Beck and Napolitano suggest “private army” would do a better job than U.S. army

Written by Media Matters Staff

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From the June 19 edition of Fox Business Network's Freedom Watch:

ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Do you accept Jefferson's maxim that I always say at the beginning of every freedom watch, that “that government is best which governs the least.”

GLENN BECK: Yes

NAPOLITANO: Why do you believe that?

BECK: Because I have not seen the government do anything except cause problems, with an exception of maybe defense, but I'd like to give it a whirl, on defense that wasn't solely run by the government. I think you have private individuals that could probably take care of things in Afghanistan better.

NAPOLITANO: You know, there's a weird phrase in the constitution that lets the congress issue, quote, “letters of mark and reprisal.” That basically means, hire a private army to get this done, and they can get it done faster, easier, and far more efficiently.

BECK: We wouldn't be in Afghanistan today if it wasn't for that. I also think that the founders were exactly right. They knew that people, all people, go bad with power. You've got to limit that.