Stand Up! with Pete Dominick – June 29, 2021
Paul was on Pete Dominick’s always fun podcast today—they talked about cargo shorts, his weekend at Watkins Glen racetrack, sending a kid to kindergarten in the pandemic, his son’s new stitches (yay!), and of course the latest national security, political and veterans stuff. Including Matt Gaetz, Fox’s Laura Ingraham and others coming after General Milley, the military and now, Paul! It’s feisty and fun. Paul’s part is the second one (after Elie Honig) and starts around 1:16:00. Happy Tuesday! #StayVigilant 🎙🇺🇸⚡️
Meet the Press Reports: America’s Next War
Fmr. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen and Independent American’s Paul Rieckhoff join Chuck Todd to discuss America’s next potential war. https://www.peacocktv.com/watch-online/news/meet-the-press-reports/7632308671722350112/seasons/2/episodes/the-next-war-is-the-pentagon-prepared-episode-8/36cdd929-881c-3d9b-940e-b287c2d17976
WTOP: June 7, 2021 – Current Threats to Our Country
Paul joins WTOP for a segment discussing Trump’s next moves and how they might impact our friends and our enemies. It’s a hard-hitting reality check. Stay Frosty!
CNN: America’s military needs to confront the enemy within
Paul Rieckhoff joins Amy McGrath in ringing the alarm about the threat white nationalism in the military creates for our country. CNN: “The military is still the most respected institution in America, but this respect is not a given. The politicizing of the military under the Trump administration and the growth of right-wing extremism among veterans are serious threats to that national admiration. Veterans made up as much as 20% of the people arrested so far in relation to the violent insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, according to an NPR count. This is a much higher percentage than the 7% of veterans in the population as a whole. Additionally, most of them served since 9/11. These domestic terrorists who attacked our democracy included men and women, officers and enlisted, spanning almost all of the service branches. As a nation, we must face the hard fact that there may be a systemic problem here, the nature and depth of which is yet to be determined.” https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/11/opinions/military-extremist-mcgrath-rieckhoff/index.html
DailyBeast: What the Hell Was Biden Thinking With His Wildly Out-of-Touch Choice for Veterans Affairs Secretary?
Denis McDonough for Secretary of Veterans Affairs is a stunning and disappointing pick by President-elect Joe Biden. I’ve met McDonough and have always been impressed by him. But there’s no world in which I would have ever envisioned him as our next VA Secretary. He is not a vet, let alone a post-9/11 vet. Instead, he’s another well-credentialed, civilian, white guy leading an agency that badly needs a transformative leader who can understand and represent an increasingly diverse community. Biden had countless dynamic, inspiring, competent, transformative options—including over 3 million post-9/11 vets to pick from. Yet instead of picking a respected, celebrated, and proven vet like Nadja West—the Army’s first Black lieutenant general, Army surgeon general, and commander of the Army Medical Command—Biden picked a Washington political insider who’s never run an organization as massive as the VA, never worked at the VA, and never been a patient at the VA. He’s never even worn the uniform. This as the sprawling agency wrestles with an explosion of COVID cases disproportionately affecting veterans of color, a shocking sexual assault situation, and an unprecedented politicization of our community under Donald Trump. The vets community is stunned. I was not consulted—and I am not a Democrat. But if I was in the Senate, I could not support McDonough for VA Secretary. I expect many Democrats—and especially progressives—will lose their shit over this wildly out-of-touch pick. And rightly so. In America, right now especially, representation matters. The VA should be no exception. After two decades of war, this was the time for a transformative, empathetic, inspiring secretary. One who could encourage vets (and all Americans) to be part of VA’s new future. A leader who could translate our experiences for the 99 percent of Americans who’ve never served since 9/11. A person who could embody the success that is possible for us. Instead, the new secretary of Veterans Affairs is a political operator, who is not one of us. It feels patronizing and swampy. It wouldn’t be accepted by Democrats at any other agency. It shouldn’t be accepted here at VA. Other agencies are getting “groundbreaking” and “trailblazing” cabinet nominees. Yet again, VA settles for “competent.” In the next few weeks, you’ll hear from lots of insiders and political people who know McDonough supporting this extremely controversial pick. That’s to be expected. It’s how these things work in Washington. But ask the activists, the front-line VA workers, the vets dying from COVID in nursing homes, the vets who don’t follow politics what they think. Because Biden clearly did not. The VA nomination news could have been an uplifting, inspiring, exciting moment for 19 million vets and their families. Instead, it’s confusing, disappointing, infuriating, insulting—or even worse—irrelevant. Tragically, after two decades of war and struggle, we’re used to it. There is a lot of changing in American in 2020. This is not. It’s yet another sad reflection of how low veterans rate in terms of understanding and prioritization for American political leadership—from both parties. https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-the-hell-was-biden-thinking-with-his-wildly-out-of-touch-choice-for-veterans-affairs-secretary?ref=scroll
