Liberty and Prosperity

Seth Grossman Interview with Harry Hurley on September 2, 2026. WPGTalkRadio 95.5FM and 1450AM.

Se

Above Image: Monument to Richard Somers near Shore Road and New Jersey Avenue in Somers Point, New Jersey. An identical monument stands in Somers, New York, a town named after Richard Somers.

HARRY HURLEY: We visit with Seth Grossman this morning. Seth, I believe that you have done more to keep the Richard Somers flame alive than anyone I can think of.

SETH GROSSMAN: Thank you very much. And all this stuff, of course, is posted at libertyandprosperity.com.  And if you want to get our emails about this and the other topics, just contact us - at [email protected].

As you pointed out, the story - of Richard Somers is remarkable. I first heard it in 2004, 200 years after Richard Somers and the entire crew of his ship Intrepid were killed in Tripoli on September 4, 1804.

Hearing that story three years after the attacks on September 11 2001, had a profound impact on me. I realized then that if Americans had remembered the story of Richard Somers, and the 12 other Americans on his ship who died in 1804, and who they fought and why they had to fight them, 3,000 Americans would not have been murdered on September 11, 2001, and we would not need ceremonies to remember them.

I learned a lot at that ceremony to remember Richard Somers in 2004. I assumed it would be a yearly event. But to my surprise, nothing was planned for September of 2005. 

And so I got together with Sally Hastings, the president of the Somers Point Historical Society. We then put together programs to remember Richard Somers every September 4 for many years.

Then, I realized that Richard Somers was not just a forgotten local hero who should be remembered. I realized then that a whole lot more was going on.

Richard Somers was probably the most significant national American hero who came from this area. He should be remembered.  And for a long time I could not understand why our community had forgotten him.

Then I realized that you cannot remember Richard Somers without telling his story. And that story can no longer be told in America.

HARRY HURLEY:  There you go. It was purposeful.

SETH GROSSMAN:  Yes it was purposeful. Richard Somers was one of the first great Americans to be cancelled.

HARRY HURLEY: Wow.

SETH GROSSMAN: And When I realized that, I was determined to do whatever I could to make sure that Richard Somers was remembered, and that his story would be told.

The Richard Somers story reminds us that America was at war with Islam more than 200 years ago. Actually, America was not at war with Islam. Islam was at war with us.

And when we told the story of Richard Somers, and how Islam justified attacks on peaceful Americans and how we had to fight a war to stop them, cities like Somers Point and schools, and colleges and business association knew that it was bad for business if they were in any way involved in telling the story of Richard Somers.

HARRY HURLEY: Pay the tribute, keep quiet, and we'll leave you alone.

SETH GROSSMAN: Yes. We learned nothing. And I'd like to take this a step further. The Richard Somers story leads us to understand the people who murdered 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001 and why they did it.

The details of that story and what happened afterwards explain what led to the murder of  3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001.

So let's tell that story.  First, I'd like to thank Bob and Cindy Fertsch for publishing that story in last week's (August 27, 2026) edition of Shore Local Magazine. It's distributed free throughout the shore towns of South Jersey.  Last week's edition had the picture of the blue and yellow beach umbrella on the front cover. The Richard Somers story is on Page 8.

Click below link: Magazine 8/27/2026 edition:

Use this week's Shore Local to share the story of Richard Somers. - Liberty and Prosperity

  The story begins on the night of September 4, 1804. A small merchant ship sails alone into the harbor of Tripoli in North Africa. It carries no cargo. It is instead loaded with bombs and explosives. Its captain is 26-year-old Richard Somers from Somers Point, New Jersey. He and all 12 members of his crew know they have very little chance of coming back alive. Yet they all volunteered for this mission.

For three years, they had been at war with fanatic sea fighters who were called Barbary pirates. However, these Barbary sea-fighters were not pirates at all.  Pirates were criminals. These Barbary sea-fighters were legally at war with America. They were what we call privateers in English - or corsairs in French. - They were protected by letters of marque and reprisal. They were legally allowed to attack and rob ships and coastal towns of any enemy nation--as long as they share the booty with - the ruler or government that hired them. Pirates were tried and executed as criminals when they were captured. Privateers, or corsairs in French, were supposed to be held as prisoners of war, and released at the end of the war. 

When privateers came back to their home port with their booty, the government would be put everything that was taken up for sale at a public auction. The government would get its share. The owners of the ship, the captain, and the crew would get the rest. 

For privateers from the Barbary cities of  North Africa, the cities of Tangier, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, the most valuable booty to be auctioned off were people. The passengers and crew of the captured ships, the people who lived in coastal villages were auctioned off and sold as slaves.

The whole economy of North Africa at that time was based on slavery. The city of Algiers in what is now Algeria had a population of a 100,000 - people, and 25,000 of them were slaves. 

This started long before The United States existed. It began more than 1200 years ago, during the 800s. That was when Arabs conquered the Roman cities of Tangier, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli in North Africa. Those cities became known as the Barbary Kingdoms. They would attack and rob as many coastal towns and villages in Christian Europe they could--and every ship or fishing boat from there that they could catch. 

After a few hundred years, French and Italian Crusaders stopped them for a while. But then, during the 1500s, the Ottoman Turks came in. They made the so-called Barbary Pirates a lot stronger. The raids and attacks got worse. They attacked ships and coastal towns as far away as Iceland and Ireland. During this time, They captured more than a million Europeans and sold them as slaves in North Africa. 

