Rick Green [00:00:07] Welcome to the intersection of faith and culture. Is the Wallbuilders show taking on the hot topics of the day from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective that includes things happening in Washington, D.C. right now. It includes entertainment. It includes your local governments, all of those areas we look at from a biblical, historical and constitutional perspective. And later in the program, Colonel Allen West is going to be with us to talk about some of the military issues and specifically President Trump's firing of some of these generals. And is that somehow wrong or unconstitutional or whatever? We're going to get Colonel West perspective on that. Right now. I'm green here with David Barton and Tim Barton. And guys, the hits keep coming, the winds keep coming. And we've talked for quite some time. And of course, you know people know the military got so bad people wouldn't even sign up. The recruiting was way down. So cleaning house is probably something needs to be done in order to improve the military. 

Tim Barton [00:00:59] Well, there's no doubt it does. And let me point out that as relevant as this topic is, the reason this is relevant right now is because the Epstein file release was a flop. And that's going to be the big story when it comes. It's crazy. We are living at a time when there are so many massive stories, and trying to pick one or 2 or 3 to cover on each episode is a major challenge. But to your point, the fact that we're having to cover these from the winning perspective like, look what's happening here and here and here. And when this Epstein list is released, certainly so much talk about and and again, so many things that have happened over the last several days we get into. But certainly one of the many things we are seeing the left throw a fit about, throw their tantrums about it. And by the way, not the least of which with Zelensky Oval Office sweatsuit, JD Vance doing the marine knife hand play, you know, kind of putting him in his place. I mean so many things, but certainly the the generals being removed and people calling out President Trump. We have seen so much the basic misunderstanding of civics coming from so many leftists, liberal elitists who are talking about how unconstitutional what President Trump is doing or this threat to democracy, etc., etc. not understanding what a second you understand these higher level star generals, they only serve at the pleasure of the president, meaning their political appointments. And if you are there as a political appointment, then then you have a political job, which means that you can be removed because you're not on necessity to the actual lethality, fighting force operation of the military. If you're not carrying out the agenda of that commander in chief. But certainly most people don't understand basic civics, haven't read the Constitution. They don't understand the operation. Even know what President Trump is doing has led to a increase, these incredible highs of recruitment, where young men and women are wanting to sign up to be part of the military under a president that actually loves America, that will respect and protect the troops. It's such a clear picture between President Trump and previous administrations. With what's going on. 

David Barton [00:03:18] And, you know, the other really good thing about Colonel West is not only his military background, but he is now the county chairman for Dallas County. And we need people like that who understands strategy and tactics and all the strategic thing that George W Bush talked about helping with those big blue cities. And in Texas, where a red state with a really good list of big blue cities where there's Houston and Dallas and Austin and El Paso and San Antonio. So having Colonel West there to also help help keep the progressives from taking over our cities in Texas is also really good news as well. 

Rick Green [00:03:52] Colonel Allen West, our special guest. We'll be right back. You're listening to the Wallbuilders show. 

Rick Green [00:05:02] Welcome back to the intersection of faith and culture. Wallbuilders. Colonel Allen West, the man, the myth, the legend with us. Hey, good to see you, man. How you been? 

Colonel Allen West [00:05:10] I'm doing well. No complaints whatsoever. It's hard to believe that February is over and we're in to March already. 

Rick Green [00:05:16] I think we're both just, you know, it's just win adter win after win. So the time's flying by because we're just trying to keep up with all the good stuff that's happening, man, you and I've been dreaming of some of the things that are happening right now for many years. And yeah, you know, you're you're an optimist, like I am. But I gotta tell you, brother, I didn't know. Deep down I doubted whether we would get a lot of the victories that we're getting right now. So it is pretty remarkable what's happening. 

Colonel Allen West [00:05:39] It is. And it's a great thing to see constitutional governance being restored. And I think that's why the progressive socialists are in such an apoplectic meltdown. And all the things that have been revealed about the fraud, waste and abuse, I mean, we have known that, but now is right here before us and you can't justify it. You can't. Yeah. I don't understand why people are upset about it other than the fact that they're embarrassed because with the system of checks and balances, Congress should have been conducting oversight over all of this, and they weren't. 

Rick Green [00:06:07] Oh, that's a great point, I thought. You know, to ask you about that is, as a former member of Congress, you know, these guys, you know, you when you're trying to get them to look into all these things and they're always like all that where that's okay, they get this taken care of or it's all happening behind the scenes. You know, right now, those guys that have been there for 40 years, you know, they knew a lot of this stuff had to be going on. Or like you said, totally dereliction of duty, didn't do what they were supposed to do. 

