American history museum, you will see her name right next to Oprah as a largest donor. You go to Baltimore and you see the Reginald Lewis museum African-American history that she built. So I went over to Ms. Johnson rice and said, "Hi, my name is Harry Thomas. I'm the US ambassador to Philippines." And she just goes, "That's nice." Put her book up in front of her face and totally diss me. So what could I do, but slink away. And so the next day when we were doing the pre-brief with President Obama, he said, "Harry, why are you smiling so much?" I go, "Because Mr. President, the Giants are coming." And he says, "You want to them?" And I said, "Yes, sir." He says, "Okay, after the meeting, you can meet them." Harry: Now I didn't care what they said in the meeting. I wanted to meet my Giants. And after the meeting, he said, "Come on." And he grabbed my hand. I had to run out of the oval because you can't bring electronic equipment. I had my iPad in there, so I had to run and get that and he took me out, grabbed my hand, President of the United States and took me out to the garden and were next to Attorney General Holder and General Odierno and put me in the front row. So another life lesson, somebody disses you, but the person next to you, the most powerful man in the world had time to be kind to you. So we always have time to be kind to people. Jordyn: Wow. What a remarkable... That's amazing. President Obama. Had you met him before? Was that your first time? Harry: No, I had read him several times before, but it's always intimidating when you meet any president. You're never quite calm. I remember when I worked for president Bush, you'd go into the oval office, my feet always felt they were burning. No matter how many times I went in and after 9-11, because I was working on South Asia, I was in there a lot. And Dr. Rice would always leave you in there alone, brief the president United States one-on-one. And that would be a little nervous. So I can't tell you especially the first time you going there, you're not paying attention. You're like, "I'm from Queens and I'm here. I was born in Harlem, I'm here and I'm not cooking and cleaning." So it was always special. So I truly feel blessed. Jordyn: Yeah. That's amazing. I mean, I get nervous track meets you get in the circle, you just get stomach drops, but being in the White House, I don't know how that feeling feels, but I'm assuming it's a little bit of the same. Harry: Yeah. You know the anxiety before meet even when you wake up, even when you try to go to sleep early, you wake up that day, you have anxiety, even though you're trying to pump yourself up and be calm. It doesn't matter how many practice, that first throw relaxes you, kind of, right? Jordyn: Right, exactly. Harry: When the meet's over is when you're like, "Ah, yeah. It's Miller time." So that's the same thing and that never has you just got to do it a little better as you get along, but that anxiety. When you talk to Ken Griffey Jr. And others they said big moments, they always had anxiety. They had to hold themselves back from swinging at a pitch quick because they were so anxious and amped up. And I was like, "Wow, that happened to Ken Griffey?" I couldn't compare myself but I was like, man. Jordyn: Yes, of course. That is great. Great to hear that story. So thank you for sharing that. I think you touched on it before, you said you wish you took languages at Holy Cross. So how are you able to get over those challenges? Because they say it's not easy to learn a language past a certain age, it's better to learn them be the young. So how were you able to learn three, right? Three languages. Harry: Yeah. Again, fear. Fear of failure. In the foreign service, you have to pass these exams to keep your job. And again, I wasn't going home. But of course, when you're taking a language, especially the first one was Spanish, you really have to know English. The 14 tenses, all of that helps you, small classes... Every time I took a language, Hindi, Bengali, I studied a little Tagalog. They give you a book like you have when you were in kindergarten and with a pencil and you're starting over like a kindergartener only lower really, and so you had little books, but that's where you have to start and you quickly learn. The nouns are easy, so that's what people concentrate on. But you learn to concentrate on the verbs. But you're right about age. It's hard to have a natural accent once you get past 12 and in another language, unless you're a singer or you have good ear. So that's why you can hear a lot of singers or even rappers do songs in foreign languages. Harry: They may not have the exact, they'll have a Spanish accent, they may not have a Peruvian accent or Uruguayan accent because all Spanish, just like Americans have different accents in English, right? But they can be understood. It's like this, Jordyn, if I parachute in your hometown of Springfield, spend a weekend going around talking to people, how much do I know about Springfield? I don't know jack, right? Jordyn: Right. Harry: So in my job, I really had to live in a country and learn and be able to tell people in the United States what was going on. So if I didn't speak their language, understand their culture, how was I going to do it? So, and I speak your language in Springfield, but