Above Image: Pope Pius V

Then, in 1560, Pope Pius V formed a "Holy League" of European Christian nations to fight back.

Now, as I'm telling you this story of Richards Somers, and explaining these events that came before, I need to ask you.  Do you remember learning any of this in high school?  Or in college?

HARRY HURLEY: This was not in our curriculum. It ignored that history. As far as I know, you know, you - had the Greeks, you had the Romans. Yeah. - Bill Gussie taught about the Barbary pirates. but not those details.

SETH GROSSMAN: It was the same with me. We learned about the Greeks and the Roman Empire. We were taught that German barbarians from Europe invaded from the North and destroyed the Roman Empire. Then we had Middle Ages and the Crusades.

But they never told us how half of the Romand Empire became Muslim. They never explained how all of the Middle East, Egypt and North Africa changed from being lands of Greek and Latin-speaking Christians to Arabic speaking Muslims. We didn't learn any of that stuff.

But - anyway, Europe fought back. And for two hundred - years, the Christians of Europe and the Turks and Arabs of the Middle East and North Africa reached a standoff.  They all got tired of fighting endless wars against each other.

In Europe, Catholics and Protestants were starting to fight each other. There were wars between England and Spain. The Barbary Kingdoms were losing money in their wars against Europeans.

So they all worked out a deal. The Barbary Kingdoms told European Christians, we will stop raiding your villages - and your ships. We will stop enslaving Europeans.  Just pay us money and we'll leave you alone.

By the way, at this time, the Barbary Kingdoms were already finding that it was much easier and cheaper to cross the Sahara Desert and capture and buy Black Africans as slaves than to fight wars with Europeans.

So for the next two hundred years, during the 1600s and 1700s, Spain, Portugal, England, and France, all paid money to the Barbary Kingdoms.  And they were all left alone. 

And because we Americans were part of the British Empire, Americans could sail anywhere in the world without being attacked because we were protected by the British bribes, which they called tribute. 

And then on July 4, 1776, we Americans declare our independence.  After seven years of war, in 1783, the world recognizes the United States as an independent nation. Our ships continue to sail all over the world. However, now our ships fly a new flag. They fly the stars and stripes instead of the British flag, the Union Jack. - And instantly, we find out that the Barbary Kingdoms read the newspaper. They immediately started, attacking our ships, robbing our people, and selling them into slavery.  Brian Kilmeade described this in detail in his book Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates.

And so when we asked the Europeans, "Well, - what should we do? We've got to get together and fight back!" But we were instead told "Do what we're doing. - Just pay them, and they'll leave you alone."

We Americans did that for about ten years. About 10% of the federal budget of the United States was spent on tribute and bribes to these Barbary Kingdoms.

However, we had a problem. Because America was such a peaceful nation, we had no navy, and the Barbary Kingdoms knew it. So,...

9.5.26 Seth Grossman WPG Radio.

Trump careless talk is destroying Republican Party.

Richard Somers and 1801 Barbary War led to the September 11 attacks.

Both Democrats and Republicans are ignoring violent crime.

Socialists are the worst antisemites.

SETH GROSSMAN:  I prefer not talking about President Trump or any national issues that are all over Fox news and  national TV. I'd rather use this time to talk about the important state and local issues that nobody else is talking about.

However, you talked a lot about President Trump in your monologue, so I have to respond. Yes, Donald Trump hurts a lot of people when he does stuff like this, and there is no reason for it.

When Trump posts on social media that he is the greatest President in American history. When he says "I'm thinking about running for a third term." or "I'm going to rename Lake Ontario, and call it "Lake America.", Trump hurts a lot of people besides himself. He does this all the time and there is absolutely no reason for it.

There was no reason for Trump to start a tariff war with Canada and say he would make it the 51st state just before their election last year. He did that just before their elections last year. There were good conservatives in Canada who like American and want to be our friends. They had a good chance of winning their elections last year. But Trump destroyed them.  There was no reason for Trump to say he would take Greenland and to bully a tiny country like Denmark.

Why is Trump going to war with the Kennedy family over the Kennedy entertainment center. Why is a making such a big deal over his new ballroom at the White House.  This stuff hurts Trump and it hurts everyone in the Republican Party. In fact it is destroying the Republican Party.

Because if you or I say anything even slightly critical of President Trump, Trump supporters, who are roughly two thirds of the Republican Party will be so angry, they will never consider voting for us.  They will make sure we never get elected to anything.

And this gets the one third of the Republican Party who do not like Trump just as angry at those other Republicans as they are as Trump.

This makes it impossible for Republicans to win elections against Democrats. And as bad as Republicans can be at times, they are the only people who can defeat Democrats and block their agenda.

So you have to ask yourself, "Why is Trump doing this?"  Does Trump believe what he is saying? Does he think he is clever and cute when he does that?  Does he think he is winning when two thirds of Republicans say they support what he is doing, even though those two thirds of Republicans are only about one third of the whole country?

To me, this is absolutely baffling as to why Trump does this. He is making it very difficult for any Republican to win an election anywhere in the country. 

And since most members of our Liberty and Prosperity group support President Trump, you just got me in a lot of trouble!