Colonel Allen West [00:06:31] Well, it's all the above is incompetence is dereliction of duty. Think about, you know, I sat on the House Armed Services Committee. The Pentagon is not passed an audit in seven years. I mean,what gives? I mean, when these people come to testify before you, you know, wise of someone looking at that, or when the Secretary of State, Tony Blinken, or whoever comes up, why are we asking about USAID? Why isn't the director of USAID standing before Congress and testifying? And why are we asking the questions about let's go line by line with the appropriations, and let's figure out where that money is going. 

Rick Green [00:07:04] I think everybody was shocked at how much money almost was off the books. Maybe it's on the books for somebody somewhere, but but the amount of money that was getting thrown around by them. And then of course, now we're seeing all the other, you know, fraud and abuse. It's it's just it's so great to have the transparency finally have a president that's willing to to talk about these things in public. I bet you enjoyed the Zelensky smackdown too. I had fun with that one. I was thinking, yes, slapping around a little bit more. Man, he's been doing this for a long time. That little I call him a tyrant poser. He's just it's just embarrassing. But man, they let him have it. 

Colonel Allen West [00:07:37] You know that. He deserved it. And you know him walking around like he's a real tough guy dressed up as a, you know, toy soldier. I mean, give me a break. I mean, it wasn't too long ago he was in skintight leather with high heels doing a dance, the Beyonce music. So he really does that. And that SmackDown was on behalf of all the American taxpayers who said, we have given you hundreds of billions of dollars while our border was wide open, And while we have lost a quarter of a million Americans over the last four years to this thing called fentanyl. So how dare you, you know, disrespect and disregard us. 

Rick Green [00:08:09] And to do it in a way where you know this almost. Oh well, completely. I don't care if he said the words. Thank you to senators at some times, and that sort of thing is an ungrateful attitude. And, and, and he always would come around with an expectation, you need to give me more and you have to give me more. Almost. So yeah, it's it's a new day for sure. You know, you you had this great article, by the way, having people sign up for your regular newsletter. I love reading your constitutional take on so many things. What's the best way to to get on your list? 

Colonel Allen West [00:08:36] Well, go to theecru.org and that's where you can get the weekly Colonel's constitutional brief. And then also if you go to Dallasgop.org, I put out the the Monday message there for the from the Dallas GOP as the chairman of that organization. 

Rick Green [00:08:52] By the way, thank you for investing in the city of Dallas to turn that around and taking over the Republican Party. There's chair and and just, you know, not giving up on Dallas. We need. We need Dallas. But your your article that that we were talking about recently is, is this whole firing of the generals, the weeping and gnashing of teeth and everybody acting like this is some unusual thing that Donald Trump's doing, but I mean, administrate you mentioned it in your in your article. I mean, Obama fired how many generals and I mean, doesn't the president have the prerogative. 

Colonel Allen West [00:09:23] 190. 

Rick Green [00:09:26] 193. 

Colonel Allen West [00:09:26] 193 in 5 years. Wow. And everyone's upset about Donald Trump and six, three and four Star Wars like this was a grand national security threat. You know, the military can get along without some 3 or 4 star generals. And if you go back to Abraham Lincoln, I mean, he was fire and generals left and right until he got to the right. Generals like a Ulysses, Sam Grant and and others who would go on the offense and stay on offense against the Confederacy. But, you know, folks got to understand that generals serve at the behest of the commander in chief. And when you read the Constitution and article two, there's only one title that the Constitution grants upon the president as Commander in chief. Nothing else. It says that executive power is vested in the president, but specifically it refers to him as a commander in chief. So, you know, these journalists have to understand. They're not entitled to anything. And if they have gone along with ideologies and beliefs that are antithetical to protecting and supporting and defending our Constitution, which is what they took an oath to do, then they can be relieved of command. But I think, Rick, the most important thing that a lot of people don't understand and don't recognize is that after your promotion to brigadier general or rear admiral, the one star level, the two star, three star, four stars, those are all political appointments. And we have to be very circumspect and look at under what type of administration does some of these people rise in. Because what they end up doing is becoming political ideologues and not becoming true generals. And so, General Charles Q Brown, I mean, here was a guy that got involved in the whole George Floyd, George Floyd social justice thing. That's not his place as a a senior level commander in the military. And then, of course, he is the guy who infamously said that he only wanted 43% of white pilots in the Air Force. Why were you come up with that number? And first and first and foremost, Rick, I'm on the ground. I'm hooking and jamming with the bad guys. If I tell someone to get on the phone and call and close air support. Do you think I'm going to sit and ask if they're a white pilot? Can you tell me if there. You know what? No. I just care that this pilot is going to put the bombs or due to strafe and run that I need strafe and run that I need to keep my troops safe on the ground. So that's what General Charles Q Brown is gone. I mean, he signed up for all this gender bender stuff and all these personal pronoun stuff. While we saw the readiness of our military collapse. 