I don't know your culture. I know New York, but Springfield a couple of hundred miles away I just don't. So imagine that when you go to a foreign country. So you've got to know their language, it's disrespect if you're unwilling to learn somebody's language, you're living in their nation. Jordyn: Yeah, wow. Harry: And culture is so different. I saw Maura had up her Christmas lights, I'm sure y'all do also. My wife's family starts celebrating Christmas September 1st. In the Philippines that's when they do it, September 1st, they start playing Christmas music. That's okay. That's just their culture. Jordyn: Right. Harry: It's cool. When I lived in Arizona and I was at Arizona State, I told the young women that, and they were like, "That's weird." I said, "It's 95 degrees and y'all are wearing boots." They go, "This is the only time we can wear boots." Well, I don't care not a big deal, but it's okay. That's what you got to do, right? Jordyn: Right. Yeah. Harry: So you have to learn what drives people and understand that you don't speak their language, you'll fail. Jordyn: Yeah. And I'm quite sure you know just learning different cultures that was probably a great experience in itself. Learning the language, but also being around the people. I would love to hear a little bit more about how you really immerse yourself in different cultures and what you got out of that. Because of course I feel like right now my view is probably a little bit one dimensional as that like you said, Springfield, Massachusetts now Holy Cross. I really haven't immersed myself in a different culture, but you've been able to do that in so many different places across the globe. Harry: Well, I was no different than you when I was your age so don't be hard on yourself. Worcester was a culture shock, Holy Cross was a culture shock, trust me. But in the State Department we have these books called culture shock and they try to teach you before you go to a country, right? Many countries you can only eat with your right hand, many countries you have to take your shoes off, different gestures. If you call somebody the way we wave at somebody like that with our hand up, that's an insult. You have to learn to call people like this. Putting your feet up can be an insults in other cultures. So those are relatively easy, it shouldn't be difficult to learn. But what they eat and what they think, eating foods that I had never eaten before or thought about initially, it doesn't bother me now, but initially that could be a challenge. And drinking water from some places that you thought weren't so clean, but I did it, but that was a challenge. And it can be very hard for women. Places where they don't want to see women in pants or short shorts or going past religious houses on Fridays and things like that, days of prayer. Harry: So you have to learn these things and also protect yourself, but understand people. So yeah, every place I go, I served, there things were very different than the United States, which is why I'm so happy I'm home from the holidays now especially, but there was always some Americans saying that was weird. And I'm like, "What do you expect? Why would you expect Zimbabwe to be like Springfield? Duh. And why did you come if you did? And why are you complaining?" That wasn't most people. When I was a junior officer, we had to visit people in jail, Americans in jail, mostly for drugs, and it was never pleasant going to jail. And one day after they threw five nuns out the building and burned one. So, in Lima, it was dangerous, but we had to learn that culture of that jail to get through those guards and everything else. So, you're constantly learning and it's easy because if you respect people as especially now, your generation wants to learn from others, everybody's equal, everybody's woke. Well, that means listening to them, right? Jordyn: Right. Harry: We had a Black Student Union, but Holy Cross by many schools has a Caribbean Students Union, African Students Union, there's Asian students and Latin X students. And they're not all the same. I have a student at Yale who was from Puerto Rico and she didn't have other students who were Puerto Ricans from Puerto Rico. It was very different. And she had never seen a Puerto Rican professor at Yale who was from Puerto Rico. So she didn't feel aligned. This year we brought some speakers to Yale, a woman, Maria Russell was a Time Magazine person of the year, lived on the same floor with Michelle Obama at Princeton and yeah, a friend of mine and she, human rights activists, but they asked us to bring her there because they said everybody you're bringing from Asia is from Japan, China, Korea. That's not all Asia. So you have to understand that. And although there's an African Students Union at Holy Cross, I hope they're United to say that Africans from 54 Sub-Saharan countries, are the same, that's folly. Harry: And I can tell you having worked in the Foreign Service and now living in Florida, Cubans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Ecuadorians, Colombians are very different and they... I just got an email from a friend of mine from Bangladesh who lives in New York. And she's been shocked by some of the racism she's experienced this year after immigrating from Bangladesh. But she says, "Why do people