Freedom Under Fire | The Rutherford Institute
156 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 32 ratingsFreedom Under Fire with John Whitehead™, available free of charge, provides listeners and radio stations alike with insightful, relevant and provocative commentary on popular culture and constitutional issues.
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Episodes
COVID-19 Tested Our Commitment to Freedom. Four Years Later, We’re Still Failing
March 14, 2024 17:04 - 9 minutes - 13 MBCOVID-19 was a test to see how little resistance the citizenry would offer up to the government’s power grabs when made in the name of national security. “We the people” failed that test spectacularly. Four years later, we're still failing.
We’ve Already Got a Dictator-in-Chief: How Absolute Power Corrupted the President
February 28, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutes - 11 MBAny presidential candidate who promises to be a dictator on day one, if elected, will be a dictator-in-chief for life. Then again, the president is already a dictator with permanent powers: imperial, unaccountable and unconstitutional.
2024 Is the New 1984: Big Brother and the Rise of the Security Industrial Complex
February 21, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutes - 11.5 MBForty years past the time that George Orwell envisioned the stomping boot of Big Brother, the police state is about to pass off the baton to the surveillance state. 1984 has become an operation manual for the omnipresent, modern-day surveillance state.
Who Pays the Price for Botched SWAT Team Raids? We Do
February 14, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutes - 11.2 MBSWAT team raids have become a thinly veiled, court-sanctioned means of giving heavily armed police the green light to crash through doors in the middle of the night.
The White House's Secret Surveillance Program Breaks All the Laws
February 07, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutes - 11.2 MBThe government wants us to believe that we have nothing to fear from its mass spying programs as long as we’ve done nothing wrong. Don’t believe it.
Watchlisted: You’re Probably Already on a Government Extremism List
January 31, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutes - 11.6 MBAccording to the FBI, you may be an anti-government extremist if you’ve purchased a Bible or other religious materials; used terms like “MAGA” and “Trump”; shopped at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Cabela’s, or Bass Pro Shops; or purchased tickets to travel by bus, cars, or plane.
Digital Kill Switches: How Tyrannical Governments Stifle Political Dissent
January 24, 2024 12:00 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBCommunications kill switches have become tyrannical tools of domination and oppression to stifle political dissent, shut down resistance, forestall election losses, reinforce military coups, and keep the populace isolated, disconnected and in the dark, literally and figuratively.
Criminality in the White House: The Rise of the Political Psychopath
January 21, 2024 14:57 - 8 minutes - 12.1 MBThere is no difference between psychopaths and politicians. Political psychopaths eventually create pathocracies: totalitarian societies bent on power, control, and destruction of both freedom in general and those who exercise their freedoms.
Apocalypse Now: The Government’s Use of Controlled Chaos to Maintain Power
January 11, 2024 22:07 - 8 minutes - 12.1 MBWill 2024 be the year the Deep State’s exercise in controlled chaos finally gives way to an apocalyptic dismantling of our constitutional republic, or what’s left of it? All the signs seem to point in this direction.
We the Exploited: The U.S. Government Buys and Sells Its Citizens for Profit and Power
December 02, 2023 14:51 - 8 minutes - 11.5 MBAmericans have become easy prey for hackers, scammers, snitches, spies, and con artists … and the U.S. government.
Circle the Wagons: The Government Is On the Warpath
July 13, 2023 20:26 - 7 minutes - 11 MBWithout our say-so and lacking any mandate, the point of view of the Constitution has been shifted from “we the people” to “we the government.” Our taxpayer-funded employees—our appointed servants—have stopped looking upon us as their superiors and started viewing as their inferiors.
First, They Spied on Protesters. Then Churches. You’re Next
May 17, 2023 16:09 - 8 minutes - 12 MBDragnet geofence surveillance sweeps can and eventually will be used to target as a suspect every person in any given place at any given time and sweep them up into a never-ending virtual line-up in the hopes of matching a criminal to every crime.
A Nanny State Idiocracy: When the Government Thinks It Knows Best
March 29, 2023 12:00 - 8 minutes - 11.6 MBThis overbearing Nanny State despotism is what happens when government representatives adopt the authoritarian notion that the government knows best and therefore must control, regulate and dictate almost everything about the citizenry’s public, private and professional lives.
Don’t Bow Down to a Dictatorial Government. America Is a Prison Disguised as Paradise
March 22, 2023 12:00 - 8 minutes - 11.9 MBWe’re approaching a time in which we will be forced to choose between bowing down in obedience to the dictates of the government—i.e., the law, or whatever a government official deems the law to be—and maintaining our individuality, integrity and independence.
