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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Pejman Yousefzadeh and Kevin Holtsberry are joined by Hunter Baker to discuss the eventful and impactful books they read in 2011 including autobiographies of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condeleza Rice; the growth – and subsequent persecution – of the church in China; and more.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

Related Links:

Hunter Baker
No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington
Known and Unknown: A Memoir
In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir
God Is Red: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived and Flourished in Communist China
American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us
Adventures of an Accidental Sociologist: How to Explain the World Without Becoming a Bore
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3)

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Gov. Rick Perry took the Republican field by storm when he announced his candidacy in August. As a matter of fact, he seemed unbeatable. He did this by bringing in something the rest of the field was desperately lacking – swagger. He was a gun totting cowboy who was unapologetic about his pro-life, pro-marriage, pro-Christian roots. And when he talked, citizens in the heartland heard the voice of someone who loved America as much as they did.

However, since those first weeks following his entrance into the race Perry has lost traction and appeared at times as weak as he once did strong. But as of late, he seems to have found himself and especially this week, has come out swinging at business as usual in Washington, Obama’s failures in intelligence gathering and border security, and the ongoing saga of Fast and Furious.

Of the business as usual crowd in DC, Perry spent time in Iowa talking about “creating a part-time Congress, ending lifetime appointments for federal judges and shuttering dysfunctional agencies.” These things are in perfect harmony with what Perry was telling Americans back in August, when he could do no wrong, and when he promised to make Washington as inconsequential in our lives as possible.

The Texas Gov. has also been right on the mark in his criticism of Obama.

Regarding Obama’s refusal to allow our military and special agents (covert and otherwise) to interrogate captured terrorists in way that gets results—in a way similar to those allowed for a time by President George W. Bush—Perry said:

We’ve really failed … in our ability to collect intelligence around the world. This administration in particular has been an absolute failure when it comes to expending the dollars and supporting the CIA and the military intelligence around the world to be able to draw in that intelligence that is going to be truly able to allow us to keep the next terrorist attack from happening on American soil.

This is a crucial point. Since Obama took office, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Bush have all born witness to the success of the enhanced interrogation techniques that Obama refuses to employ for fear of offending our enemy. Perry is right on when he says that we are missing crucial intelligence at this point in time.

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Is it time to eliminate America’s large naval fleet?

Did Donald Rumsfeld get it right with an emphasis on small, fast, and flexible?

Naval Postgraduate School professor John Arquilla joins Victor Davis Hanson to discuss these questions and more in the latest episode of Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson.

They explore the importance of networks in war-making and how they make enemies elusive, the prolonged failures in Iraq and Afghanistan and the Pentagon’s refusal to continue Rumsfeld’s military strategy and finally the current military landscape and what it means for policy regarding Iran.

Here is the full episode:

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Earlier this week, Andrew Breitbart paid tribute to the late Ron Silver at the Center for Security Policy’s Keeper of the Flame dinner.  Attendees included Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. (Comment at Big Hollywood)