JOHN DEMASI:  My pleasure. I love setting your agenda.

SETH GROSSMAN:  Thanks. When I call in next week, I might call in saying "Good morning, this is Seth Grossman, the former Executive Director of Liberty and Prosperity.  Actually, I won't be calling in next Saturday. That will be Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year holiday.

Anyway, let me thank everyone who gave so much help and support for the ceremony we had yesterday to remember Richard Somers in Somers Point yesterday. He was the hero of the Barbary Wars who died in Tripoli in 1804. He was once a well-known national hero.

There are two details or nuances in that story that explain a lot of what is going on today.

In 1801, America went to war against the same Islamic terror that we are fighting today. That was when Thomas Jefferson was President.  However, we were losing that war for the first two years. We were losing that war for the same reason America has been losing so many wars lately.  The original navy commanders did not understand the enemy they were fighting, or the job they had to do.

It was only in the third year that President Jefferson appointed a commander whoknew how to win the war.  His name was Ed Preble. He respected and listened to his young officers like Stephen Decatur, Charles Stewart and Richard Somers who were actually in combat and who understood our enemy.  As a result, in the American navy almost won a war in just ten months that it had been losing for nearly two years.

And if you study American military history, you see that America was often losing wars at the beginning for a lot of reasons. In almost every war, America did not start winning until the President fired the commanders and the generals he had started with. There are many reasons for this. Sometimes, generals who are good civil servants  who know how to run a bureaucracy  during peacetime don't know how to lead soldiers into battle during a war. If the President doesn't fire them quickly, we lose the war.

And there are other important lessons we can learn today from the Richard Somers story.  Richard Somers and those other brave Americans won the respect and admiration of the entire world back in 1804.  They won respect in Europe, but they also won respect throughout the Islamic world.

At that time, the Sultans of the Ottoman Turkish Empire ruled the entire Islamic world. They were more than just the Sultans or rulers of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. They were also like the Pope. They were the Kalifs or Caliphs--spiritual leaders of almost every Muslim in the entire world. 

So after the Barbary Wars, the Turkish sultans as caliphs and leaders of the Islamic world began to respect and work with Americans, and Christians and other Europeans.   They began sending their kids to study in Europe, they began wearing western clothes, and they began tolerating and living peacefully with Christians.   These were Turks, not Arabs.

And this triggered an angry reaction from radical and traditional Arab leaders in Arabia.  They accused the Turks of betraying Muhammad and betraying Islam.  They said we have to go back to doing what Muhammad did in Arabia during the Dark Ages.  We need constant holy wars against non-Muslims. We need to cover up our women. We need to stop enjoying music.

Those Arabs were called Wahhabees or Salafis, and for years they on the fringe of the Islamic world. They had very little influence over most Muslims.  However, all that changed in 1938.  What was that?  In 1938, oil was discovered in Arabia.   Suddenly, this extreme, lunatic fringe was getting billions of dollars every year.  The rest is history.  What used to be a fringe cult of extremists now controls billions of dollars from oil each year.  They use that money to make themselves the mainstream of Islam.

Late Saturday night two weeks ago, four teenagers from Atlantic City stole a big SUV in Longport, and then drove away from police towards Somers Point and Egg Harbor Township.  A few hours later, they killed two people in Mays Landing.  From the video, it looks they were driving at least 40 or 50 miles an hour on the wrong side of Route 50.  They crashed head on into a car with two people from Egg Harbor Township and killed them instantly.

For the past two weeks, I was busy with our Richard Somers event. Did you or any of your listeners learn anything new about this?  If police in Longport see four kids from Atlantic City stealing a car in Longport at 3:30 in the morning, how did that car get away?  How did that stolen car get to Mays Landing five hours later with nobody chasing it?

Were the Longport police told not to chase the car?  If so, who gave that order?  Have any political people said anything about this?

Is anyone saying we need to change the way we deal with teenagers who are already hardened, dangerous, violent criminals?

Has anyone talked about the fact that we have the dozens, if not hundreds of very dangerous, hardened criminals who are teenagers in Atlantic County.  However, we have only one county jail for juveniles.  And that juvenile jail holds only 27 inmates. I have not heard of any. And we're in the middle of an election campaign.

If nobody is going to talk about important issues during an election campaign, when are they going to talk about them?

Of course, the Cape May County sheriff, - Republican Robert Nolan, made a speech about getting tough on juvenile crime. However, he was talking about rowdy teens on the Wildwood Boardwalk.  What I'm talking about now is completely different.

Just look at these random little crime stories in today's Press of Atlantic City.  Anta Johnson of Gloucester County - got three years in prison for kicking someone in the face at the Tropicana Casino on March 1.  So if she gets a three year prison sentence, she'll probably be out in about a year. - What's she going to be like when she gets - out? Is she going to be a reformed person, - or is she going to just do the - same stuff she was doing before? - And can we possibly hire enough police to follow all these people and protect us when people like that are wandering around everywhere.

Another random article:  Charles Summers, a 21 year old from Atlantic City,  was sentenced to seven years in prisonfor shooting a victim in both legs in Atlantic City on July 4, two years ago.  So if he's sentenced to seven years, will he be out with the rest of us in two or three years? Will he learn anything? Will he be any less dangerous when he gets out?