Raging Bulls in Blue: The Deadly Toll of Warrior Policing on Steroids
March 16, 2023 18:09 - 8 minutes - 11.9 MBWhile much has been said about the dangers of police militarization, a warrior mindset that has police viewing the rest of the citizenry as enemy combatants, and law enforcement training that teaches cops to shoot first and ask questions later, little attention has been paid to the role that “roid rage,” triggered by anabolic steroid use and abuse by police, may contribute to the mounting numbers of cases involving police brutality.
Dictators Bent on Building Military Empires: The Cost of the Nation’s Endless Wars
March 01, 2023 13:00 - 9 minutes - 12.7 MBThe United States has spent much of the past half-century policing the globe, occupying other countries, and waging endless wars. What most Americans fail to recognize is that these ongoing wars have little to do with keeping the country safe and everything to do with propping up a military industrial complex that has its sights set on world domination.
Distract, Divide and Conquer: The Painful Truth About the State of Our Union
February 23, 2023 15:03 - 8 minutes - 11.5 MBStep away from the blinders that partisan politics uses to distract, divide and conquer, and you will find that we are drowning in a cesspool of problems that individually and collectively threaten our lives, liberties, prosperity and happiness. These are not problems the politicians want to talk about, let alone address, yet we cannot afford to ignore them much longer.
Child Trafficking Has Become Big Business in America
February 09, 2023 21:41 - 8 minutes - 11 MBEvery two minutes, a child is bought and sold for sex. Hundreds of young girls and boys—some as young as 9 years old—are being bought and sold for sex, as many as 20 times per day. It is estimated that at least 100,000 to 500,000 children—girls and boys—are bought and sold for sex in the U.S. every year, with as many as 300,000 children in danger of being trafficked each year.
Don’t Trust the Government with Your Privacy, Property or Your Freedoms
January 27, 2023 20:10 - 8 minutes - 11.4 MB“We the people” should have learned early on that a government that repeatedly lies, cheats, steals, spies, kills, maims, enslaves, breaks the laws, overreaches its authority, and abuses its power at almost every turn can’t be trusted.
360 Degree Surveillance: How Police Use Public-Private Partnerships to Spy on Americans
January 20, 2023 18:39 - 9 minutes - 13.3 MBIn this age of ubiquitous surveillance, there are no private lives: everything is public. With every new surveillance device we welcome into our lives, the government gains yet another toehold into our private worlds. Indeed, empowered by advances in surveillance technology and emboldened by rapidly expanding public-private partnerships between law enforcement, the Intelligence Community, and the private sector, police have become particularly adept at sidestepping the Fourth Amendment.
The Constitution Has Already Been Terminated
December 21, 2022 14:00 - 8 minutes - 11 MBFor anyone to advocate terminating or suspending the Constitution is tantamount to a declaration of war against the founding principles of our representative government and the rule of law. Then again, the Constitution has been on life support for years.
Make Way for the Killer Robots: The Government Is Expanding Its Power to Kill
December 14, 2022 14:00 - 8 minutes - 12 MBPolice now have the power to kill with immunity using remote-controlled robots. It’s only a matter of time before these killer robots become as common as SWAT teams.
Cancel Culture’s War on History, Heritage and the Freedom to Think for Yourself
December 08, 2022 18:46 - 8 minutes - 11.9 MBThere will come a time in the not-so-distant future when the very act of thinking for ourselves is not just outlawed but unthinkable. Where this leads is the stuff of dystopian nightmares: societies that value conformity and group-think over individuality; a populace so adept at self-censorship and compliance that they are capable only of obeying the government’s dictates without the ability to parse out whether those dictates should be obeyed; and a language limited to government-speak.
Techno-Authoritarianism Is Here to Stay: China and the Deep State Have Joined Forces
November 27, 2022 20:23 - 8 minutes - 12.3 MBThe future of this nation is being forged beyond the reach of our laws, elections and borders by techno-authoritarian powers with no regard for individuality, privacy or freedom.
America’s Death Squads: When Police Become Judge, Jury and Executioner
October 19, 2022 13:00 - 8 minutes - 11.1 MBWarrior cops, hyped up on their own authority and the power of the badge—who feel empowered to act as judge, jury and executioner—have not made America any safer or freer. These death squads believe they can kill, shoot, taser, abuse and steal from American citizens in the so-called name of law and order.
All of Us Are in Danger: When Anti-Government Speech Becomes Sedition
October 12, 2022 13:00 - 8 minutes - 12.3 MBAnti-government speech has become a four-letter word. In more and more cases, the government is declaring war on what should be protected political speech whenever it challenges the government’s power, reveals the government’s corruption, exposes the government’s lies, and encourages the citizenry to push back against the government’s many injustices. The ramifications are so far-reaching as to render almost every American an extremist in word, deed, thought or by association.