Rick Green [00:11:51] Well, and that has to. You know, I know all the reinstating people that get drummed out for the jab or, you know, so many other things that that Trump and Hegseththat they're doing has it's obviously we've already seen the recruiting rates go through the roof as a result of that. Having a commander in chief you can be proud of bring a patriotism back. All those things have to be helping with readiness. You're talking to tons of these guys on the ground. I would think even this, the willingness to fire the woke generals and get people back in there as as Hegseth said, you know, that they'd have the warrior ethos and that recognize what the military is supposed to be for. That's probably helping as well. Not not only the morale of the ones that are currently in, but a kid that's thinking about going in, you know, when they come to you and say, hey, Colonel, should I, should I sign up? I want to serve, but I don't want to serve in a military, and I don't want to, you know, now it's a lot easier to say, man, you got a great opportunity to serve at this point. 

Colonel Allen West [00:12:41] Oh, you're absolutely right. I cannot tell you how many parents have come to me and said, you know, my son or my daughter really wants to go into the military, you know, do you think the now's the right time? And I will tell no, because when you have someone that would check his watch during a ramp ceremony for the 13 brave warriors coming home that lost their lives because of the debacle that they created at the strategic level. No, no one wants to join a military like that. And then, of course, no one cell responsible, accountable, or you see 80 to $85 billion of our equipment left there to support a terrorist organization like the Taliban. Or you see the senior leadership of the Taliban returning back to Afghanistan to be in the position that our brave warriors took them off the battlefield and put them in Guantanamo Bay. Now, no one wants to serve in that type of military, but now they want to serve in the military, where they know they will be respected. When they know that, they will get the opportunity to go in and do what Colin Powell said, the purpose of a military is to go and kill people and break stuff, and that's what they're going to get the opportunity to do. And if they get deployed, they're going to understand their task, and purpose is not going to be some open end deployment. And look what President Trump has done. I mean, he is going and saying there are many other ways that we can resolve these conflicts before we, you know, commit. In the United States, military troops are our blood and treasure. AndRick, let's understand, when the president says, I'm going to put U.S. troops on our border. We send our troops to borders all over the world to protect other people. Why can't we protect ourselves with our United States military? And that's not a violation of Posse Comitatus, because you're talking about non-state, non-uniform villagers coming across our border. You're not talking about American citizens. You're talking about people that are trying to infiltrate, invade our country, which is clearly articulated in article four, section four of the Constitution and the Guarantee Clause. The federal government supposed to protect every state from invasion. So, yes, these young men and women now want to join a military where they get to be soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen, and also guardians of the Space Force cadets. 

Rick Green [00:14:45] Man. Preach it brother. Okay. You mentioned the border, so let's go there for just a minute. You know, you've been one of the most vocal advocates for sealing our our border, securing our border, trying to get our governor to do it here in Texas. But just, you know, now that you've got a president that's actually going to do it. What do you think about the the, you know, the cartels being named as terrorist organizations and just tactically, what can be done now by the president and, and our military, not only to defend the border, but to to potentially go in and clean up some of that on the other side of the border when necessary. 

Colonel Allen West [00:15:17] Well, I'll, I'll just put it this way. We tolerate Al-Qaeda being right across our border and, you know, seeking to have operational control. What we tolerate the Taliban or Hamas or Hezbollah. No. And so these cartels, let's not call them cartels. There are a transnational narco, criminal terrorist organization. And because of them, a quarter of a million Americans lost their lives in the past four years. So when you designate them as a terrorist organization, you can use all elements of national power. You can use the diplomatic element, the informational, the economic element. But also you have that military element. And I think the important thing for President Trump is saying he's trying to do it through this tariff situation is to tell the president of Mexico, you fix this or else we will come across this border and fix it. Because obviously, for whatever reason, you cannot control this terrorist organization that has come across our border. You cannot control this terrorist organization that is engaging across the border in firefights with our Border Patrol agents. And we know that to be the case. So, yes, I think that there is going to come a time when we have the technology, we have the means by which to do it. We can reduce the collateral damage, but we cannot continue to allow this free flow of, of weaponry and, and drugs and things of this nature and terrorists to come across the border. But, Rick, think about what just happened. I think about 72 hours ago in Brownsville, Texas, a Texan, a citizen of the United States of America, was killed because of an IED on his property. 

