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June 18, 2023 - Stew Peters Show
57:50
The Richard Leonard Show: They’re Clamping Down On Security Clearances
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Are any of them low self-esteem, loneliness, or extreme narcissism?
I can tell you for sure that it wasn't something that I thought about when someone would mention national security to me.
Interestingly enough, I came across an article that suggests that this might be an issue that we need to worry about as it relates to our national security.
Today we're going to dissect it a little bit, talk about it, much like we did last week.
So stick with us.
Don't go away.
We start now.
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Okay, so as I said in the intro, national security.
I never would have thought, I mean, now knowing what I know, it makes a little more sense to me that these things that we're gonna discuss would become, or maybe are already, an issue of national security.
But if somebody would have told me, you know, listen, Those veterans and service members who, more importantly service members because they're still serving, those service members who suffer from mental illness and who like this extreme loneliness and depression are an issue for national security,
but also on the complete other end of the spectrum, individuals who are labeled, as they say, extreme narcissists.
Also are an issue of national security.
And so I was perusing, as I often do, trying to gather information to be able to talk constructively about something that's interesting and maybe something that we have never thought of before.
Certainly stuff that you're not going to hear or discussion points that you're going to hear on the mainstream media.
Or any of that garbage.
So we came across this.
This article was in the Military Times.
And it was written by a gentleman who is a veteran.
Had multiple deployments overseas.
It wasn't very clear to me what branch of service he was in.
But he became a journalist.
Don't know what he did in the service.
But it caught my attention.
And so let's start just kind of going through it.
And there's a lot to unpack here.
And hopefully we can get to all of it.
So let's just begin here.
Okay, here's the beginning.
Excuse me.
The author starts out with, On the morning of May 31st of this year, by the way, only a few hours before the Army Times revealed delays to the Army's overpromised, under-delivered suicide prevention regulation, the Military Times published an opinion that asked a provocative question. the Military Times published an opinion that asked a provocative Has loneliness become a national security issue?
That's what perked my ears right away.
Okay.
Retired Brigadier General Jack Hammond used Jack Texaria, I hope I'm pronouncing his name correctly.
If I'm not, I apologize.
But at this point, it doesn't matter because he was accused of being a traitor.
He was a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified documents.
So this retired general used this guy as his poster child and argued for a comprehensive review of the security clearance process.
He went further, suggesting the government develop new screening criteria to identify people who exhibit loneliness, poor self-esteem, and grandiose narcissism.
And then, for those so identified, suspend or revoke access to classified information.
This sort of opinion that sounds nice, logical, national security conscious even, and the author isn't wrong by noting that poor judgment or unreliable, untrustworthy, or dysfunctional behavior can be symptomatic of some mental illnesses, or dysfunctional behavior can be symptomatic of some mental illnesses, because they can.
It's just that by calling out loneliness, low self-esteem, and narcissism as things that should be disqualifying one from holding a security clearance, his suggestion may well increase the stigma surrounding mental health, making it less likely that troops seek help, and thereby setting making it less likely that troops seek help, and thereby setting aside the primary harm to our most important further masking eligibility concerns in a way that weakens national security.
So, I think what they're saying here is that folks who are extremely lonely and may need a friend or need to be involved or just have low self-esteem, don't feel good about themselves, are a risk because they'll easily give up information or documents or whatever.
And then on the flip side, these guys who are so narcissistic that they don't think they're ever going to get caught or Or that it's not a big deal or that they can decide what is important to keep secret or what is not.
Here's the thing, and they'll talk about it later on in the article as well, but the stigma behind mental health issues and seeking help was a real thing.
That was ending careers, in my opinion.
Early on in my Army career, it was told to us, behind closed doors, of course, off the record, Hey guys, if you have any issues, if you're going to see a shrink, if you're going to a doctor to ask about some kind of anxiety medication or you have this anxiety or panic attacks or whatever,
get it under control before you come to duty because they will find a way to kick you out.
And for many, many, many years, you just didn't go, right?
You didn't go to the TMC or you didn't go seek any kind of medical or mental health treatment for anything.
Because the thought was that the Army's looking, in my situation, because I was in the Army, the Army's looking for a way to get you out of here.
And so don't give them one.
If you can get through the day without having a breakdown or having some medical issue, deal with it on your off time.
And I don't think that anybody...
Who is wearing a uniform or who would, if anybody was put on the spot that did wear a uniform, would really openly admit to telling soldiers, hey, don't go seek help.
Not while you're on duty.
And I can remember the conversation.
