at the sign in. [applause] also have colin opportunities. dennis prager will be here later. we are pleased to be joined now by author and town hall columnist, kirk -- kurt schlichter. his book is we will be back, the

fall and rise of america. he is a novelist. i'm going to start with a non-book issue. in a recent town hall column, you had a column that was entitled, if i was trump's lawyer, how i would handle his case. what is the answer to that question? >> [laughter] i am still writing about it. i am a trial lawyer in california. i am not a new york lawyer. i'm not a criminal lawyer. i am an aggressive lawyer. i think they are taking it too slow. i think they are treating it like a legal case, rather than a political case. it is a legal case, it is nonsense. these elected crimes are ridiculous. everyone knows that. will they be thrown out like they would for anybody else, that is an open question. i would move aggressively, motions to dismiss. i would set the battlefield up. i went to the army war call.

my strategy would be fighting in the political arena -- most of the things you cannot get a fair trial in new york. it seems like that has set the stage and allowed people to hear the facts and say, wait a minute , this does not strike me as right and delegitimize what is a legitimate process. >> let's go back to your book in 2022. life, fall and rise. >> i am an optimist. i am a suburban kid from san mateo, california. i girl up in -- grew up in brady bunch world. it was halfway between san francisco and telecom valley, that was before silicon valley and everybody had a mom to stay home and everybody had a station wagon. kids played on the street. it was a all-american kind of upbringing and a positive one, a

very excited one. was born in cincinnati. my dad hopped around working for proctor and gamble. we came out to california. california -- i know it sounds like a cliche -- it was like a dream. it was this golden place. there were palm trees, i had never seen a palm tree. ronald reagan was governor. i knew growing up with a certainty to the core of my soul, i could do and be whatever i wanted to be. so far, i have had a chance to do that, but not everybody does. i hire young lawyers, they work for me at my law firm. they will have $200,000 in debt. they start life with bills around her neck. that is not what it is supposed to be. i think we can come back. what made america great is not completely dead. i think there is a beating heart there, i think we can do it but it is not for sure and it is going to be hard work. what happened between your

childhood, ronald reagan's governorship and today in your view? >> what i talk about in the fall and rise of america, i was there at the pinnacle of american power, both in time and place. the time and place was a place called hopper up a teeny outside of saudi arabia at the end of the gulf war. i was a lieutenant. i was assigned there at the headquarters that destroyed be republican guard. i mean at 100 hours, we did a job that hannibal -- the guy that crushed the romans for years would sit there and go, holy cow, that was amazing. it was an unbelievable achievement. both power. but also, power used for what was right, to throw out the invasion by saddam hussein of kuwait. the strength of america was not our takes, it is not an m1 tank,

not a multiple launch rocket system. let me tell you about the strengths. i would come down with what is called cap line road, that was our main supply route. i came down one day and there was nothing there as far as the eye could see. two days later, i drive to that same valley from horizon to horizon, there are forward facing operations loaded with equipment. moving a city to the middle of a desert and fighting a war and winning it, that a superpower. that is where we were. at the end of that battle, the entire world was stunned. the soviet was already falling. the chinese were like, holy cow, no one could stand up to us. we had incredible power and we stop trying. we believe the lie history was over. and, we stopped trying. this was the early 1990's, where there was specific, political

events that changed our course. in your view. >> yes. i think we allowed ourselves the luxury of a guy like lil -- bill clinton. a liberal god, adopted pseudo-conservative things like -- a liberal guy, adopted pseudo-conservative things. the liberal brand was destroyed by jimmy carter. bill clinton addressed those issues, but it was still a liberal country and started changing things. he started tolerating nonsense, and we started spending too much money. it went on and on and on until now, you have people in positions of power arguing that the government should be able to censor speech, that certain people because of their heritage are morally barred from pursuing

their own interests and pursuing their own politics. that stuff really started with bill clinton. we got frivolous. instead of focusing on taking america to the next level, we glided. a lot of people who were very disappointed in the soviet -- the soviet union fell, that communism was repudiated, dressed up a lot of the same errors from before in different clothes. progressivism, wokeness is an outgrowth of that. now, we've got economic problems, cultural problems, foreign policy problems. none of this had to be. >> where going to put the phone numbers up. if you would like to principate in our conversation with kurt schlichter.