Rick Green [00:16:47] Oh, I saw that. Yeah. 

Colonel Allen West [00:16:48] Now, now, what does that tell you? That tells you that these people do not regard our sovereignty, and they don't not do not regard the lives of American citizens if they're planning IEDs, improvised explosive devices in the United States of America, in an American cities. So this is not a law enforcement operation. This is a military operation. We need to see it as such. 

Rick Green [00:17:10] You know, the what was it, 29. How did you say it? Now I must stop using cartel, transnational. 

Colonel Allen West [00:17:16] Narco, criminal, terrorist. 

Rick Green [00:17:17] And transnational narco criminal terrorists. 

Colonel Allen West [00:17:20] But just. Yeah, just calling it a terrorist organization. And again, yeah, if you want to put it in the right terms of the rule of law, they are non-state, non-uniform, belligerent. They have no right. 

Rick Green [00:17:29] There you go. 

Colonel Allen West [00:17:30] Just the same as Hamas says, they have no rights. You find them, you kill or, you know, they are capitulating and you know, no Guantanamo Bay, but just get them off the battlefield. 

Rick Green [00:17:39] Yeah. I wonder what they're going to do with the what was it, 29 that they flew in recently and, and, and apparently that's because of the pressure that Trump has put on the Mexican government. Right. So they've been willing now to turn those those 29 over anyway. I you could you could probably tell me, I don't know if you would tell me off the off the record or on the show here. But I've always thought that, honestly, those terrorists that are right across the border, they should be practice for our special forces like that ought to be training. Hey guys, we're going to do a training exercise, but it's it's for real. We're going to go take out some of these guys and this will be your first mission. But you know, it's not too far away. So let's let's head over I mean seems like that's a no brainer. 

Colonel Allen West [00:18:17] No, you're absolutely right. We have had a an organization called JTF 6 that has been operating on the border quite some time is it's a mix of our reserve component and also active duty component. But mostly it's been intelligence gathering, what have you. But I think it's about time that we have to start looking at kinetic instead of non-kinetic solutions, because that's the only memo that it seems that these terrorists across the border seem to understand. And again, when you just brought up these 29, see, this is how I think is is this a 29 that they said, here, we'll give them to you, president of Mexico. You send them to America to make it seem like, you know, you're working with us. But the bottom line is that we're going to protect the real folks that we want. And we saw that happen so much in Afghanistan when, you know, all of a sudden we get this leader. But it was a leader that fell out of favor with the Taliban, and they wanted. 

Rick Green [00:19:10] To sacrifice to, to to appease us. 

Colonel Allen West [00:19:12] They would sacrifice that guy. So yeah. So I'm just wondering if these 29,000 have popped up on the radar screen, right? You know, if they have been sacrificed, but the real hard hitters, they're still out there operating. 

Rick Green [00:19:25] Yeah. Yeah, I bet you're right. Hey, before I let you go, you mentioned you use the word vested powers earlier. I don't know if you saw that in that executive order. I don't know, a week or two ago, I had missed these. I can't believe I missed it. It went to a week later that I read through it, and it's got this great line in it where he's requiring, you know, a DOGE person at each agency, and they have to analyze every regulation. And the first thing they have to look at is whether or not it goes beyond the power vested in the federal government through the Constitution. I don't know if you saw that or not, but man, I knew you would love that and you've probably already seen it and gone to town on it. 

Colonel Allen West [00:19:59] No, I hadn't seen it. 

Rick Green [00:20:01] Just think about that. Every agency actually looking at all of those regulations. And he only gave them 60 days. You got to report back on any regulations. So, you know, guys like you and me, we've been saying forever. You only got these few things. You're supposed to be 18. The Constitution. Yeah. That's it and nothing else. And so all these other things they're doing are outside of those powers. I mean, that to me is exciting. Obviously that doesn't get rid of it, but but but it makes them start thinking through that lens. And then you have a list that, you know, Congress can go after and start strike and strike it out. 