And part of what was told to us was, hey, listen.
If you want to stay doing this thing, if you want to make a career out of this, if you want a retirement at the end, you've got to find a way to tough it out.
You've got to get through it.
And mind you, when I first got in the Army, I was an air defender.
I shot Stinger missiles, shoulder-fired Stinger missiles, which required a security clearance.
And so that was always also part of the conversation.
Like, look, man, they'll pull your security clearance.
So you have to be conscious of what it is you're telling these doctors, what it is that you're seeking help for.
You can't just go and say, hey, you know, I have these panic attacks or I'm really depressed and I'm lonely, all that stuff.
You just couldn't do it.
Not if you valued your career.
At least that's what was told to us.
And a few years in, once Operation Iraqi Freedom started and the deployment tempo was kind of increasing month after month, there was more talk about this stigma going away and that, hey, it's okay.
If you have issues, we don't want you to suffer, please go seek help.
And if you need any help, there's this person, this person, and this person here to help you.
So please take advantage of that.
And so the few folks that did, that trusted the process, I'm not going to go out and say that they were booted out or whatever.
But they kind of just faded into the background.
And eventually they were gone.
You know, eventually they got out.
Whether they were barred from reenlistment or whatever the case may be.
So, that's just a little bit about the stigma.
And of course, the author will get to it a little bit more here in a minute.
But let's continue.
The author begins by focusing on the recent pronouncement by the Surgeon General of the United States of an epidemic of loneliness and isolation before deploying statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health about the rising rates of mental health illness among the 18-25 year old demographic.
A sentence that reads almost like an accusation without apparent relevance.
For what it's worth, these statistics may have resulted more from a shrinking stigma among younger generations, coupled with the problem of under-reporting among older generations.
From the example of the Airmen, Surgeon General Dr.
Vivek Murthy's plan to mend the social fabric of our nation In these statistics, the author draws the following conclusion.
Loneliness, low self-esteem, and narcissism, along with all other mental health issues, represent red flags in any security clearance adjudication.
Yet nowhere does the author define loneliness...
Worse, he conflates emotion with illness trait, with symptom, loneliness, and low self-esteem can arise from adversity, a move, job change, divorce, or yes, even a pandemic, and bring out a diagnosable mental illness, like depression or anxiety.
Or they can present any...
They can present as symptoms of an existing mental illness such as post-traumatic stress.
To the second, with the Department of Veterans Affairs estimating anywhere from 10 to 30% of veterans experience post-traumatic stress, there's potentially a significant number of active duty service members presenting so-called red flags.
Loneliness and low self-esteem then are not even on the same plane as narcissism.
It's only its own distinct illness that goes by the name narcissistic personality disorder.
In the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, and it may also look to outsiders like confidence, but can be much harder to treat.
So I think that that's a whole different ballgame, right?
Narcissism is a whole different ballgame than post-traumatic stress or anxiety or depression or low self-esteem or loneliness.
But I have to say that...
I kind of agree that it's hard to put that line between grandiose narcissism and just a dude who's full of himself or a lady who's full of himself.
And is there really a reason to deny those folks a security clearance?
I don't know.
I tend to be on the fence, right?
Like I can understand why.
The answer is no, absolutely not.
We don't want to give these folks security clearances and have them knowing all of our country's secrets.
Not all of them, but whatever ones pertain to their job.
But I also think that some folks who could be considered narcissistic would...
Take that secret and, you know, they would just be so full of themselves that they're going to be a steel trap, right?
You're not going to get it out of me.
I don't care what you do.
You can offer me money.
You can offer me power.
You can offer me all kinds of things.
You're not getting it out of me because I'm not weak.
And so, I guess it's hard to know, right?
Maybe erring on the better side of caution is to say that folks with grandiose narcissism probably should not have a security clearance.
But then what is it that you have them do?
I think you run into other problems when it comes to job selection.
I mean, the ones that have these security clearances are like the big bad jobs, right?
Shooting down planes or intelligence, either officers or people who analyze, intelligence analysts.
There's so many jobs in the military that require at least a secret security clearance.
I mean, just to get in to like a tactical operation center and do a talk where there's a bunch of dudes sitting around and they're manning radios and they're doing things on computers and they're tracking the battle and they're providing updates to the commander and, you know, all these things.
But all this information is there.
And so all these people, you got to have a security clearance to get in there.
So it's a pretty big deal.
To have a security clearance, but it's also a pretty big deal to not have enough soldiers to have one because there's a lot of stations that need to be manned that all require security clearances.