Melissa Tucaram, a 30-year-old, from New York.  She got fifteen years for luring a victim into an armed robbery where he was killed. This was in Atlantic City in January of 2024.  There was a time - when, - people who committed these kind of crimes were in for life, or close to it.

In fact, in Old England, they used - to execute people for all felonies, including  robberies like this. Last Tuesday,...

Brian Fitzherbert joins Anne Baker on WOND radio for 'Fitzherbert Friday'. Today, Brian and Anne discuss a whole host of issues relating to America's security, immigration, the Strait of Hormuz, and a whole lot more. They also hear from Caller John from Ocean City.

On September 4, we remember Richard Somers the other 12 Americans who died in Tripoli, North Africa on September 4, 1804. Memorial (Sept 4): On September 11, we remember 3,000 Americans who died in New York, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. The story of Richard Somers tells us who attacked us on September 11, 2001, why they attacked us, and what we need to do to stop them from attacking us again.

Read the Richard Somers story in last week's issue of the Shore Local newspaper. Click the following link to read it online: Use this week's Shore Local to share the story of Richard Somers. - Liberty and Prosperity

Antisemitism is a strain of socialism. Both are based on envy. Both claim that successful people have "too much" because they "oppress" or "exploit" those with too little. Both blame others for every problem in their lives and every evil in the world rather than working to make their own lives better.

https://youtu.be/_n5dtHlJ2XY?si=BrhVkBZyQXhzuY0B

Two good people were killed in Mays Landing last Saturday because we have allowed our democracy to become totally useless and dysfunctional.

President Trump created $10 trillion of our $40 trillion federal government debt. He didn't have to do that. He had choices.

Why did the pro-Israel "AIPAC" lobby help defeat Tom Massie? Massie is a fiscal conservative and longtime member of the Freedom Caucus who tried to cut spending and balance the budget. Short answer: President Trump hated Massie and wanted to get him out of Congress.  It is now normal for almost every organized lobbying group to help elect bad politicians and defeat good ones so they can get what they want from the government.

EDITED TRANSCRIPT OF SETH GROSSMAN RADIO INTERVIEW WITH JOHN DEMASI ON AUGUST 29, 2026:

SETH GROSSMAN:  This Friday, September 4, we'll hold a ceremony, - at the park by the library in Somers - Point, - at Shore Road across the street from Charlie's - Bar. - To remember Richard Somers, our local hero from Somers Point. He died on September 4, 1804, in Tripoli, North Africa. He fighting in America's first foreign war against Islamic terror.

The full story of Richard Somers is published on Page 8 of this week's edition of Shore Local, a free newspaper in the area.

Morton Klein, the President of the ZOA, the Zionist Organization of America will be speaking at 7pm  this Sunday night at the Rodef Sholom Synagogue at Plaza Place and Atlantic Avenue, in Atlantic City. According to the flyers, he will be talking about how to fight antisemitism, and the propaganda lies against Israel.   Unfortunately, most Jewish organizations that claim to fight antisemitism make the problem worse. That is because they seem more interested - in keeping their stupid rainbow, - leftist coalition together so we keep electing Democrats. They are not protecting Jews.

JOHN DEMASI:  What is the reason? Why is there so much antisemitism? - I know you could talk for an hour - about this, but what do you know about it?

SETH GROSSMAN:  In my opinion, socialism is the main cause of antisemitism, that is hatred of Jews and we have more socialism than ever in America today.  Socialism is built on two basic ideas. One is envy and jealousy. Socialism tells people if they don't have what they want in their lives, it is because a small group of rich, powerful people took it away. It promotes the idea that too many people have too little because one small group has too much.

It also teaches people to blame and hate a small group of other people for every problem or evil in the world, instead of taking responsibility and working to make thins better.

Once you have that mentality, it is very easy to get to antisemitism.  That is, blame Jews for everything that is bad in the world. That is because for years, Jews have been very successful in free societies like Europe and America. Jews are taught since childhood to read, and study, and learn, and share information with others. Those are skills that help you succeed in free societies.

And then, most Jewish organizations make this problem work. When these Jewish organizations claim they are fighting antisemitism, they rarely attack the Communists and the socialists who are the worst Jew haters. They instead falsely blame people they call "white supremacists" or "right wing extremists."  But they really attack many good Christians, conservatives, Republicans and of course, President Trump.  And when you falsely blame good people for being antisemites, you are going to make many of them angry.

The truth is that in real life, you don't have classes of bad people oppressing and exploiting good people. Most real people have good and bad within them.  Very often, mostly bad people will do good things, and mostly good people will do bad things. The key to life is critical thinking, good judgment, discernment, wisdom.   At one time, Americans were very good at that.

The most important story is this.  Two good people were killed in Mays Landing last Saturday because we are unwilling and unable to lock up criminals, especially teenage criminals who bully people, attack people, rob people, and kill people.

At about 3:30 AM early last Saturday morning, in the middle of the night, four teenagers from Atlantic City - stole a big, expensive $200,000 SUV in Longport. When they were approached by the Longport police, they drove away over the Longport Bridge towards Somers Point at a very high rate of speed. -The ended up on Route 50 in Mays Landing.  They were speeding. They crossed over and drove on the wrong side of the road. They ran head on into a couple driving in the opposite direction. It was at Route 50 and 3rd Street, right in the middle of Mays Landing. They killed Alice Stillwell - and Robert Barr, both of Egg Harbor Township. 