lump us with blacks? We're not black. We weren't brought here as slaves. We came here for a better life. Y'all were brought here. People need to apologize, but we have our own identity." And you look at that. Ooh, but she's right. Jordyn: She is. Harry: She's right. So it's a challenge for people. People don't like strangers, no matter who they are, they don't like new people moving in their community no matter who they are. Jordyn: Yeah. And I think with everything going on in the world right now, what we saw in the summer, the racial injustices, I think what we're starting to also see and what's coming to the conversation is how diverse people are in different... You may identify as one way, but your culture might say something else. So it's important to see everyone and like you said, listen and hear their stories and their experiences because it could be completely different from yours. Harry: And you're right. This has been such a difficult year. Not just the Black Lives Matter protest, but COVID-19. And you combine that, I think we, as a people, not only the United States, but the globe are under more stress than we realize. And we don't have a tradition of mental health days or meditation. We have a tradition of prayer and we really need to increase that. But I think a lot of people are stressed and I know that... I was joking with my cousin and if my daughter was home... At 16... During COVID, it'd be war. I know that a rebellious teenager? Oh Lord, I'm glad I don't have to do that. But imagine there are places where... You are one of four, right? So some school districts in places only give two laptops out or three. What happens if your parents can't afford it? What happens if everybody doesn't have their own room and the parent's teleworking too? Harry: So not only a lot of kids, unfortunately losing critical year of school and that really hurts minorities. But they don't have the tools to catch up and those kids are under stress. We know in poor communities where there is gunfire, drugs, kids are under stress. But imagine now all of these kids throughout America under stress and Christmas season is coming. And so many people have lost their jobs and they're not going to be able to give Christmas presents or give what they wanted and when that happens, men feel that they're not living up to what was expected and we see domestic violence go up. And so he's under stress and his family that he's abusing are under stress. There's no excuse for ever touching a woman. No excuse and don't tell me, but this is what happens. And we're seeing that. And then the third world where abuse of women is rampant, I'm sure it's worse. I don't have the statistics, but it's just common sense. Jordyn: Yeah. I mean, like you said, combining a pandemic with everything that is going on, it's just... When you look at it, it's a lot and- Harry: And we had the election. Jordyn: Yes. Harry: And I'm happy to say that the side I supported won, I have no problem in saying that. But a lot of people who supported president Trump are angry believing they were cheated, believing he was the winner. And we saw some of these people, the proud boys, marching in black churches and burning down, taking down Black Lives Matter flag in DC and burning them. Now I give them no sympathy, but we know their stressed too. And that can lead down unfortunate situations. So that's another reason why prayer helps. Meditation, prayer does help. Jordyn: Yes. I'd definitely say throughout these times, I think prayer has helped me channel those feelings of frustration and sadness. Prayer has helped me leverage that time to find time to be a better daughter, a better friend, a better sister being in the home environment. And I can say I'm grateful to have a great place to come home to, but also figuring out how I can use this time not to be all upset and worried about the problem. It's like, okay, let's see what we can use this time to do. Harry: No, I applaud you for that. I know as much as I was just talking about my daughter, I know it would have been hell on me if I were at home with the rents when I was junior. That was such a funny year, not the anxiety of senior year where you're worried grad school and getting a job. And so I like to keep you and others grounded, but I know I would have been suffering. And my parents have been looking at me as ungrateful. So I applaud you for doing your best. Jordyn: I appreciate that. Means a lot. Switching gears, I actually was doing some research and I listened to your commencement address in 2016. Very well done, very well said, but out of curiosity say your older self were to say to maybe you were a junior in college, you're going to be giving a commencement address, what would you say? Harry: I didn't know. Let me tell you what happened. My wife and I went to a dinner in New York, a Holy Cross fundraiser. We just happened to be in New York and we went and Father Boroughs came and got us and said he wanted to talk to us. And he said, "Hey, didn't you get a letter to open?" I said, "I get a lot of letters." And Holy Cross I said, "No I didn't open this letter." And he says, "Well, we want you to be a commencement speaker. I was like, "What?" Really, I was shocked. So then I talked to Father Boroughs about what the subject. Just like you looked