We've run short on the time in the segment.
Stick with us.
We'll be right back.
Hey folks, welcome back here to the next segment.
I want to just continue down getting through this article, through this information, because I really want to make sure I get it all to you so that you can kind of make your own decision about it, whether or not this is actually an issue of national security.
So let's keep going here.
At what point does one cross the threshold between the loneliness most humans experience and the sort of loneliness that threatens national security?
When does one cross from being self-confident, which describes many military leaders, or most, as the author says, and I agree 100%, to grandiose narcissism, which describes a few, and I would say there's quite a few.
I mean, there's a lot of leaders in the army.
A lot of them are summed up by either of these two.
Extreme self-confidence or on the border of grandiose narcissism or just over that border.
And who makes the determination?
So remember we're talking about the adjudication process that soldiers, not just officers, but soldiers go through to obtain a security clearance.
So who makes the determination?
Is it a security clearance adjudicator that's untrained in behavioral health?
Because I'm here to tell you folks, they are untrained in behavioral health.
Yet, in all of this, by singling out the lonely, the diffident, the self-centered, the author is actually increasing the risk to national security.
And why?
Because the author reignites the stigma the military services have labored, like we talked about, albeit unsuccessfully, to quash over the past two decades.
And you know what?
It may be more than two decades.
It's been a long time they've been trying to get rid of the stigma about seeking help.
Though likely unintentional, the author's proposed solution communicates in hushed tones that if you experience loneliness, if you hold yourself in low esteem, if you border on narcissism, then you should avoid seeking treatment because to do so otherwise will place you at increased risk of losing your security clearance and or your job, and in some cases...
Buy you a ticket right out of the military, and may God help you if you're an introvert.
And so I think that this is important, folks, because it's a fair question, right?
Like, how are these determinations made?
And so let me clear something up for you.
This whole adjudication process Well, for me, I did it twice, of course.
It's frustrating.
It's frustrating because they send you, or maybe it's different now.
The last time I did it, I believe, was in like 2013, maybe?
14?
Something like that.
But they send you this thick packet of paperwork to fill out.
And it asks you everything about your life from like maybe even grade school, but certainly like middle school, like 7th, 8th grade through high school, all the way to current.
And they ask you a million questions.
So you fill out all this information, which takes a ton of time.
You send it back to them.
And this adjudicator, which I don't know, I think they should be called investigators, goes through all of this.
And then they start checking in on the information you've provided.
They will go to your high school.
And get transcripts.
They will ask questions of the people at the school about who you are, the type of person you are, to try to, you know, either discredit the information you've given them or to confirm that what you said is true.
They will talk to your old neighbors, any old jobs, I mean, all this stuff.
Everything that you've done is what they want to know about.
And although it's frustrating, right, because it takes a lot of time, it seems extremely intrusive, but I also think that it's necessary.
I mean, when you are a person that is asking For your country to trust you with military secrets.
And it's not just like, where is the president and where are the nuclear missile silos hiding?
Not that kind of thing.
I mean, that stuff is part of it.
But also things like...
New weapon systems that maybe are being fielded and you may get the opportunity to go to Aberdeen Proving Grounds for a certain amount of time and test new infantry weapons or new vehicles or whatever.
Those types of things also are included.
New communications equipment and then even things like Troop movements.
You know, at what day and time are troops going to be here?
And then at such and such time is their SP time and they're going to leave from here.
This is the route they're going to take.
They're going to stop and rest here.
They're going to set up a perimeter and security.
They're going to have a rest plan.
They're going to execute the rest plan.
Then they're going to SP from this spot and they're going to go to the next spot and take this route.
All those things.
As I was explaining, you know, even a tactical operations center, a talk, is...
Something that folks only with a security clearance can get into because all of that stuff, everything we just discussed and much more, is all just kind of open willy-nilly in there.
Posted on the walls.
Folks are talking and having conversations about how to direct soldiers to be where and what to do next.
People are drafting soldiers.
Briefs for the commander, which is usually a colonel, a full bird colonel or above.
Sometimes lieutenant colonel if it's battalion level.
And so there's a lot of information.
And there's a lot of stuff that you are to be trusted with.
So they crawl up your behind with ice picks.
And they want to know everything.
And then once they've either...
If they had disproven or found holes in your information or confirmed it, then they schedule a time to come sit down with you and do a one-on-one interview.
And remember folks, this is how it went for me in like 13 or 14, 2013, 2014.
It may be a whole lot different now.
They might even do it by Zoom now, who knows?