Colonel Allen West [00:20:32] Yeah, you're absolutely right. Article one, section eight. You know this very well. 18 new enumerated duties, responsibilities, purview, jurisdictions of the federal government. Everything else is not their business. That's why you have the 10th amendment, all of those powers that are not specifically designated to the federal government reserve, to the states until the people. And I would like to see us take this to the next level, where anything that is brought up in the House or the Senate, they need to be able to quote specifically how that relates back to the Constitution. Because again, we're getting way outside the borders and bounds of purview. Department of education a lot of people think or act like the Department of Education's been around forever. That was Jimmy Carter. Those are the teachers unions coming and saying, we want to have our own department. Forget this health educational welfare thing. Let's make the Department of Education. Let's make HUD. Let's make health and human services. So it's time that we start looking at how this government bureaucracy, this this deep administrative state has expanded and grown since. Lyndon Johnson and let's start peeling it back and getting it back into the constitutional box that the framers intended it to be. 

Rick Green [00:21:41] Alright folks, you got to get on Allen's list. I'm telling you, the emails are fantastic. It's constitutional education every week or sometimes multiple times a week, with all kinds of great information there. Colonel West, God bless you, brother. Thank you so much for coming on. 

Colonel Allen West [00:21:52] God be with you. Take care.

Rick Green [00:21:54] Alright folks, that was Colonel Allen West. Stay with us. We'll be right back with David and Tim Barton. 

Rick Green [00:23:05] Welcome back to the WallBuilders Show. Thanks for staying with us. Thanks to Colonel West for joining us today. Back with David and Tim now. And you know, as the Colonel always does, it just sounds like common sense when it comes out of his mouth. I mean, it's just this is what should be done. This is the way we've done it in the past. You know, the the fact that we've got good recruiting already happening because of the changes and because of what President Trump and, and Secretary Hegseth are doing all good news on that front. 

David Barton [00:23:30] You know the record, high recruitment is really significant. What a turnaround from record lows just three months ago. And so it is turning around. And him pointing out how the the former chairman joint chiefs said I want 43% of politics to be white because 43% of the population is white. I want the guys matching what a percentage is, man. If if you're in the field, you don't care, Colonel West said. You don't care what color they are. Just get the job done. And Tim and I have a really close friend who's and the really, literally the elite of the world and military forces. And he was telling me of a mission where he and three other guys were sent in to go in Taliban towns and ISIS and, and just start up, go in and just shoot all the bad guys and blow up everything they could. And then run and the Taliban would chase them, ISIS would chase them, and then they would get out in the middle of valley, where they were surrounded by guys on all sides. And he was carrying up to 2000 rounds of ammunition time. And then they would bring in the Air Force and just bomb, everything except those four guys in the middle of the valley. And so that's how they bring them out. And you said that one of the times they asked the French, you know, take out the bad guys. And French said, well, we really need further confirmation that these really are all bad guys. And so it was like the the DEI kind of stuff. And he said what helped us was there was a female American pilot that came in and she just blasted the Dickens out of them saved all of our lives, got the mission accomplished. And, you know, he didn't care whether she was a female pilot or male pilot. Now, I think that makes a difference. If you got to pick up a body hauler off the field. But when you're flying a plane and can launch rockets And that's what you want. You want people in the military. And this is what Trump and J.D. Vance are talking about now. You need lethality. What you want is lethality in the military and not the dei stuff. So that is such a big change and it will have a global impact, literally, on taking out the bad guys who have created so much problem. 

Tim Barton [00:25:16] Well this goes back to the idea of we should care more about the content of character than the color of skin, and in this case, we should care more about your competency and your capability, because dad even part of that story with his female pilot is she's going over them. She ends up running out of ammunition. There's nobody else who can get there in time to rescue them. So she just gets low and does these incredibly low flyovers, like with her, with her plane chasing the bad guys around the mountain because she's flying so low, and you want people with that level of competency. And ultimately, when you're in the field, you want the best people around you, you want the best people to have your back. And I don't care if it's a male or female. I don't care what color they are, I care how competent they are, how well they do their job. And certainly that's what President Trump is promoting, which should be the obvious thing. But because it's contrary to this woke dei measure, that's why you see so many of the Democrats and leftists losing their minds over this. 

David Barton [00:26:15] And by the way, his his opening comment, that is great to say constitutional government restored amen, amen. It is so great to see constitutional government restored. He's exactly right. 

Rick Green [00:26:25] It's so true. And to me, even the fact that they're the left's losing their mind. And it doesn't bother Trump or Hegseth or any of these people at all, man, they just keep marching forward. I love that that's exactly what we've got to do to bring back constitutional governance. Thanks so much for listening today, folks. You've been listening to the WallBuilders Show