On November 15, 2014, a remarkable panel was assembled at the Reagan National Defense Forum to discuss a variety of national defense issues. The panel consisted of:
Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama
Steven Hadley, National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush
Leon Panetta, Secretary of Defense under President Obama
Jeh Johnson, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
John McCain, soon to be Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee
The panelists not only gave illuminating vignettes of their personal experiences in dealing with national security matters, but expressed candid views on current issues including ISIS, Ukraine, and the impact of sequestration and reductions to the military budget. It was a cogent and compelling presentation. Rather than attempting to summarize the observations of the participants, we would strongly urge readers of RINOcracy.com to view the discussion at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bk0CdVe6IQ&list=PLHNOi2zcxo7vZiUKL2WytZJzAhd2f5KA_&index=3
The entire presentation lasts approximately an hour and a half, but we believe it is worth watching from start to finish. For those who cannot spare that much time, we would particularly recommend the comments of Secretary Panetta at 33:33 and 54:35, Steven Hadley at 43:24, and 1:06:08, Secretary Gates at 49:05 and Secretary Johnson at 1:05:30.
Indeed an extraordinary panel of leaders in our great nation.
The first thing that strikes me is that only 208 have viewed this show, sad!
After listening to the very on point questions and answers, I amazingly formed my opinions of these gentlemen. My two favorites are Steven Hadley and Bob Gates because of their deep knowledge of the history of our country as it relates to the subjects presented to them but also their extremely articulate explanations. My next two favorites are Leon Panetta and John McCain both of whom express themselves with such passion and wisdom. By far, my least favorite is Jay Johnson who I felt was odd man out in this group of extremely informed, talented, and experienced leaders. He seemed more of a thorn in their sides than a part of their overall thinking. That said, it was good that he was on this panel to add perspective to the overall picture.
Thank you Doug for bringing this important meeting to my attention. Hopefully members of congress are among the earlier viewers.
I imagine the program viewership will remain quite small due to the disparity of the length of the program and what I perceive as the relatively short attention span of the average busy American and that is too bad.
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