And I remember the last time, the guy came to the place I was working.
And, you know, when I talked to him on the phone, I was like, well, how long is this going to take, right?
Because I got work to do, but I could probably take my lunch hour and sit with you and answer your questions.
And so we agreed to do that.
Well, this guy came and sat down with me, and five hours later, he was done with his questions.
I mean...
People were gone.
I think it was like the custodian and like the computer slash IT team was still in the building and me.
Everyone else was gone.
And this guy's just asking, didn't even look at his watch, didn't ask, hey, should we continue this another time or later tonight when you're off of work?
Nothing.
They just come and they sit down and they do their thing.
And so it's extremely frustrating, but I understand why It's so intense.
But I agree with the author of this article that these adjudicators or investigators, they're not behavioral health experts.
They're not mental health care providers or understand mental health.
I think that this also plays into the stigma that has been around for so many years Because of this process also.
I mean, the guy when he sat down with me should have had a light over my head in a dark room and he should have been smoking cigarettes, you know, drilling me like an old school detective would have back in the 60s.
Like you see in the movies, that's what it felt like.
And, you know, at the end of the day it was okay because I had nothing to hide.
I don't got nothing to hide from anybody.
And so, you know, I can understand how people get frustrated, but I also can understand why the process is or was the way that it was.
So, let's continue here.
May God help you if you're an introvert.
That's where we ended.
But this is not speculative.
In 2015, a paper published, an epididymological, that's a tongue twister, reviews, revealed that upwards of 60% of military members who could benefit from professional treatment did not access help services.
The stigma, however, was identified as one of the barriers to seeking help.
This belief that mental health treatment will negatively impact one security clearance is so pervasive that as of late 2022, the U.S. Army's Intelligence and Security Command had to release a statement dispelling the stigma surrounding mental health treatment.
Stating that security clearances are not denied for seeking help.
There was a time when the Questionnaire for National Security Positions asked applicants to disclose whether in the last seven years he or she had consulted with a mental health professional of any kind or consulted with another health care provider about a mental health related question.
Fortunately, our understanding of mental health issues and the stigma this question reinforced has advanced in the last two decades.
The author's proposal, though, would have us return to the foregone era, one where stigma was king and service members its subject.
I am all for protecting national security secrets, for ensuring that only the loyal, trustworthy, reliable possess access to our closely guarded secrets.
But this proposal does not advance that end.
Rather, it increases the stigma, forcing service members living with mental illness to retreat even further into the shadows and denying them life-saving treatment and means for improved mental health.
And that is the true, folks, that is the true threat to national security.
So, here's...
I don't know.
I guess I don't know how to...
I don't know how to feel about it, right?
I think that there is many issues in our country today...
That play a part in this whole thing.
I don't see why it's a problem.
To ask men and women.
Who are seeking access to government secrets or military secrets.
Whether or not.
They've seen a healthcare provider about mental health issues.
or if they've seen a mental healthcare provider.
I don't think it's a problem.
At the end of the day, if you're not fit to keep the secrets, then you shouldn't be allowed to keep them.
And I don't know And see, here's the rub, right?
Like, I also don't know that I agree that somebody who has a low self-esteem is going to just spill all the beans.
I don't know that somebody who's lonely is going to seek out an opportunity to tell all of our government secrets.
I think that if a person on their own free will raises their hand, swears an oath, and promises to defend this country against all enemies,
foreign and domestic, I think that not that that should be enough But I think that that counts for something.
It counts for something, I guess, is what I'm trying to say.
Now, I tend to think that it's the folks with this grandiose narcissism That we may want to be a little bit more cautious of as it pertains to our military secrets.
I mean, I think we all know at least one person that we could say might be slightly narcissistic or is absolutely narcissistic.
And do you trust all those people with your own secrets?
Right?
Like, do you tell your narcissistic buddy, hey, don't tell my wife I spent $300 on pull tabs Sunday while we were at the bar watching the football game or something like that?
Well, no.
Because at least I don't.
Maybe the people I know that I view as somewhat narcissistic, I wouldn't tell them things like that.
But I don't know that we need to dumb down the process because we're concerned about people's feelings, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
Because after all, this is our country.
This is our defense.
This is our livelihood.
This is our safety and our security that we're talking about.
And so if you're not fit...
To keep those secrets and to operate within the confines of what the government or the military tells you is the deal, well, then you shouldn't have a security clearance.
You gotta pick a job in the military that doesn't require one.
I mean, I think it's just that plain and simple, to be honest, folks.
