Reel Urban News Exclusive:

Reel Urban News is proud to bring you a profile and exclusive interview with Congressional District 20 candidate, Dr. Casey Lucius (R). She is a former Professor of National Security at the Naval War College. Due to the Hatch Act, she resigned from her position and is campaigning full-time. In the wake of the Orlando attack, the California transplant and national security expert shows she is a solution-oriented candidate whose breadth and depth of substance exemplifies her strong command of the issues. At her website (CaseyLucius.com) you can read for days her publications regarding all things national interest and security. A cursory look at her social media activity (Facebook: Casey Lucius for Congress  Twitter:@VoteCaseyLucius) and it’s clear she is a candidate who is accessible, shares her thoughts on current events, and desires to communicate with the people and for them to be included in the legislative process. In fact, she’s already penned an op-ed dated 6/14/2016 at Security Debrief (http://securitydebrief.com/2016/06/14/the-one-minute-terrorist-lessons-from-orlando/) in response to the Orlando attacks.

Predictably, the local California media and lawmakers steered the conversation towards gun control. Lucius is polite to address certain aspects of gun control, however it is her intent to keep the ball in the national security court. After all, this is a terrorist attack that goes directly to our nation’s foreign policy and homeland security posture. She emphasizes a holistic, strategic approach and she is consistent to stay on message, focusing on multi-level information sharing, community policing, and empowering the people to take action when they see suspicious activity. This empowerment includes recognizing what is suspicious activity and to whom they report the information. No doubt this is in response to the San Bernardino attack when it was reported that people saw what they considered suspicious activity by the attacker, but didn’t report it to law enforcement. In between Casey’s meetings and campaign events, Cynthia Shaffer, Political Editor, was able to catch up with Casey and ask her a few questions.

Reel Urban News: Weighing your background in national security, so you’d be speaking as an expert in the field, please share your thoughts on the current administration’s ISIS/foreign policy as it relates to this latest attack in Orlando. Do you agree with Susan Rice’s (National Security Advisor) standing? Do you believe our current policy helps or hurts our national interest?

Casey: I honestly don’t know what our current policy or strategy to defeat terrorism is.  I hear from the Administration that our efforts against ISIS are working, but the problem is, we are using a decade-old strategy to take out top ISIS leaders in Iraq, then we declare success.  One of the things we learned in 2004 about Al Queda is that once you kill a top leader, someone else just moves to the top.  We need to reverse that strategy and target their online recruitment efforts.  We need to start at the bottom and work up.

Reel Urban News: For the laymen who are concerned about being able to articulate America’s national interest, what would you say to them?

Casey: I think it’s extremely important that we all know what our national interests are.  What is it that we stand for as a nation? What is it we are willing to fight for to protect?  I believe those interests are: homeland security, energy security, cyber security, economic prosperity and protection of global trade, and freedom of the seas.  These are the interests we must work to protect and advance.

Reel Urban News: What are your thoughts when you hear people say the President and certain presidential candidates should say, “Islamic Radicals” (or any variation thereof) when addressing the enemy. Is “addressing the enemy” a consideration in national security/foreign policy?

Casey: Identifying the enemy is an important first step.  We need to know who our enemy is and what they are capable of in order to defeat them.

Reel Urban News: You promote the idea of multi-level information sharing, what are your ideas of how to implement that proposal, especially in light of that being a recommendation after 9/11, but it still seems to be a lingering problem? What do you believe is the “hold up” in the free flow of information among the local, state, and national agencies?

Casey: After Sept 11th there was a big push and restructuring of our national intelligence agencies to be able to share information between national departments (CIA, FBI, military).  However, that never trickled down to the state and local level.  State law enforcement communicates with the FBI, but there is little communication between the FBI and local law enforcement, unless there is a crisis.  By then it’s too late.  We need FBI liaisons to every state and region.

Reel Urban News: It’s interesting how the local take was to report on gun control. The one piece that piqued my interest was your agreement with denying firearms to people on the “no fly list”. How does one make the “no fly list”?

Casey: The “no fly list” discussion is a simple sound bite that means nothing.  99% of the people on the no-fly list live outside of the US and therefore do not fly into the US.  And the 1% that are in the US have been arrested. This is just an easy thing to say that everyone will agree with, but it does nothing to solve the problem of terrorism.  Not to mention that our last three domestic attacks (Boston, San Bernadino, Orlando) did not involve flying or airport security – they were localized targeting soft targets where there was no security.

Reel Urban News: Last question. Not directly related to Orlando, but certainly a consideration in the manifestation of Islam in America. Would you please comment on the Sharia Law situation in America and specifically, the situation in Irving, TX? What is Congress’ role?

http://www.thepoliticalinsider.com/muslims-are-angry-at-texas-mayor-after-she-stops-sharia-court-here-is-her-epic-response/

Casey: I don’t know enough about the Texas situation to comment on this.  I do think that in America we want to promote tolerance.  Tolerance of different religions, races, and sexual orientations.  This is a time to unite around what is best about our country.  We believe in freedom and tolerance – now is a time to show it.

Stay with Reel Urban News as we follow Casey Lucius and her bid to win in the Blue-stronghold state of California. The Central Coast has been dominated by only two men for over 40 years. Dr. Lucius is stepping up to be a new voice and a representative of all the people in District 20.

Dr. Casey Lucius pic 1

Cynthia Shaffer, Political Editor, Reel Urban News, covers and writes about local and national politics from Northern California.
Cynthia Shaffer, Political Editor, Reel Urban News, covers and writes about local and national politics from Northern California.