Federal Bureau of Intimidation: The Government’s War on Political Freedom
October 05, 2022 13:30 - 9 minutes - 13.2 MBDiscredit, disrupt, and destroy. That is how the government plans to get rid of activists and dissidents who stand in its way. This has always been the modus operandi of the FBI (more aptly referred to as the Federal Bureau of Intimidation): muzzle anti-government sentiment, harass activists, and terrorize Americans into compliance.
Masters of Deceit: The Government’s Propaganda of Fear, Mind Control & Brain Warfare
September 29, 2022 14:32 - 9 minutes - 12.9 MBThe U.S. government has become a master of deceit. Indeed, with every passing day, it becomes painfully clear that this is not a government that can be trusted with your life, your loved ones, your livelihood or your freedoms.
Weaponizing the Bureaucracy: Who Will Protect Us from the Government’s Standing Army?
August 26, 2022 16:16 - 9 minutes - 12.9 MBWe have what the founders feared most: a “standing” or permanent army on American soil. This de facto standing army is made up of weaponized, militarized, civilian forces which look like, dress like, and act like the military; are armed with guns, ammunition and military-style equipment; are authorized to make arrests; and are trained in military tactics. Mind you, this de facto standing army of bureaucratic, administrative, non-military, paper-pushing, non-traditional law enforcement agencie...
Digital Authoritarianism: AI Surveillance Signals the Death of Privacy
July 21, 2022 18:18 - 8 minutes - 12 MBGovernments and corporations alike have heedlessly adopted AI surveillance technologies without any care or concern for their long-term impact on the rights of the citizenry. Indeed, with every new AI surveillance technology that is adopted and deployed without any regard for privacy, Fourth Amendment rights and due process, the rights of the citizenry are being marginalized, undermined and eviscerated. Cue the rise of digital authoritarianism.
Dismantling the Constitution: Police No Longer Have to Honor the Right to Remain Silent
July 13, 2022 18:26 - 8 minutes - 11 MBWe are witnessing the gradual dismantling of every constitutional principle that serves as a bulwark against government tyranny, overreach and abuse. As usual, the latest assault comes from the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rogue Cops: The Supreme Court Is Turning America Into a Constitution-Free Zone
July 06, 2022 15:28 - 8 minutes - 11.7 MBThe Supreme Court has spoken: there will be no consequences for cops who brutalize the citizenry and no justice for the victims of police brutality. Although the Court’s 2021-22 rulings on qualified immunity for police who engage in official misconduct were largely overshadowed by its politically polarizing rulings on abortion, gun ownership and religion, they were no less devastating.
Everything Is a Weapon: The U.S. Government Is Waging Psychological Warfare on the Nation
June 08, 2022 22:15 - 9 minutes - 12.4 MBFor years now, the U.S. government has been bombarding the citizenry with propaganda campaigns and psychological operations aimed at keeping us compliant, easily controlled and supportive of the police state’s various efforts abroad and domestically.
America, Meet Your New Dictator-in-Chief: The President’s Secret, Unchecked Powers
June 05, 2022 18:03 - 8 minutes - 12.2 MBSecret, unchecked presidential powers—acquired through the use of executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements and which can be activated by any sitting president—enable past, president and future presidents to operate above the law and beyond the reach of the Constitution.
Mass Shootings: The Vicious Cycle Fueled By America’s Toxic Cult of Violence
May 26, 2022 17:42 - 8 minutes - 12 MBWith alarming regularity, the nation is being subjected to a heartbreaking spate of violence that terrorizes the populace, fractures communities, and gives the government greater justifications to crack down, lock down, and institute even more authoritarian policies for the so-called sake of national security without many objections from the citizenry.
Get Ready to Be Muzzled: The Coming War on So-Called Hate Speech
May 20, 2022 16:45 - 8 minutes - 12.2 MBBeware of those who want to monitor, muzzle, catalogue and censor speech. Especially be on your guard when the reasons given for limiting your freedoms end up expanding the government’s powers. After all, it’s a slippery slope from censoring so-called illegitimate ideas to silencing truth.
Flagged as a Threat: Predictive AI Technology Puts a Target on Your Back
May 12, 2022 14:57 - 8 minutes - 11.3 MBYou’ve been flagged as a threat. Before long, every household in America will be similarly flagged and assigned a threat score. It’s just a matter of time before you find yourself wrongly accused, investigated and confronted by police based on a data-driven algorithm or risk assessment culled together by a computer program run by artificial intelligence.
When the Government Plays God: The Slippery Slope from Abortions to Executions
May 06, 2022 14:35 - 8 minutes - 11.7 MBIn the 30 years since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, the government has come to believe that it not only has the power to determine who is deserving of constitutional rights in the eyes of the law but it also has the authority to deny those rights to an American citizen.