We posted the whole story on our website - under the title, - I I believe that the title was, - something like, - two two here it is. Teens - caught and released twice in Atlantic City - till two in Mays Landing. - And when you look at the video - of just, you must had a huge SUV. - I think it was a $280,000, - car, Mercedes, - SUV. - Well, it must have been going 70 or - 80 miles an hour, - swerves into the oncoming lane - and hits these poor people. You see they - never had a chance. The absolute horror. - And if you don't already know how evil - and dysfunctional - the politics and government of this country have - become, - the senseless death of these two people should - wake you up, - but I'm not so sure. - Because - what led to the deaths of Alice Stillwell - and Robert Barr - have been going on for fifty years. And - I just don't have time to discuss the - details, but let's just talk about the the - main points. Number one, for the past sixty - five years, - black Americans and the rest of us have - been fed this fake black history instead of - real American history. - And the fake black history tells us that - every problem, every failure in the black community - is the fault of white racism. - Therefore, black teachers, black parents, black leaders, or - black anybody - has no responsibility - whatsoever for their actions - responsibility - for raising their children. Number three. We have - schools that spend $25,000 - a year that teach these kids absolutely no - skills, - no discipline, - no sense of controlling yourself, - knows living in a civilized - society. All they're taught is anger and hate - and blame somebody else for everything wrong in - your life and and to have this, chip - on your shoulder. - Number four. We have a culture that makes - police - more afraid of criminals - than criminals are afraid of police. - Now I don't know the details of this - case, but it seems that groups of teenagers - in Atlantic City - had been stealing, - very expensive high end cars in Longport - and other rich down beach neighborhoods for months. - And one of the teens, the one that - killed Alice Stilwell and Robert Barr, one of - the four teens in in that car because - we don't really know who was driving that - car. - He was arrested and released twice for stealing - cars - just in the past two months. Jeez. And - how did this happen? - Were the Longport police afraid to confront a - black teenager walking around the neighborhood in the - middle of the night? - Were they afraid that they'd be sued for - profiling? - Because that's that's what it is. Remember walking - by while black, driving by while black? - We we convinced these police officers - that they make one mistake - and their career, their lives are over. They're - ruined. And so when they they see stuff - that is suspicious that you ought to investigate, - they don't, - because we don't support police - who who do who are proactive. - And of course, what happened when they Long - Port Police at I guess it was 03:30 - in the morning, - saw the fourteens, - in the car acting, - suspiciously. I don't know if they were speeding - or ran through a stop sign or a - red light. - Heck, I know what happens to me if - I run a red light in Longport. - If I run a stop sign in Longport, - heck, if I go more than 35 miles - an hour in Longport, you know, they're - I I get pulled over. - But for whatever reason, these four teams, they - just took off at 03:30 in the morning. - And, - according to the reports in the paper, the - Long Port Police say, well, they went they - went away. - Doesn't say any sign of a pursuit and - that's probably - it is, those, four teens end up in - Mays Landing four hours later, - 07:45. - The Hamilton Township Police, see them, - follow them, but it's too late. The the - teens had speeded up. They were going 70 - to 80 miles an hour. And, by time - the Hamilton police got there minutes later, - you know, two people were dead. - So, - that that's what we have. - So, I have a question, though. - Did you say that that that the kid - one of the kids - stole a c

Talking With Anne - 8-21-26​

Remember Richard Somers on September 4, the day he died in Tripoli in 1804.

EDITED TRANSCRIPT OF SETH GROSSMAN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN DEMASI ON WPG TALK RADIO, 95.5FM 1450AM:

 August 22, 2026

1. Ceremony to remember Richard Somers on September 4 is as important as remembering September 11.

2. Our book 1676 Project explains why "reparations" in New Jersey is ridiculous.

3. Trump added $10 trillion to create America's $40 trillion national debt.

4. Jihad is only certain way to guarantee forgiveness of sin and eternal life in Paradise.

5. When America was great, people were free to decide what to build on their own land.

SETH GROSSMAN: Richard Somers, who was born in Somers Point, New Jersey, died in Tripoli, in North Africa, on September 4, 1804. He died in America's first foreign war. He died fighting the same people who did the same thing to Americans that the Iranians, the Houtis, and the Islamic State ISIS people are doing to Americans right now.

Every year on September 4, we celebrate how that sacrifice made by Richard Somers, and all 12 men on his ship, Intrepid, and the American Marines who later went to the Shores of Tripoli kept Americans safe around the world for the next 150 years.

When you learn the story of Richard Somers, you understand that the reason we have terrorism and war, and riots and chaos around the world today is because Americans have stopped doing what Richard Somers and those other young Americans did all the time back in 1804.

We need to tell that story to more people. We need more people to learn that lesson.  Our ceremony to remember Richard Somers and to tell that story will be one week from next Friday, September 4. It will be at 10 in the morning, the Friday before Labor Day. The details are posted on our Liberty and Prosperity.com website.

Only a few dozen people will be with us to remember Richard Somers. A lot more people will be at ceremonies to remember the attacks on America that happened on September 11, 2001.

However, if you had a choice of going to just one of those events, you will draw a lot more useful lessons from our ceremony to remember Richard Somers.  Here's why.

The story of Richard Somers explains who attacked, and kidnapped and murdered Americans back in 1804, and why they did it. It also explains what we had to do, and what we did to stop them.

