Dear Friends and Patriots,

I've been sort of anti-NATO for many years. It was formed as a means to unite the nations of Europe in a way that emphasized military cooperation instead of competition, and focused on countering the Soviet Union and their Eastern Bloc puppet states. But, in doing so, the U.S. paid the bulk of the costs. We gave aircraft and arms to the NATO forces, while retaining the "big stuff" ourselves – on their soil. They gave the US free use of military bases, and we paid to put our military forces there. What did we get out of it? Reliable allies? Maybe that was true from 1947 to 1970, but not so much since. The Europeans are scared of their own shadows.

I roamed about Europe via rail for a bit, back in '75 and '76, and was appalled at the obvious presence and influence of the various communist groups everywhere I went (except for Switzerland). Commies were everywhere and anti-Americanism was so prevalent I started telling people I was Canadian. So much for NATO alliances. I came back from that trip firmly convinced that the US needed to completely reconsider NATO membership. The difference between the U.S. world view and that of the Europeans was not minor; it was huge.

In the U.S. we had a Soviet-vs-Free West paradigm. In Europe they thought in a very different way, and seemed far more concerned over internal problems than any potential issues with the Soviets. In many ways they were right. The Soviet threat was never what our press wanted us to believe. They didn't want western Europe. They just wanted to make sure western Europe didn't want them. Meanwhile the Europeans turned increasingly socialist in their internal politics. They tended to think of it as European liberalism, but it never was. It was more internal appeasement. The insurrectionists and anarchists roaming around all of Europe in those days had the governments ready to pay them to convert from domestic terrorists into full-blown political parties. That's when the Green Party was formed. It was never more than a bunch of violent and semi-violent shakedown con artists and communists who paraded under the false banner of environmental justice. That's all they are today.

In a way the governments were right. They did greatly reduce the levels of domestic violence by allowing the Greens a place in governments, but they created a long-term nightmare in doing so. That nightmare is still being played out.

Meanwhile, NATO became a force of its own. It has its own governing structure; its own bureaucracy. The military side is led by a Commanding General, who has always been American. That's something the Europeans want as a means to keep us on a tether. The bureaucratic side is headed by the NATO Secretary General, who is European.

Europeans are sort of stupid, really. They can't quite understand that their high taxes support several overlapping governments, which all want to have a say in how they live their lives. They have local and regional governments, some form of federal government, the EU Parliament (which acts as a rubber stamp for the next one), the EU Commission, then there's the various UN HQ bunches that created that World Government apparatus, and then there's NATO. In Europe it's getting to the point that it's harder to find someone who doesn't work for some government entity than one who does.

I'm a believer that one has to start somewhere. When it comes to the idea of freedom, I say – just eliminate something! Don't ever accept any status quo. Look at everything in life and ask the same question – Is That Necessary? if the answer is "no," then do something about it. It's like decluttering your life. How much is necessary? Not that much. When looking at governments, it's actually easier to figure out what is necessary and what is not. History alone tells us that.

Before the Democrats created the welfare state, what existed? Was there more poverty than today? Before public housing, were there more homeless on the streets? Before we had food stamps, were there more hungry? If the answer to any or all is "no," then what's the real purpose of all the welfare programs. Why are they considered "third rail?" Isn't it because our Congress is full of gutless wonders who refuse to do the right things? They know much of what they do is just for show, but they do them anyway, then brag endlessly about how much they do for us. Do for us? In my entire life I've never seen a law passed by Congress that I thought did anything for me. Is it just me?

Back to NATO.

There seems to be an urge to stir up Russia. It's sort of dumb, but their intent is to bind the U.S. even closer, since they see Trump's affinity for NATO is very weak. He knows the U.S. doesn't need NATO, and he's pretty sure NATO doesn't really need us. But ... they want to continue getting the free ride they've had ever since 1947. Many years ago NATO became a welfare operation, and just like the 62 or 64 domestic welfare programs we fund, NATO continues to exist, not because it's vital that it exists in its current form, but solely because it serves the wants of its body – those who are addicted to welfare. Trump understands that cutting bureaucracy causes pain. I think he sees that rot creates gangrene, and gangrene causes death. The only way to deal with gangrene is by amputation or otherwise excising the rot. That's what he's doing with our own government, and that's what needs to be done with NATO.

Europeans may be late in waking up. It's possible that the amputations it needs to excise the rot from the Continent are too late. It could be that Europe is just a festering, walking corpse that can't be saved. It may have to collapse in on itself to figure out how to rebuild.

The problems of Europe don't have to be ours. Disengaging from NATO doesn't mean disengaging from our friends. It just means we need to acknowledge that our friends have a deadly disease and they're trying to share it with us. We need to pull back for our own sake and deal with our own internal issues, like Dearborn, MI and Patterson, NJ, and the new EPIC City project in TX. We need to do it before we, too, become so infected with rot that it's too late for us.

The enemy isn't at our gates. In Europe, the enemy is poised for a takeover. In the U.S. the enemy lives among us and is growing stronger every day.

NATO is not the answer to anything at all. Withdrawing from NATO isn't an answer for any of America's real problems. But ... it's a good start.

In Liberty,

Steve