The Illusion of Freedom: We’re Only as Free as the Government Allows
April 28, 2022 14:15 - 8 minutes - 11.2 MBWe’re in a national state of denial. For years now, the government has been playing a cat-and-mouse game with the American people, letting us enjoy just enough freedom to think we are free but not enough to actually allow us to live as a free people.
Jackboots Policing: No-Knock Raids Rip a Hole in the Fourth Amendment
April 20, 2022 15:15 - 9 minutes - 13 MBBrace yourself: No-knock, no-announce SWAT team raids are what passes for court-sanctioned policing in America today, and they could happen to any one of us.
Humilitainment: How to Control the Citizenry Through Reality TV Distractions
March 29, 2022 16:30 - 9 minutes - 12.4 MBMuch like the fabricated universe in Peter Weir’s 1998 film The Truman Show, in which a man’s life is the basis for an elaborately staged television show aimed at selling products and procuring ratings, the political scene in the United States has devolved over the years into a carefully calibrated exercise in how to manipulate, polarize, propagandize and control a population.
Dystopia Disguised as Democracy
March 23, 2022 13:00 - 9 minutes - 12.6 MBWith every new law enacted by federal and state legislatures, every new ruling handed down by government courts, and every new military weapon, invasive tactic and egregious protocol employed by government agents, “we the people” are being reminded that we possess no rights except for that which the government grants on an as-needed basis. We can no longer maintain the illusion of freedom. “We the people” have become “we the prisoners.”
The Government’s Kill Switch for Your Car, Your Freedoms and Your Life
March 16, 2022 13:00 - 9 minutes - 12.9 MBVehicle "kill switches” may be sold to the public as a safety measure aimed at keeping drunk drivers off the roads, but they will quickly become a convenient tool in the hands of government agents to put the government in the driver’s seat while rendering null and void the Constitution’s requirements of privacy and its prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The Rise of Global Fascism and the End of the World as We Know It
March 09, 2022 16:17 - 8 minutes - 12.2 MBThis may well be the end of the world as we know it. However, this particular apocalypse is the fallout from a silent coup that has given the Corporate State a taste for punitive power and an understanding of the ease with which it can use that power to manipulate, control and direct the world governments. For good or bad, it will change the way we navigate the world, redrawing the boundaries of our world (and our freedoms) and altering the playing field faster than we can keep up.
The State of Our Nation: Things Are Getting Worse, Not Better
March 04, 2022 19:05 - 9 minutes - 12.7 MBThese are dangerous times for America and the world. Yet while we may have heard plenty about the dangers posed by Russia and COVID-19 in President Biden’s State of the Union address, it’s still the U.S. government that poses the gravest threat to our freedoms and way of life.
Perpetual Tyranny: Endless Wars Are the Enemy of Freedom
February 25, 2022 18:41 - 9 minutes - 12.7 MBTwo years after COVID-19 shifted the world into a state of global authoritarianism, just as the people’s tolerance for heavy-handed mandates seems to have finally worn thin, we are being prepped for the next distraction and the next drain on our economy.
Totalitarian Paranoia Run Amok: Pandemics, Lockdowns & Martial Law
January 28, 2022 16:23 - 8 minutes - 11.5 MBThis is psychological warfare at its most sophisticated. As constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead points out in this week's podcast, almost every national security threat that the government has claimed greater powers in order to fight—all the while undermining the liberties of the American citizenry—has been manufactured in one way or another by the government.
The Age of Intolerance: Cancel Culture’s War on Free Speech
January 13, 2022 17:59 - 8 minutes - 11.8 MBCancel culture—political correctness amped up on steroids, the self-righteousness of a narcissistic age, and a mass-marketed pseudo-morality that is little more than fascism disguised as tolerance—has shifted us into an Age of Intolerance, policed by techno-censors, social media bullies, and government watchdogs. Everything is now fair game for censorship if it can be construed as hateful, hurtful, bigoted or offensive provided that it runs counter to the established viewpoint.
The Right to Bodily Integrity: Nobody Wins and We All Lose in the COVID-19 Showdown
January 05, 2022 13:00 - 9 minutes - 12.6 MBConcerns about COVID-19 mandates and bodily integrity are part of a much larger debate over the ongoing power struggle between the citizenry and the government over our property “interest” in our bodies.
The Police State’s Reign of Terror Continues ... With Help from the Supreme Court
December 29, 2021 13:00 - 8 minutes - 11.2 MBYou think you’ve got rights? Think again. All of those freedoms we cherish—the ones enshrined in the Constitution, the ones that affirm our right to free speech and assembly, due process, privacy, bodily integrity, the right to not have police seize our property without a warrant, or search and detain us without probable cause—amount to nothing when the government and its agents are allowed to disregard those prohibitions on government overreach at will.