at me, I looked at others. I mean, governor Cuomo, my God, the late governor Cuomo gave to me the best of the commencement addresses I've seen all across and what an orator. Harry: And so I said, "What can I talk about?" Obviously service. Father Boroughs said, "What about a gift?" "What gift?" "The gift of a Holy Cross education." I said, "Okay, let me start working on that." So I had five months, I had to go back to Zimbabwe. I was ambassador of Zimbabwe and I had a day job. And we have speech writers, but I couldn't employ them for that. It would have been an ethical violation. So I did what I did so many times, I turn into my family and my Holy Cross friends. So Steve Scott, who best man in my wedding and best man in his, from Boston, turned to Steve and he gave me some language. My sister and daughter did, my wife said, "That's not a good speech. You're not writing a good speech, you can do better." Harry: And so I kept refining it and it, and I remembered that before I was sworn in as ambassador to Bangladesh, that I was coming from visiting friends in Maine, July 4th, in 2003. And I stopped at Holy Cross campus. It was empty. And I was on the side of the Hill between Hogan and Healey. And I sat there and I wrote my speech and I was just calm, and I just got back in the car. So I thought I had the speech almost done, but it didn't quite work. So the morning of the speech I put on my Holy Cross shirt and I went to a Dunkin Donuts and I didn't want to go on campus and I rewrote it. And that's what happened. I had told them earlier, thank God I didn't, you don't want to share your speech, but Father Boroughs wanted to see it. I know he was nervous, I guess, what would I say, but I told him I wanted to do a selfie and only because he asked for the speech because otherwise I wouldn't have told them, but I'm glad I did because they had a camera behind and they sent me that photo, which is one of my favorite photos of all time to be doing a selfie at Holy Cross. Harry: But I will tell you, I have been blessed with many honors, many incredible honors in the Foreign Service and the other aspects of my life but the honor of my life was being invited to be the commencement speaker at Holy Cross, the honor of my life. Jordyn: Beautiful. We talked about nerves, I could only imagine the nerves of giving a commencement address, but also the honor that comes with it. It's amazing Harry: Every time before I speak and I don't always give a good speech, I do pray. Even as I'm walking down, I'm praying. God has been busy a few times, but most times he's been there. But yeah, it was. The speech at your Alma Mater. I hope you get that opportunity. I really do. I've spoken in other colleges, I did a commencement address at Loyola, it was exciting, my whole family came for the weekend. Everybody's in a different hotel rooms and stuff, at your Alma Mater is something. Jordyn: Yeah. It's something special. And I know you said it's a gift. You talked about the gift in your speech. You said every once in a while peek inside, take it out, use it to better the globe. So how will you continue to use your gift that Holy Cross gave you? Harry: Well, luckily I still work with some Holy Cross brothers. I work with Ron Lawson who works with Care for the Homeless. I'm a member of his board. We had a board meeting last night actually. And I've learned a lot about the homeless. So many of the homeless in New York are women who are employed. Some of the mental challenges they have, but I'm proud of Ron's work and the Care for the Homeless work they do. Similarly, I'm chair of the board of Winter4Kids, Schone Malliet, another Holy Cross alum, Marine aviator, who said the reason he does things like this is nobody ever told him no. So giving kids opportunities that I didn't have, to use winter sports. And I knew how to toboggan and throw, we had a lot of snowball fights at Holy Cross between the dorms, the elevators and everything. We were crazy toboganning, Oh my God. Harry: But I didn't know how to ski, sleigh, and I had opportunities to learn. I had no interest and giving kids at a young age the opportunity to learn winter sports, as you know, you're an athlete, it's important to be outside, learn how to be, even in winter sports there are teams, individual and team. Learn that these are great athletes. And besides I got to meet Lindsey Lohan because of Schone last year. But work with those two organizations. Friday, my wife and I are going to be helping to feed the homeless down here in Tampa. When we were in DC, we went to Gonzaga High School, which is a feeder high school for Holy Cross, a Jesuit High School. They had feeding programs for the homeless that Holy Cross alumni association would run and Gonzaga's colors are purple and white. So it felt like we were right back home. And I was always meeting people there that I didn't know, they were just Holy Cross alum trying to give back, really, really good people. And you can't neglect your family, you got to give back time and effort to your family. So I still try. I still try. Jordyn: Right. Yeah, definitely. I think that's great. Great note to end on. I think this podcast has been great. Harry, I'm so happy that we had this time. I got to know you a little bit more and hear a little bit more of your story, which is