if you want to send a text message, send it to 202-748-8903. please include your first name and city, if you could. i'm going to tell a story. on the campus of university of southern california, we invited you to take calls with our audience. when our producer went to meet you, you said to her, i am standing at tommy trojan. i am in the only person at this book fair who does not look like a communist. >> [laughter] that is true. i find that kind of -- it rubs me the wrong way, because there are no conservatives here. he walked along here, there is every brand of commie, ratty --i am walking by some guy with a button that says i read banned

books. all right, hero, i only went to war twice for this country. where is your parade, buddy? i find the book world very exclusive, very much a blue bubble. i am not welcome in it by my novels. if you do not like the culture, change it, so i wrote people's republic, the latest is inferno. that will be number eight. sold tons of them. even in my nonfiction, i am pretty much -- he thinks simon houston is ever going to say, we need this kurt guy because i will scandalize them. we were talking earlier about npr, some production assistant said, you want to be on. i told the boss, google me. they said, we cannot have this guy on. why not?

i represent half of america. behalf being told, you cannot speak. that half is not represented at this book fair. everyone is having a good time, even though they look like angles. i could hang, but there needs to be a place for everybody to speak and i think the conservatives are excluded. >> before we go to calls, the series. what is that and you sold a couple hundred thousand of these. >> i love reading a book on an airplane. you get on the plane, you are reading, spy, this guy shooting things, by the time you land coming throat away. i found a lot of the guys were writing the same but with different characters, sam -- different locations, same plot. now, i am a standup comic. i threw some humor in it.

i try to be funny. dennis miller approves. i wrote these books about america splitting into, having a national divorce. what does a blue america look like, what does a red america look like? neither of them is perfect, because i believe if you split this country up, you are taking a chunk of its soul. it becomes incomplete. there is a lot of action, adventure, fun. if you love guns, you are going to love it. there is a lot of funny stuff, but a lot of predictions. i was protecting people being arrested for pronoun crimes. holy cow. we are seeing this years later. we are seeing people being sanctioned because they refused to use ridiculous pronouns, nonsense people make up because of their own personal, social pathologies. these books are a lot of fun. the kelly terrible series of the

people's republic up through inferno. i had so much fun writing them. i will sit and giggle to myself. i love the work of writing. always have, even since i was a little kid. part of that reagan thing, i always wanted to be an author and i got to do it. that is why -- the american dream is not dead. >> we will be back is the name of the book. kurt schlichter is the guest and author of that book. the first caller, cornelius in alexandra, louisiana. good afternoon. >> good afternoon, peter and colonel kurt. used to be a military -- i happen to be an african-american. i am really enjoying this talk with peter. i want to say something specifically -- since two years old, i have lived in alexandria, louisiana all my life. i can -- [indiscernible]

the negro national anthem where the whites had the national anthem. i think we have turned against god. god has turned against us. my parents were educators here. they really loved the education, that was a way blacks could get better jobs and better everything, stuff like that. once the supreme court took that out, abortion and now homosexual marriage, i just believe god has turned against us. i do not think we are coming back. i salute your book. >> we are going to leave it there. thank you for calling in. kurt, what is your response to that caller? >> i love that cornelius loves this country so much to be concerned about it. he has got his own point of view, which is fine, shared by -- not shared by anyone walking past year, but it is important cornelius be heard and not be marginalized. it is important cornelius be respected.