Some 3,000 Americans were attacked and murdered on September 11, 2001 by those very same people.  And yet hardly any of the ceremonies to remember the victims of September 11, 2001 say a word about who killed them, why they killed them, or what we need to do to stop them from killing Americans again.

em say nothing about who killed them, why they killed those Americans, and what we need to do to stop them from attacking us again and killing more Americans.

However, all of those questions are answered when you learn the story of Richard Somers

2. Our 1676 Project history book explains why "reparations" in New Jersey are ridiculous.

JOHN DEMASI:  You know, I had never heard of Richard  Somers  until you came along. And I guess a lot of people are in the same boat.

SETH GROSSMAN: Absolutely. But yet every American once knew all about Richard Somers. Every American school child, who passed the fourth or fifth grade  was once taught about Richard Somers. But after 1940, we started to change what we teach our kids in public school. And today, after 80 years of this, hardly any Americans even heard of Richard Somers. And it's not just about Richard Somers.

I just published a whole history book about how New Jersey got started. The book is called 1676 Project: How New Jersey Shaped America. At one time, almost every story in that book was taught to every American by the 8th grade.  And today hardly any of those stories are even mentioned in college, let alone public school.

We Americans pay a price for not knowing our history.  Right now, our New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill and the Democrats in the State Legislature are talking about forcing every taxpayer in New Jersey to pay an extra tax to pay for so-called reparations to the descendants of Blacks who were slaves more than 160 years ago.

You can't understand how outrageous and ridiculous this is if you don't know the history of New Jersey. That is because slavery was normal all over the world for 10,000 years. And it was Christians in America and in Britain who ended it. And the center of the movement to end slavery was right here in South Jersey.

So to force people in South Jersey to pay for something we worked and sacrificed so hard to get rid of is absolutely ludicrous!  However, nobody knows that because they don't know the history. It's not being taught in schools. They're teaching our kids a fake history instead. And that's why I keep talking about my book, 1676 Project. I hate to always be plugging my own book, but this is why it's so important.

3. Trump added $10 trillion to create America's $40 trillion national debt.

Above Image: Gamie Tumbling Tower Drinking Game. Each player tries to make the tower higher by removing a block from the bottom and placing it on top. At some point, the tower collapses.

SETH GROSSMAN: In your opening monologue, you were talking about President Trump. It is true that if you have been watching MSNOW, CNN or any of the broadcast networks, or reading the Philadelphia Inquirer or any of the Democrat media, you know that they are all claiming that President Trump and his family are getting rich from insider trading. That is all they talked about last week.

However, if you have been following conservatives and Republicans on social media, like X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, they have been talking about something else. - that's all they're talking about is, - you know, President Trump enriching himself from insider - trading. - And that's, you know, that's what they're focused on. But if you have been looking at -what leading conservative and Republican influencers have been posting on social media like X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube you will notice that they were talking about something else--the national debt.

Last week, the federal government announced that that it now owes $40 trillion on its credit card. That's 40,000 billion dollars. I talked about this a little bit last week. But this is an absolute, fundamental disaster. You cannot defend this. You cannot excuse this. You simply cannot protect America and our freedom against communists, socialists, Muslims, or anybody else when you screw up the economy this bad.

And we also cannot deny that President is responsible for this. Of that $40 trillion debt, $10 trillion, that is one fourth of it, came from President Trump's six years in office. And he still has two more years to go!

You can't blame Democrats for this, because President Trump could have stopped this.  He had Elon Musk and all of his cutting edge technology on board. And Elon Musk identified every specific area where billions of dollars was bing stolen and where billions of dollars were being wasted, or spent on stuff government has no business doing.

And what did Trump do? Trump sided with the swamp and got rid of Elon Musk. - So you can't blame the Democrats for that.

And really, you can't blame Congress for that. Let's look where all that federal money is going. You see it openly announced in the newspaper every single day. Yesterday, the Press of Atlantic City said federal funds are paying for new tennis courts in Atlantic City. Four million dollars of federal funds are fixing up the Boardwalk in Wildwood. Federal funds paid to pave Atlantic Avenue in Atlantic City, Margate and Longport, and West Avenue in Ocean City. Millions of dollars of federal funds are fixing up Lucy the Elephant in Margate.  Federal funds are paying to pump sand in front of million dollar homes in Ocean City and Strathmere. And of course. And of course, a half million dollars of federal funds gave 52 lucky families in Atlantic City $10,000 in so-called scholarships.

Now our Congressman is Jeff Van Drew. And I think he is the best Congressman we can have and he is doing an outstanding job in so many ways. But suppose he started voting against having the federal government spend all this money in the district. He's have about as much chance of winning the next election as me!

Everybody thinks that if the federal government spends money here, somebody else is paying for it. They forget that we had 535 elected  members of Congress. We have a President, 100 Senators, and 435 members of the House. And they all need campaign money and they all need votes.  And they all  have to buy the votes and money the need to get elected by having the federal government pay for all of this fraud, all of this waste, and all of these local and private things that the federal government has no business doing.