always great. But truly, truly want to say thank for your time and thank you for sharing your gift. I'll say that too. Harry: Well, thank you and Maura for this. Thanks for the gift of Holy Cross. Thank you for having me. Jordyn: Yes, of course. Thank you. Harry: AMDG. Maura: That's our show. I hope you enjoy hearing about just one of the many ways that Holy Cross alumni have been inspired by the mission to be people for and with others. A special thanks to today's guests and everyone at Holy Cross who has contributed to making this podcast a reality. If you or someone you know would like to be featured on this podcast, then please send us an email at alumnicareers@holycross.edu. If you like what you hear, then please leave us a review. This podcast is brought to you by the office of alumni relations at the College of the Holy Cross. You can subscribe for future episodes wherever you find your podcast. I'm your host Maura Sweeney and this is Mission-Driven. In the words of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, "Now go forth and set the world on fire." Theme music composed by Scott Holmes, courtesy of freemusicarchive.org.

This week we re-broadcast a “Voting Rights Town Hall,” which was presented by the ACLU on October 14, 2020. This town hall features the Executive Director of the ACLU, Anthony D. Romero, and his discussion with former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. The topic of the discussion is “Voting in a pandemic, what's at stake for civil liberties, and concrete actions you can take to stay involved through Election Day.” During the one-hour town hall, former Attorney General Holder and Director Romero discuss the history of disenfranchisement, particularly for Black voters, the ACLU's efforts to expand access to voting by mail in this election, and how we can fight future efforts to suppress the vote by influencing the redistricting process in state jurisdictions.

Eric Holder served as Attorney General under President Obama from 2009 until 2015. He is also currently the Chair of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. On this episode, Jessica talks to Attorney General Holder about redistricting, voting rights, the 2019 and 2020 elections, and the impact the upcoming census will have on all of those. Follow us on social media Instagram: @dlcc Instagram: @dlcc Medium Facebook * More about our host: Jessica Post is the Executive Director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, where she leads the national strategy for electing more state Democrats and winning legislative majorities.  More about Stated | More about DLCC | Support our candidates * For comments, feedback, suggestions for who you want to hear on the show, and to share your canvassing stories, email stated@dlcc.org.

In 2014 Kansas passed a law protecting its citizens from federal prosecution on a variety of 2nd Amendment issues. Put simply; Kansas adopted a law that nullified a host of federal laws and made enforcement of those laws by federal agents a class 10 felony. Attorney General Holder immediately sent a letter to Governer Brownback informing him that the new law was a violation of the Constitution and the State of Kanas was subject to federal law. Secretary of State Kris Kobach sent a letter back to Holder saying, in not so few words, "Whatever." Now two Kansans have been arrested by the Feds and are being charged with felonies for violating federal gun control laws. The very laws Kansas aimed to nullify. And what is the response from the local Sheriff, Govoner and Attorney General? Crickets. They have left these two men out to dry. It's a disgusting dereliction of duty, and I brought on one of the top Constitutional minds to discuss it with me today. If you're as angry as I am, take a couple of minutes and call those involved. Let them know how unhappy you are with them and their cowardice. Gov. Sam Brownback - 877-579-6757 Kansas Attorney General - 888-428-8436 U.S. District Court Judge J. Thomas Marten - 316-315-4300Support the show.

Southern Sense is a show of conservative talk on news and events, with Annie "The Radio Chick" Ubelis as host. Guest: Peter Brookes, Senior Fellow, National Security Affairs, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, The Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at The Heritage Foundation He is serving his 4th term as a congressionally appointed to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He served in the administration of George W. Bush as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, responsible for U.S. defense policy for 38 countries and five bilateral defense alliances in Asia. Dr. Brookes is a major presence in media, publishied in newspapers, journals and magazines. He is the author of the book “A Devil's Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Rogue States” Guest: Matthew Boyle, Brietbart News, investigative journalist who has been lauded for his work on President Obama and Attorney General Holder's Fast and Furious scandal.  He is rising star and Michelle Malkin cited his work during her speech at the 2012 “Right Online” conference.  This show is dedicated to Private Lawrence Gordon who died August, 1944 in Normandy, fighting in World War II. Visit Southern-Sense.com, become a member and follow us here.

