Midrats

I still believe that The War Between the States is a more accurate term - but to keep with the last vestiges of Northern cultural imperialism - we'll call it the Civil War.

The war started 150 years ago last week.  Though mostly a land war - the war at sea was critical in keeping the agriculturally based South from getting the money and material it needed to fight the North.  The war also saw innovation and concepts that echoed in every naval war since - and teaches the lessons of innovation.

This Sunday's show will focus on that part - the role of both the United States and Confederate States Navy in this great conflict.  Our guest for the first hour is author, lecturer, and Civil War expert William Connery.  For the second half of the show we will have Matthew Eng, an Educator, Hampton Roads Naval Museum.

For anyone interested in history, politics, or national security - there are two books that should be on your short list for 2011.  Both authors will be on Midrats this Sunday.

Join Sal from "CDR Salamander" and EagleOne from "EagleSpeak" with their guests; former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to discuss his book Known & Unknown: A Memoir for the first half hour, and then author Bing West to discuss his latest book, The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan.

When you send your elected representative to Washington DC, you are not just sending one person. For each Congressman and Senator - there is a cadre of staffers that makes it happen.

Bills do not sprout out of the heads of politicians - no - they are carefully crafted, often over years, by the people you see in the background on C-Span. Politicians cannot and do not read source documentation all that much, they are too busy - others do that for them and give them the Executive Summary.

Who are these people, how do they work, and how what role do they play in keeping the machinery of government and policy moving?

Our guest for the full hour to discuss this, the influence of milblogging upon legislation, how HR 5729 was written partially because of blogger activism, the think tank community and the relationship between the Executive Branch and the Hill and how that prevents some great ideas becoming law. And how the 501(c)(3) status's ban on non-profit's lobbying activities hurts national security decision-making - and more will be Michael Clauser.

Mike is an Adjunct Fellow at the National Strategy Information Center. He served as the National Security Legislative Assistant to a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the previous Congress. He was recently identified as a "Next Generation National Security Leader" by the Center for a New American Security and as a "Nuclear Scholar" by the Project on Nuclear Issues at CSIS. Prior to working on the Hill, Mike served in the Presidential Administration of George W. Bush in the Pentagon in both OSD and on SecNav staff. He holds masters degrees from the University of Exeter in England and the Poznan University of Economics in Poland and is a graduate candidate at the U.S. Naval War College. He did his bachelors in philosophy and religion at Penn State and is a native of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The global strategic environment is at a pivot as the Arab world is in flux, the Western welfare states is staggering, and the world's economic center of gravity is shifting East.

What ideas and concepts do we need behind, which new ones do we need to embrace - and what are the implications of what we are seeing now?

Join Sal from "CDR Salamander" and EagleOne from "EagleSpeak" as they examine the Big Pixels for the full hour with their guest, Thomas G. Mahnken, currently Jerome E. Levy Chair of Economic Geography and National Security at the U.S. Naval War College, and a Visiting Scholar at the Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies at The Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

In the small world of the Navy blogosphere, when you think of Japan, one name should immediately come to mind; Skippy-san of the blog FarEastCynic. Though most know Skippy by his "interesting" perspective on some of the "interesting" parts of life - what he also has is a good feel for the Japanese. Join EagleOne and Sal as they tap into the serious side of the Navy blogosphere's famously infamous Skippy-san to talk about the very Japenese reaction to their earthquake-tsunami-nuclear meltdown national nightmare, and how the Navy and its relationship with the Japanese people is working through this challenge.

Staying in the 13XX side of the Navy, but with a slight pivot, for the second half of the hour we will be remembering the funnier side of Naval Aviation with Bob Taylor’s to talk about his new book, "Getting Our Wings — Tales from Naval Aviation Flight School," that looks at flight training in much the same way as his previous book did with Marine Corps boot camp with "A Few Good Memories."

The military's response to the Japanese earthquake, turmoil in the Arab world, gas prices spiking, China's military coming out of the shadows, and START treaties are bouncing around.

Could there be a better time for a full hour with one of our regular guest, Mackenzie Eaglen., Research Fellow for National Security Studies, Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies at The Heritage Foundation? I don't think so. Remember to adjust for daylight savings time and join us this Sunday!

As piracy continues to be in the news and by popular demand - todays Episode of Midrats will be a best of. We're going to replay the 30JAN11 episode with Captain Alexander Martin, USMC - the leader of the team that took back The Magellan Star.

Join Navy milbloggers Sal from "CDR Salamander" and EagleOne from "Eagle Speak" as they discuss the tactical and operational steps mariners can take to defend themselves and their ships from pirates - and if their ship is taken - what they can do to best enable coalition forces to re-take the ship.

Our guest will Kevin Doherty, former Marine and owner of Nexus Consulting Group of Alexandria (http://www.ncga.us/Maritime.htm).

Join Sal from the blog "CDR Salamander" and EagleOne from "Eaglespeak" as they touch both ends of the national security reality, from the person to the policy.

Our first guest will be Major Chuck Ziegenfuss, USA for the first half of the hour where we will focus on the work Soldiers' Angels/Valour IT does to keep wounded warriors in touch and wired-in while they recover. For the second half of the hour, we will pivot with our second guest, Seth Cropsey, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute to review the future of American sea power.

Join milbloggers Sal from "CDR Salamander" and Eagle One from "EagleSpeak" this Sunday with their guest, Dr. Dmitry Gorenburg, Senior Analyst at CNA and an Associate at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies.

You can follow his lastest thoughts on Russian Military Reform at his blog at:

(http://russiamil.wordpress.com)

For the full hour we will look at where Russia stands in the 21st Century and how its domestic politics, demographics, the rise of China, and the evolution of its relationships in its near abroad will challenge this important nation.