within the united states, we have the capacity for greatness. that is going to take everybody. everybody has got to have a chance to speak, to be her. -- to be heard. i love cornelius cares enough about his country to make viewers no he has no fear and he should not have to fear giving your opinion. >> gordon in laramie, wyoming. you are on book tv with kurt schlichter. >> good morning. thanks, peter. thanks for the tremendous service that c-span provides. the colonel -- the sixth infantry, he should read not dennis miller, but -- miller in

the state daily. that is a online newspaper with no advertisements. great, great newspaper. one other thing. when trump said, let the man turned the --off, to me, the charge should be attempted murder. when liz cheney lost her seat in the house, that is when i went down to the courthouse and listed as an independent. republican party here in wyoming , their freaking caucuses, too far out. there is a movement of more moderate republicans. they get in power, get these right-wingers out and i will register as a republican again

and i will vote for -- peter: what is your reaction? kurt: i am certainly one of those right. i think gordon is onto something. america's constitution really forces us to divide into two parties. those parties have to be broad. at a minimum, you want 50% plus one. if you're smart, you went better. that means i'm going to have to sit down with people that do not agree with me on everything and maybe cornelius and we have to work together on principles we do agree with. freedom, faith, family and the future. peter: next call is jan, denver, colorado. >> hi, i have a question. i was intrigued by your comment about an all-american -- you had an all-american upbringing. now, with all the words, i forgot exactly.

your life in san mateo sounds a lot like my growing up life in a small town in the midwest. i was listening to the panel just before yours. one of the authors had written a book in describing the really terrible experience of vietnamese fishermen in galveston bay where the oil companies have set up and really ruined the sea life. another one wrote a book about one side of new haven and the other side of new haven. i am aware that i got to grow up and that american dream that you are describing, but i am well aware and know people who grew up on the opposite side of that dream whose dreams even in coming here, vietnamese after the war, were dashed by big oil.

i hate to use that cliche phrase . large corporations. what is the all american dream that is inclusive of folks like these vietnamese fishermen, who have had their livelihood basically drowned or destroyed? how do they fit into this? peter: we got the idea. kurt, what is your answer? kurt: this is a subject near and dear to my heart. i am fully aware that i got to grow up in the classic stereotype american dream. it is not so much about where i grew up and why i did, but knowing i had the potential to go as far as my skills and efforts would take me. the immigrant experience, escapees from communism or like my beautiful wife, she escaped cuba as a baby. i got to know her family.

i was handed being an american. i just got it because my mom happened to be at price hospital in cincinnati, ohio when i was born. there are millions of americans who make a difficult choice to leave where they are from to come here and become americans. when they become americans, and i served with them in the military, i see them as jurors, if you want to pick a germ or who is going to be dedicated -- juror who is dedicated to doing the right thing, get a -- who is naturalized. they take it seriously in a way too many of us do not. i look at the factors on a jury. when i see somebody who says, i was born in iran, but i came here as a kid and i am happy to be here in america and i do not want to be spending a week listening to this auto accident case, but that is what citizens do so i am proud to be here. i know i will have somebody to

try. peter: jan in denver talked about the idyllic childhood, the all-american childhood, but wanted to make sure people on the other side of the street got that, too. what is the best way? if she picked up your book, would she find something in there to agree with you one? kurt: i think she would, because we will be back is about making america the america where you can go as far as you want, when you can do what you want where your rights are protected, where your voice is heard and you do not have to be ashamed because of where you came from or where you worship or whatever. you get to participate. that is the america we want to get back to. right now, every american does not deal able to participate. every american does not feel they have the ability to go far as their skills, efforts take them. that is wrong. we cannot stand by. again, this sounds like a critique but it is not.