There's only one person who can possibly put an end to this.  And that's the President. Trump is the only person who can bring sanity back to federal spending. But the President is doing nothing. He isn't even saying anything about it. Even worse, he is supporting awful candidates for Congress who are behind this reckless spending, and he is going out of his way to defeat good, principled, responsible members of Congress who are trying to get this spending under control 

He got Tom Massie defeated in Kentucky and Bob Good in Virginia. And he is supported awful candidates like Byron Donalds in Florida, and Lindsey Graham's sister in South Carolina, and he did everything he could to defeat good conservative.  Almost all of Trump's endorsements are for swamp critters who are have been corrupting and bankrupting this country for years.

The best I can say is what that great Republican President, Warren Harding, said more than a hundred years ago:  "My enemies, I can lick my enemies any day of the week. But my friends,...

Economic Pressures and Governance

Cost of Living and Immigration: Brian argues that the rising cost of living—affecting housing, healthcare, and insurance—is fundamentally driven by excess demand fueled by illegal immigration, pushing younger generations toward socialism out of frustration with market conditions.

Domestic Policy Critiques: Democratic social programs, particularly the Affordable Care Act, are criticized as costly failures, while Trump administration enforcement actions (such as ICE operations) are defended as necessary legal enforcement.

Cultural and Political Polarization

Partisan Tribalism: Both speakers lament "team-based" political mindsets that overlook radicalism, poor policy, or moral failings in favor of political power.

Social and Legal Debates: The discussion touches on public glorification of criminals (referencing Luigi Mangione), criticisms of late-term abortion legislation in states like Massachusetts, and progressive social agendas in state leadership.

Transgender Policies in Sports: Anne and Brian strongly oppose transgender women competing in biological women’s sports, citing the WNBA, fairness in athletic scholarships, and biological definitions of sex, while characterizing youth gender transitions as a failure of parental duty.

Foreign Policy and Global Security

Iran and the Strait of Hormuz: The blockade and disruption of shipping lanes by Iran and allied groups are highlighted as major threats to global energy supplies and domestic fuel prices. Brian suggests former President Trump would prioritize decisive national security deterrence over political fallout, drawing analogies to historic military ultimatums.

Allied Defense and NATO: Frustration is voiced over allied dependency on U.S. defense, reiterating calls for NATO members to meet their required 2% GDP defense spending thresholds.

Defense Technology and Ukraine: Ukraine is characterized as an active proving ground for modern military technology, particularly unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and adapted weapons systems, which global allies in the Pacific (such as Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea) are closely monitoring.

Summary: Seth Grossman from Liberty and Prosperity. WPG Radio  August 15, 2026.

We should not be the only folks in South Jersey to hold an event to remember Richard Somers.

Above Image: Statue and Park Dedicated to Richard Somers. We invite you to join us as we tell his story at 10am on September 4, the day he died in Tripoli in 1804. The park is located next to the library at 801 Shore Road (at New Jersey Avenue), in Somers Point.

To the best of my knowledge, we are the only organization in South Jersey that will remember Richard Somers on September 4, the day he was killed in Tripoli in 1804.  We are holding an event by the Richard Somers Park in Somers Point at 10 am on Friday, September 4-- the Friday before Labor Day weekend. We invite you to join us.

Richard Somers died in a war against the same people we are now fighting in Iran. They are the same people who murdered 3,000 Americans in New York City and in Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001. The same enemy that captured and took more - than a million white Christians - as slaves from Europe and made them slaves - in Africa - for more than a thousand years. And the - same people who captured more than 5 million Black Africans as slaves throughout the Arab world.  

Many organizations will remember September 11.  However, nobody else is holding an event to remember when Americans fought back and defeated those people. Not the Atlantic County Historical Society. Not the Somers Point Historical Society. Not the Ocean City or Cape May County historical societies. Not a single town, not a single library.

Book Promotion: By the way, the back story of the vicious attacks by Muslim Arabs and Turks against Christians in Europe and Blacks in Africa is described in my book, 1676 Project, how New Jersey shaped America.

 

Why don't we talk about "moderate" Muslims?

First, there is several fundamental differences between Islam and other world religions.  Judaism and Christianity are both based on the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would want others to do to you." Buddhists and Hindus have similar values.  Islam does not.  Non-believers, no matter how good, and loving, and fair, have no place is Islam.

Because of this, if a Muslim jihadi attacks, murders, rapes or commits any other barbaric crime against a non-Muslim in the name of Islam, you will not find any Islamic religious or community leader openly denounce the attack and claim that that the attacker was a disgrace to Islam.  On the contrary, most leaders will insist on a proper Islamic burial for the perpetrator.

It is the total opposite for Jews and Christians. In 1994, one Jew went crazy and murdered 29 Arabs who were praying in Hebron.  Every Jewish religious and political openly denounced what he did. They would not let his body be buried in a Jewish cemetery.   In 2009, someone shot and killed an abortion doctor.  Every Christian and pro-life leader openly denounced that murderer.

Maybe we would look at so-called moderate Muslims differently if they openly and publicly denounced every Muslim who attacks and kills non-Muslims in the name of Islam. But they never, never do. They instead come up with some excuse to blame the victim.  You simply cannot live in a normal society where someone you think is a peaceful neighbor can attack you out of the blue like that. You also can't have a normal democracy where every member of one religion will automatically vote only for members of that religion and against anyone who is not a believer of that religion.

Click here for link to article with details:  What About So-called ‘Moderate Muslims’? - CultureWatch

 10 ounce Wawa coffee from $1.87 to $2.98 in four weeks!