Southern Sense is a show of conservative talk on news and events, with Annie "The Radio Chick" Ubelis as host.Guest: Peter Brookes, Senior Fellow, National Security Affairs, The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, The Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy at The Heritage FoundationHe is serving his 4th term as a congressionally appointed to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He served in the administration of George W. Bush as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs, responsible for U.S. defense policy for 38 countries and five bilateral defense alliances in Asia.Dr. Brookes is a major presence in media, publishied in newspapers, journals and magazines. He is the author of the book “A Devil's Triangle: Terrorism, Weapons of Mass Destruction and Rogue States”Guest: Matthew Boyle, Brietbart News, investigative journalist who has been lauded for his work on President Obama and Attorney General Holder’s Fast and Furious scandal.  He is rising star and Michelle Malkin cited his work during her speech at the 2012 “Right Online” conference. This show is dedicated to Private Lawrence Gordon who died August, 1944 in Normandy, fighting in World War II.Visit Southern-Sense.com, become a member and follow us here.

Attorney General Holder limits police seized-asset sharing process. This episdoe will discuss whether limits of police seized assets is an abuse of discretion by the Attorney General or a method to avoid abuse of process and discretion by local and state police and judicial systems? We will examine several legal theories and issues faced by local and state police. We will examine whether limits will curtail denial of due process and availability of assets to defendants to defend against criminal charges.

We will discuss the recent comments by Attorney General Holder about the "special way that he's been treated" with James Yardley, contributor to American Thinker.  Jim wrote a post today.   The Democrats are desperately changing the conversation and hoping that blacks, Hispanics and young people won't be thinking about the US economy on election day.   Furthermore, Obama Care continues to be a disaster with voters, as two more polls confirm.   (Gallup & Pew) Check out my book:  CUBANOS IN WISCONSIN BY SILVIO CANTO JR

Democrats and Republicans agree that our prisons are overcrowded, expensive and ineffective. Today, AG Eric Holder laid out a set of reforms that might well be adopted.

Chuck Morse is joined by Chris Blystone in a talk about Operation American Spring set to commence May 16, 2014. Description Mission: PRIME DIRECTIVE: Restoration of OUR Ninth and Tenth Amendment laws which limit Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the Executive Branch to eighteen powers and spending itemized under Article I Section 8 of the Constitution in accordance with the Supremacy clause of Article VI clause 2. SECOND DIRECTIVE: Inform and ENCOURAGE all Americans and our home Countries, which form "a more perfect Union" of fifty free and sovereign States, to SPONSOR AND PASS "Joint State Sovereignty Resolutions with ARREST Provisions along with vital companion legislation which shall lead up to well contemplated, well deliberated, well organized, well orchestrated, incremental State NULLIFICATION of ALL Federal Spending, without prejudice, all Unlawful Acts and all usurpations by Congress and the Executive branch that exceed the eighteen limited powers and spending items granted them under Article I Section 8, of The Constitution, pursuant to our Ninth and Tenth Amendment laws on them and the supremacy clause of Article VI clause 2 as well. All other powers and spending, according to our Tenth Amendment law shall be handled by and/or paid for by the States or the people. THIRD DIRECTIVE: Restore the balance of OUR Bill of Rights and The Constitution. FOURTH DIRECTIVE: Along with the incremental State nullification of all spending not granted to Congress or the Executive branch, shall be incremental State nullification of all withholding taxes, all employment taxes, and all income taxes in obedience to the findings and rulings of The Supreme Court of The United States who ruled; "The Sixteenth Amendment confers NO NEW TAXES on anyone who wasn't taxable before it." This will nearly double the current size of all Middle Class American paychecks so that We and our home Countries can pay for whatever WE desire, want or need for ourselves. FIFTH DIRECTIVE: Replace a handful of the worst Republican and Democrat usurpers and despots, including President Barry Soetaro, with temporary replacements, pending an emergency election, with our replacements, as well as all remaining Republican and Democrat officials, all limited to the