it is a conservative critique. peter: this is a text message from angelina and mobile, alabama. good afternoon. please consider the cost to achieve the war victory in building program in kuwait. president clinton balance the budget, republican president george bush engaged in expensive spending in the unjustified attack in iraq. kurt: looking back on the iraq war, i considered that the second worst foreign policy disaster, the first -- the soviet union collapsed, russia tied to the west. instead, it came a political football era now, we see had lining up with china doing things like the ukraine invasion. i trained ukrainian soldiers in ukraine, served with them in kokomo. i have a lot of respect for those guys. the establishment has made a lot

of errors. the establishment is not necessarily republican or democrat. the establishment are people who share assumptions which are nearly, inevitably wrong. i like to say, you have a generation in the 40's that won world war ii and meet the depression peered in the 1960's, civil rights so every american could be a citizen. they put a man on the moon. what do we have for this year, what has this elite done? it has given us a wall street meltdown. this is not an accomplished ruling class we have right now. i think we can do better. i think we will do better. peter: we are talking with author kurt schlichter. we will be back is the name of his nonfiction book. 202 748 8201 for those of you in mountain and pacific.

first name and city in the text, please. connie, washington, west virginia. you are on book tv. go ahead. >> ok. i do not have text. i do not have a cell phone. i got my computer a few years back. i got an a plus in computer science my first semester in college. i always made a plus is on everything. everybody else in the classroom was younger than me. i went back in a nontraditional -- they wanted the grades, the teacher said no because i was always getting a pluses. that was during my first semester in college. it was a community college. i just one to vacate -- make a comment to the author on his

book, the title of it is great. we will be back, the fall, the or the rise, or the rise in the fall, trying to write it down because i am watching it right at the same time. peter: we are going to put the book jacket up on the screen so you can see it. it is called, we will be back, the fall and rise of america. it is there on your screen as we listen to this next call from floria in columbia's -- gloria in columbus, ohio. go ahead with your question. >> hi, this is great that book tv is featuring a book like this from a different point of view. i am thrilled. anyway, i just want to say i hope kurt, you keep speaking out , writing about what you find good about this country. i think anyone living here who is a citizen should take it

seriously. you are lucky then anywhere else on the planet grade i have been on the left. i am not on the right or the left. i am in -- an independent thinker. i do not think in america, anybody should be afraid to rest any ideas as long as --express any ideas as long as you are not hurting anyone physically. we should be open to all ideas. i really hope -- i heard you before. thank you for your service to the country. kurt: first of all, do not thank me for my service. i was a colonel, i didn't do anything except hold the coffee cup. i will accept it on behalf of them. i love the idea somebody is out there and cares about their country and wants to be better. it doesn't have to be somebody who thinks exactly like me. no one thinks exactly like me. even i do not. i change my mind sometimes. she is engaged and cares. so is connie, living life on her

own terms. this is what america is about. peter: we are about to go to an author discussion on book bands. is this a serious issue in the states right now in your view? kurt: i am strongly for banning pornography in schools. i do not believe there is any excuse for having pornography in elementary schools or high schools. the idea that somehow, these people right wingers, john lithgow and footloose are going to be able not to make you read huckleberry finn is nonsense is ridiculous and imposing. it is not doing the hard work to say, wait, we are not going to allow kids to be bothered in school, we are not going to put junk in school. somebody has to decide what goes in school. i say, let it be the parents. let the parents decide. that is what they are deciding. they are deciding, no, and i am four. peter: let's go to what gloria had to say, everybody should

have the first amendment right to speak their point of view, but there has been a lot of self censoring going on the last couple of years. kurt: self censoring, high-tech censoring with government interference. and, you have people who should damn well know better and our government, hate speech should not a legal term. and, an abomination to our first amendment. you have to allow nazis and communists to stand there together and spout their genocide allies because everyone has a right to speak. you do not have to believe them, you do not have to like them. the answer to bad, stupid speech is smart, good speech. it is not suppression, ever. peter: kurt schlichter. do you have another nonfiction coming? kurt: i have another fiction coming. it will be out in a couple of

months. as far as nonfiction, i will write something great. peter: you can read kurt bookste

book and getting it signed. hello, my name is allison lee. i am the managing director of penn america los angeles. penn america is a national organization that stands at the intersection of literature and human rig