I mean, I don't know.
What do you think?
I mean, I think it's a pretty big deal to be able to, in my opinion, have the privilege to have a security clearance.
I think it's a pretty big deal to know that people in high places, even if they never know your name, Allow you to have access to these things, to this information, to these weapons, to these vehicles, to this equipment, to the knowledge.
And it's all kept a secret for a reason.
Because it's our security.
And I don't know that it's picking on these people.
I guess if it's true, if it's true that the stigma has been squashed, which is what they claim, then why would we have a problem answering the question?
Why would we have a problem saying, yep, every two weeks I go see a therapist and it helps keep me on an even keel?
Why would we have a problem with that?
Now, when I was young in the Army, it was a huge problem.
And I saw it with my own eyes.
So, I guess what my question would be back to the United States Army is, show me that it's not a problem.
Prove it.
Can you prove it?
If it's not a problem, then why are soldiers still apprehensive to tell you that they're getting help?
Stick with us, we'll be right back.
Thanks for joining us again this week.
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Hey folks, welcome back here to the next segment of the show.
Here's what I want to say.
I think that this whole issue...
Of course, I think it's a bigger issue than we realize, right?
Our national security is something I think that we all should take pretty seriously.
And I think that our government also should take it pretty seriously.
But I don't know if the problem lies with the process as much as With just societal issues that we have going on in our country.
I mean, is it possible that as our country gets older, that our youngsters who are coming up, who are now becoming soldiers, or even in the last 10 years, Is it possible that the way that our society is progressing is playing a role in all of this?
I understand that organizations and processes such as this need to evolve with the changing times.
But I also think that there's an issue.
There's an issue with many young people in our communities.
And I don't know that it's always necessarily their fault, but I think that the system in general It's kind of just making everything and maybe everybody a little more weak, if you will.
For example, I mean, it's June, right?
It's a graduation party season.
So my wife and I were at a graduation party a couple weekends ago now.
And actually, I think it was last weekend.
And I ran into one of my old teachers from high school.
He was one of our football coaches.
He was a gym teacher, of course.
He coached hockey.
He's a really nice guy.
His name's Tom.
Well, it just so happens that he lives across the street from the girl whose house we were at for her graduation party.
And so we got to talking and I was asking him about, you know, how has the school changed since my class left there?
I graduated in 2000, so 23 years ago now.
And he was saying, he goes, you know, you wouldn't even recognize it anymore.
He goes, things have become So crazy that he goes, it's my belief that the only reason that many of these folks stick around anymore, and he started naming off teachers that I had that I thought had been there forever, 23 years ago when I was there and they're still there.
The only reason that they may be there still is because they have to.
They can't afford to retire yet.
So as this guy was telling me, he said, you know, I got three or four more years and then I can get my full retirement and I'm out of there.
But he was telling me that even if a student shows up to school every day And does absolutely zero work.
Doesn't turn in any assignments.
Doesn't participate in class discussions.
Doesn't take tests.
Doesn't, you know, whatever.
Just does nothing.
All year.
They're still required to give that student 50%.
And they've done nothing.
They cannot fail students.
And so, now with that knowledge that I had gotten, it kind of plays into how I feel about this, right?
Like, if our children can go to school and not be held accountable For their failures or their successes.
And don't have to do anything.
And they still get the pass.
It's like the participation trophy deal.
What is that teaching them about life?
How is it?
Because here's the thing.
And maybe this is completely way off the topic, but if you didn't turn in work the day it was due, most of our teachers gave you two days.
You could turn it in a day late for half credit, and then you could turn it in two days late for like 25% or whatever it was.
But now they don't have to do nothing and they still get 50%.
So what's the incentive?
What's the incentive to work hard and then have that reward of being prideful?
Because I believe that people love to feel good about the things that they do.
I remember walking across the stage in June of 2000 in some hockey arena that had no air conditioning.
That's an oxymoron, right?
A hockey arena?
It must have been 110 degrees in that place.
But I remember walking across that stage with this crazy, insane sense of accomplishment.
Because I struggled in school.
I was not good at academics.
And then when I graduated college, it was like 10 times the sense of accomplishment, because I never thought I'd finish.
In fact, folks, it took me 20 years.
I started in August of 2000, and I just graduated in like 2019.
But I remember walking across that stage and feeling accomplished.
At some point, I was a little bit ashamed, right?
Because if I'd have just done the right thing, I would have finished college, you know, in four or five years like everybody else.
And my life may have been a whole lot different, but what's done is done.