Rising Living Costs: The 20-ounce cup of coffee I just bought at Wawa is now $2.79 plus the 19-cent sales tax for a total of $2.98.  It was $1.75 plus a 12 cent tax, or $1.87 just a few weeks ago.  So Wawa is charging me 60% more.  And the state government gave me a big 60% tax increase by basing its tax on the higher price for the same 10-ounce cup of coffee.  And of course, prices are up for everything else.  Groceries, restaurants, houses, rent, college tuition and doctor bills.

This is a big deal and everybody is talking about inflation.  However, very few people are talking about what is causing it, and how to stop it.

 Higher gas prices from the war in Iran. I'm sure others besides will have a lot to say about this.  Probably the biggest problem is that a good leader doesn't start a war without first explaining to people the price that must be paid to win that war. Of course, higher gas prices cause higher prices for everything else. Gas is needed for fertilizer to grow the coffee beans, roast the beans, ship them to America and then bring them to Wawa.  And higher gas prices raise the cost of everything else we buy.

Higher prices for "green" electricity. Governor Murphy and the Democrats shut down six power plants. We're not going to have lower prices until we rebuild, replace, or reopen them.

Federal Borrowing and Spending  The Federal government spent $1.8 trillion dollars more than it took in during the past twelve months. That's one thousand eight hundred billion dollars!  Trump Republicans together with Biden Democrats increased the national debt from $19 trillion in 2016 to $40 trillion today. This is simply not sustainable.  Every dollar the federal government spends more than it takes in is a dollar that the federal government prints out of thin air. It makes every dollar we have and every dollar we earn less valuable.  A lot of the inflation we have is nothing more than our dollars being worth a lot less.

Higher Property Taxes caused by public schools and local government costing too much.

Bad Zoning Laws make it too expensive to build anything. They also smother competititon.

The people who created New Jersey in 1676 knew how to fix this.  Why can't we learn from them?

EDITED TRANSCRIPT OF AUGUST 15, 2026 SETH GROSSMAN RADIO INTERVIEW ON WPG RADIO WITH JOHN DEMASI:

 

Why are we the only ones who remember Richard Somers on September 4?

On September 4, the Friday before Labor Day Weekend, we will remember Richard Somers. He is the national hero from Somers Point. September 4 is the day he was killed in Tripoli, in North Africa. He was fighting the same war against the same people we are now fighting in Iran.

The Richard Somers story is remarkable in many ways. It was once well known by every American with an eighth grade - education.  Yet today, hardly anyone knows that story except. Hardly anybody else knows that story. Many who do know don't seem to care. We have an Atlantic County Historical Society. - They have nothing planned. We have an Ocean City Historical Society, Egg Harbor Township Historical Society. - We have libraries in Atlanta County, Cape May - County, Ocean City, - Stockton University. - Not one major local institution - has any event to remember this remarkable local hero. He is probably the only true national hero who came from this area.

I don't know of any businesses doing Richard Somers promotions. No Richard Somers hats or T-shirts. No community events.  Nothing done by the city of Somers Point, Ocean City, Atlantic City or anyone else. In most tourist attractions, businesses and communities give more recognition to their local pirates, outlaws and scoundrels than we give to Richard Somers.

Why are we, Liberty and Prosperity, a tiny breakfast discussion group of aging Boomers during this.  We all know why. To remember Richard Somers is to talk about why he fought and died in Tripoli 222 years ago. We have to remember that he was fighting the same enemy that is shouting "Death to America" in Iran.  hE FOUGHT the same enemy who murdered 3,000 Americans in New York and the Pentagon and in those airplanes on 09/11/2001, - The same enemy that captured and took more - than a million white Christians - as slaves from Europe and made them slaves in Africa for more than a thousand years. And the same people who captured more than 5,000,000 blacks - from Africa - and sold them as slaves throughout the entire Arab world. 

 And by the way, that entire backstory - of the Richard Summer story is described in - detail in my book, the 1676 - project. - And you could get that from us at - Liberty and Prosperity for $20 or at several - local stores.  You could buy it on Amazon for $25 - and you could buy it on Kindle for - $10, - through Amazon.

Why don't we recognize "moderate" Muslims?

You were troubled when you talked about that conservative Muslim listener who reach out to you. He asked why we don't talk about the great majority of Muslims in America who are not violent.  I think there's a very simple reason why. 

Because every barbaric act of violence that we've been dealing with was done by Muslims who claimed they were doing what their religion instructed them to do.  When a Pakistani murders an American in New York, it is not about any conflict between America and Pakistan. When a Tunisian uses a truck to murder nearly a hundred people on a promenade in a seaside resort in France, it was not about any conflict between Tunisia in France.

And what do other Muslims do and say when someone commits such horrible acts in the name of their religion?

We know what Jews and Christians do.  Back in 1994, a Jew in Israel went crazy and murdered 29 Muslims when they were praying in Hebron.  He was openly denounced by every Jewish religious and political leader in Israel and America and all over the world. They would not even let him be buried in  Jewish cemetery.

When someone murdered an abortion doctor in Kansas, he was publicly denounced and repudiated by every Catholic leader, every pro-life leader, every Christian leader in America.  And because of that,...

Talking with Anne Baker 8.7.26

Talking with Anne Baker.