eighteen powers and spending enumerated under Article I Section 8 of The Constitution. Assumptions: Millions of Americans will participate. American veterans and patriots are energized to end the tyranny, lawlessness, and shredding of the US Constitution. Government is not the target, it is sound; corrupt and criminal leadership must be removed, and the balance must be limited to the powers and spending granted them, with all usurpations in power, spending and gross wages and salaries restored to the States and the people from whom they were stolen without a law to do so. Those in power will not hesitate to use force against unarmed, peaceful patriots exercising their constitutional rights. Patriots may be killed, wounded, incarcerated. There is no hope given today’s technology of secrecy for the effort nor do we want it secret. Concept of Operations: Phase 1 - Field millions, as many as ten million, patriots who will assemble in a peaceful, non-violent, physically unarmed (Spiritually/Constitutionally armed), display of unswerving loyalty to the Ninth and Tenth Amendment laws and the balance of the US Constitution and against the incumbent government leadership, in Washington, D.C., with the mission to bring down the existing leadership. Go full-bore, no looking back, steadfast in the mission. Phase 2 - One million or more of the assembled 10 million must be prepared to stay in D.C. as long as it takes to see Obama, Biden, Reid, McConnell, Boehner, Pelosi, and Attorney General Holder removed from office. Consistent with the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, The Declaration of Independence, our Bill of Rights and the US Constitution, as required, the U.S. Congress will take appropriate action, execute appropriate legislation, deal with vacancies, or U.S. States will appoint replacements for positions vacated consistent with established constitutional requirements. Phase 3 – Those with the principles of a Cruz, Dr. Ben Carson, Lee, DeMint, Sessions, Gowdy, Jordan, should comprise a tribunal and assume positions of authority to convene investigations, recommend appropriate charges against politicians and government employees to the new U.S. Attorney General appointed by the new President. *All actions in Phase 2 & 3 will be consistent with the U.S. Constitution. Date of Operation: “OPERATION AMERICAN SPRING – Beginning Of Tyranny Housecleaning, May 16, 2014, completion to be determined We are past the point of no return, thus must move forward with an effort to save our nation, as there is no other choice. We are asking, pleading with you, and any others that have resources, national voices, email lists, blogs, FB, Twitter, to call for a non-violent American Spring May 16 2014 in Washington D.C. We must appeal to ten million and more American patriots to come and stay in Washington, D.C. to stop the White House and Congress from total destruction of the United States. It’s now or never. God help us. .....the law of nature rules. A fluffy, cuddly lamb gets eaten by a mean old wolf is not an illegal or immoral event...the law of nature. When some greedy, self-serving occupant of the White House or Congress, or elements outside America, is threatening our existence, our freedom, our liberty, our Constitution, our life resources, our America, then we fight back to destroy the threat and there is nothing immoral or illegal about it. When the government becomes lawless, then "we the people" no longer are obligated to follow the government......there is no law when government picks and chooses for political purposes or personal agenda. At this time the government is performing as a lawless entity...... A duck cannot be turned into a fox; an elephant cannot be turned into a flea; the laws of nature will not permit. Likewise, a nation ordained and principled by the laws of nature, sovereign, free, with liberty for all cannot naturally become a nation guided by royalty, decrees, tyranny, elitist, self-serving criminals. The former has proven desirable, the latter has proven human pain. “We can become a nation guided by royalty IF "we the people" beguiled by the government in surrender to our lusts for that which we have not earned --for what is not natural --if we have become intoxicated by unbroken success" as Lincoln proclaimed in March 30 ,1863 call for fasting, humiliation, and prayer--we can very easily heap to ourselves leaders, and with itching ears, be turned from the Truth to become enslaved by the LIE.” The United States of America (elephant) while embracing the "LIE" is teetering on the abyss of becoming a sniveling, blood sucking, undesirable nation (flea). OPERATION AMERICAN SPRING will be a gigantic step in removing the flea infestation that is sucking the blood