And so, to get back to the topic, I don't know that we need to Agreed to alter this process of securing a security clearance for military service because we don't want,
as the author says here, we don't want to force members living with mental illness to retreat even further into the shadows and denying them of life-saving treatment and a means for improved mental health.
Now, the one thing I will agree to is that I don't believe that taking the initiative to treat some mental health conditions should preclude you from having a security clearance.
I believe that the stigma should go away, but I don't believe that we shouldn't be asking these questions.
Because when and if there is a time that secrets are leaked or whatever, there is a security violation, it's good to probably know, well, hey, back in 2019 when we did Joe Snuffy's security clearance adjudication, he had said he was seeing a mental health care provider for blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Might help shed some light on what's going on.
Because at the end of the day, I don't know that we're really going to be able to...
I think the people that really want to leak secrets and really want to break the rules, if you will, are going to do it anyway.
And like I was saying, the folks with this grandiose narcissism are maybe the ones that we need to watch out for more.
I don't know.
Like I said, I'm kind of on the fence, but I mean, I understand the arguments of both sides.
But at the end of the day, folks, we don't have a whole lot of stuff right now, in my opinion, to be super proud of.
As a country.
I think that we have a few things.
But I think that something like our national security and our military secrets and our military processes are something that are worth protecting and to keep a secret.
I mean...
At the end of the day, for example, my security clearance is still good for another few years.
Even though I'm not in the military, I still hold it.
If for whatever reason I was called back, which I don't think would ever happen, I would still be able to serve in a job that requires a security clearance because mine's still good.
I could probably secure some federal job that requires a security clearance.
And I take pride in that.
But I think that if we got back to raising a society of people who Knew what it felt like to get stomped down in the mud and have to pick yourself up,
tie your effin' boots tight, and start putting one foot in front of the other and carry on.
That things like this would not be as big of an issue.
You see, I think that's where we've kind of lost ourselves.
So many people at high places in the government and in military leadership are concerned about this inclusion and making people feel nice.
We talked a little bit about it last week on the show.
To be quite honest, when it comes to our national security and that blanket of freedom that is talked about so often, I don't give two shits if your feelings are hurt because you're not included.
If you want to be included, do the right thing.
I don't care if you are a woman that wants to be a man or a man who wants...
I don't give a crap.
I don't care.
The survival and the security of my family and your family are way more important than any of that bullshit.
Any of it.
So if we raise strong, confident people, yeah, they're going yeah, they're going to have hiccups.
They're going to stumble.
But if they don't know any kind of resilience...
If they don't have any coping skills or mechanisms to cope, then none of this matters anyway.
Because then we're going to get to a point where, well, you know, if you cry hard enough, you'll get a security clearance.
Don't worry about it.
It should be something that you have to work hard to obtain.
And by work hard, I mean do the right thing all the time.
Because as we talked about, they crawl right up your behind with ice picks.
They don't make it comfortable to get one.
And that's probably the way that it should be.
Anyway, I'd like to know anybody who's watching or listening, I'd like to know what your take on this is.
I don't know, am I alone in the way that I feel about it?
I mean, I know I said earlier in the show that I was kind of on the fence about the way I feel about all this.
Maybe it seems like I'm not so much on the fence.
But what I will tell you is, That the process, in my opinion, shouldn't change a ton.
I just don't think it should be a big deal for somebody to say that they're going to talk to somebody because they have a couple issues to work out.
And so, like, but don't get me wrong, I'm not saying, you know, folks that...
Have some pretty strong mental health concerns.
Should be allowed clearances.
But, you know, if we have a soldier who, you know, has divorced parents or, you know, lost a sibling to a boating accident or a parent to a car accident, something like that.
Well, yeah, it's probably a good thing.
It's probably a good thing that they're talking to somebody and trying to process these things and learn the coping mechanisms to get through life.
In my opinion, that would only make them stronger and more worthy of having a security clearance.
I also don't think that being a lonely person is going to make you start flapping your gums to somebody, but maybe I'm wrong.
I could be completely wrong.
But anyway, please, if you agree with me, great.
If you disagree with me, that's great too.
Let me know.
I mean, I guess this is one of those topics I really don't know where to exactly land on my stance.
So anyway, folks, as usual, thank you very much for joining us.
We really do appreciate it.
As I said, leave some comments, good, bad, or indifferent.
I got thick skin.
I could take it.
If you hate it, then let me know.
That's fine.
I really hope that you guys are enjoying your summer.
Have a great evening, and I will see you next week.
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