Vice TV Sets Debut of ‘While the Rest of Us Die: Secrets of America’s Shadow Government’ With Jeffrey Wright
Vice TV has announced that its new series, “While the Rest of Us Die: Secrets of America’s Shadow Government,” will premiere on Nov. 16 at 10 p.m. Based on the book by Garrett M. Graff, the six-part series exposes the U.S. government’s flawed plans to protect its citizens. The show unpacks America’s national security spending on hidden underground cities, a secret air force and a plan to suspend democracy in order to serve the interests of the elite class. The series features interviews with political figures including former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and former National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure, Protection and Counter-terrorism Richard Clarke, and national security experts Malcolm Nance, Elizabeth Goitien and Paul Rieckhoff. It will be narrated by “Westworld” star Jeffrey Wright. “The events of this last year have laid bare the economic, political and health inequities at the core of American society,” said Graff. “Our hope with ‘While The Rest Of Us Die’ is to show Americans how those inequities are central to the way our supposedly egalitarian society and democratic government operates. From Puerto Rico to COVID-19 to Black Lives Matter, America has long treated some American lives as more worthy than others. This isn’t new, and in fact, in the seventy years since the Cold War, the U.S. has long prioritized spending trillions of dollars in the wrong places in the wrong ways, a problem that has been felt from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to the streets of American cities.” https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/while-the-rest-of-us-die-vice-tv-1234829368/
RIECKHOFF ON WNYC’S BRIAN LEHRER SHOW – CHECKING IN WITH VETERANS – NOV. 11, 2020
If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention. Especially now. But this show is about more than being angry. It’s also about being active, informed and vigilant. It’s bigger than any party–and truly about putting our country first. If that’s a side you want to join, join our Angry Americans Patreon community and get special behind-the-curtain access to our host, Paul Rieckhoff, our dynamic guests, and discounts on Angry Americans merch and exclusive extra content not available anywhere else. Angry Americans is your independent source for news, politics, culture and inspiration with the hard-hitting perspective you can only get here. Join us now! Join the Righteous
NPR’s Here and Now: A ‘Volatile’ Veterans Day In A Divided Nation: Iraq War Vet Shares National Security Concerns
If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention. Especially now. But this show is about more than being angry. It’s also about being active, informed and vigilant. It’s bigger than any party–and truly about putting our country first. If that’s a side you want to join, join our Angry Americans Patreon community and get special behind-the-curtain access to our host, Paul Rieckhoff, our dynamic guests, and discounts on Angry Americans merch and exclusive extra content not available anywhere else. Angry Americans is your independent source for news, politics, culture and inspiration with the hard-hitting perspective you can only get here. Join us now! Join the Righteous
Forbes: Angry Americans And What The Future Holds
Forbes has a great interview with host and founder Paul Rieckhoff. It’s a greta look at the goals of Angry Americans and our parent company Righteous Media. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2020/09/23/angry-americans-and-what-the-future-holds/#52122e83662d If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention. Especially now. But this show is about more than being angry. It’s also about being active, informed and vigilant. It’s bigger than any party–and truly about putting our country first. If that’s a side you want to join, join our Angry Americans Patreon community and get special behind-the-curtain access to our host, Paul Rieckhoff, our dynamic guests, and discounts on Angry Americans merch and exclusive extra content not available anywhere else. Angry Americans is your independent source for news, politics, culture and inspiration with the hard-hitting perspective you can only get here. Join us now! Join the Righteous
Rieckhoff on Let’s Get After It with Chris Cuomo – June 11, 2020
Angry Americans host Paul Rieckhoff hits a number of topics related to the military and security in this June 11 episode of Chris Cuomo’s Let’s Get After It. From the VA testing hydroxychloroquine on veterans to Trump’s politicization of the West Point graduation… it’s a conversation you won’t want to miss. If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention. Especially now. But this show is about more than being angry. It’s also about being active, informed and vigilant. It’s bigger than any party–and truly about putting our country first. If that’s a side you want to join, join our Angry Americans Patreon community and get special behind-the-curtain access to our host, Paul Rieckhoff, our dynamic guests, and discounts on Angry Americans merch and exclusive extra content not available anywhere else. Angry Americans is your independent source for news, politics, culture and inspiration with the hard-hitting perspective you can only get here. Join us now! Join the Righteous