out of America. We see no reasonable, hopeful sign that indicates there are honorable, loyal, mature, critical thinking, experienced people in government that understands the chaos about to rain down on America, nor do they care....our only hope is that "we the people" call, organize, and draw a few million patriots to stay in D.C. for an "American Spring". It would be the catalyst to draw the line and bring to a conclusion a decision on the out of control government, one way or the other. America will rise up or surrender.........for me, I only go to my knees in the presence of God Almighty...........my knees will not touch the surface as a result of some piss ant occupant of the White House or a corrupt legislator, or outside element...I will fall to my death standing if necessary. http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/forum/topics/purging-senior-military-officers-ncos-martial-law-in-the-not?xg_source=activity http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/forum/topics/any-doubt-an-american-spring-is-needed http://patriotsforamerica.ning.com/forum/topics/the-uber-presidency-by-general-paul-vallely There is not much time and the only planning necessary is to select a starting date, which we have done, and then show up in Washington, D.C. on that date, and plan to stay for the duration. The goal is restoring our Ninth and Tenth Amendment laws, The Declaration of Independence, our Bill of Rights and our US Constitution as the law of the land, removing the lawless, usurping, despotic leadership. Will this be a cake-walk? No, it will be painful, and some people may die because the government will not be non-violent; some of us will end up in a cell, and some may be injured. If that’s what it will take to save our nation, do we have any choice? Freedom loving Americans will say there is no choice, we must begin the second American Revolution. Not with guns, but with millions of Americans demanding a return to constitutional government and the resignation of Obama, Biden, Reid, McConnell, Boehner, Pelosi, and Holder as a start...then the constitutional restoration process can begin UNDER the Rule of OUR Ninth and Tenth Amendment laws. An AMERICAN SPRING can be avoided only if the above mentioned officials resign and the balance of Congress and the Executive branch returns all powers and taxes usurped, which exceed that granted to them under Article I Section 8, pursuant to our Ninth and Tenth Amendment laws and the supremacy clause of Article VI clause 2, to the States and the people. Will our national patriot leaders step forward and declare, “send me”, I’ll lead? There are millions of veterans and patriots ready to follow and have said “I will go”. I urge all organizations, groups, particularly veterans and military retirees begin planning to visit Washington, D.C beginning May 16, 2014. Keep tuned to this facebook site and Constitutional Emergency/Patriots for America www.patriotsforamerica.ning.com for updates and guidance. Please bathe this effort in prayer as there is no personal agenda or gain save liberty, freedom, and restoration of constitutional government for "we the people".

Guest:Bill Katz of Urgent Agenda.  Check out my book:  CUBANOS IN WISCONSIN BY SILVIO CANTO JR    

Episode 80: Inciting A Parental Riot (In Loco Parentis) with Sophia of Divine Community! News: Rick Perry's Merry Christmas Bill, Sagging Laws, Florida's Timely Justice Act / Updated Death Penalty Statistics, Flatulent Demons, Plain English breakdown of Recent Supreme Court decisions  Musical Interlude: Young Love - Eli Lieb Supreme Court opinions discussed: Prop 8 - Hollingsworth et al v Perry et al; DOMA - US v Windsor; VRA - Shelby County, Alabama v Attorney General Holder; Affirmative Action - Fisher v University of Texas at Austin WOTD: vouchsafe Teach Me Tarot: Liz presents The Empress. (bit.ly/teachmetarot) Music : All American Boy - Steve Grand Sociology: With special guest Sophia of Divine Community, we discuss the UK's upcoming internet filtering that may include esoteric content. Contact info: FireLyte@incitingariot.com Twitter - @IncitingARiot  Facebook.com/IncitingARiotPodcast Liz@IncitingARiot.com

The story you won't hear anywhere else: How Rand Paul never really disagreed with President Obama and Attorney General Holder about drones.

1. Bloomberg website blocked in China upon corruption revealing article. 2. Italy. The arrogance is overwhelming. 3. Bruno Iksil: Baffle with bullshit. 4. Iran oil embargo: Oil up 9.36%. 5. German finance minister Schaeuble: no euro bond. 6. Euro summit summary. 7. Attorney General Holder no longer charged for contempt. 8. Headlines. 9. Greek bank deposits, largest monthly fall. 10. A thank you. http://www.thefinancialreality.com