Hey, it's Sean... for the most part, today's issue is canceled.

That's because many of our readership may not have watched the game-changing panel discussion that premiered yesterday. Of course, I'm talking about the Whiskey Bar Panel Discussion from the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.

If you haven't watched that panel discussion, it's mandatory for Rude readers. Ok, I can’t make you watch. But I can’t encourage you enough to watch it.

Rude reader and X buddy @thE dEwd posted, “I absolutely LOVED the Whiskey Bar discussion! It was loaded with a plethora of insights. So much knowledge in that room. Nice work, guys! @seaniechaos @ZachScheidt”

Please make sure you watch it now. If you did watch it, I've included a few of my favorite sections below.

If you call Jack Daniels “whiskey,” you ought to hang your head in shame. And if you’ve been reading the Rude for a while, you know I prefer whisky (no “e”), as in the Scottish stuff, single malt, if you please.

Ace Paradigm copywriter and new friend Chris Cimorelli agrees with my assessment. Of course, since he’s about 20 years younger than I am, he loves the rich Islay peatiness of Laphroaig and Lagavulin. And while I still appreciate those venerable brands, I’ve been enjoying the subtle complexity of Speyside stalwart The Balvenie lately.

Be all that as it may, Jim Rickards and his editors descended into Washington, DC, last week. I believe it was Obi-Wan Kenobi who referred to DC as a “wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

My mistake: he was talking about Mos Eisley Spaceport… but the description applies perfectly to the imperial capital of the American Empire and its accompanying military-industrial-media-financial-pharma-tech complex.

And since it’s the 50th anniversary of Tricky Dicky walking before he was pushed, or the CIA JFKed him, Paradigm Grand Poobah Matt Insley thought it a grand idea to gather at none other than The Watergate Hotel.

JFKed stands for “Just F*cking Killed.”

None of us there cared about Watergate much. To us, Nixon’s unpardonable crime was taking the USD off the gold standard in what’s now called The Nixon Shock.

On August 15, 1971, Richard Nixon went on air that fateful Sunday night, interrupting Bonanza of all TV shows, he said:

I have directed Secretary Connally to suspend temporarily the convertibility of the dollar into gold or other reserve assets, except in amounts and conditions determined to be in the interest of monetary stability and in the best interests of the United States. Now, what is this action—which is very technical—what does it mean for you? Let me lay to rest the bugaboo of what is called devaluation. If you want to buy a foreign car or take a trip abroad, market conditions may cause your dollar to buy slightly less. But if you are among the overwhelming majority of Americans who buy American-made products in America, your dollar will be worth just as much tomorrow as it is today. The effect of this action, in other words, will be to stabilize the dollar.

As our current Oval Office participant might have said, “What a load of malarkey!”

Not only did Nixon suspend (and ultimately end) the gold standard, but he also issued Executive Order 11615, imposing a 90-day freeze on wages and prices to counter inflation. An import surcharge of 10% was set to ensure that American products wouldn’t be disadvantaged because of the expected fluctuation in exchange rates.

Nixon may have been a foreign policy expert, but for a Republican, he knew nothing about economics.

When Nixon realized his mistake and intended to bring America back to the gold standard, Watergate happened. What an amazing coincidence!

This time around, our stint at the Watergate proved much less disastrous.

Jim and the Boys

Matt Insley, Doug Hill, Byron King, Zach Scheidt, Dan Amoss, Andrew Zatlin, and I joined Jim Rickards, the man himself, for a great discussion.

One of the things I noticed immediately was that we really disagreed on the Fed’s next move. 

What’s the Fed Going To Do?

I still think the Fed will cut in June, only because it’s far enough from the election to make it look like a non-political move, even though it so nakedly is.

Andrew “Led” Zatlin mentioned that foreign central banks cutting rates already is a stealth hike for the Fed. So if the Fed does cut, it’ll just be returning to what existed before.

Jim was having none of it. According to him, the Fed won’t cut at all until maybe November or December.

Now, I really can’t wait to see what Jay Powell does!

What’s America’s Number One Problem?

Dan thinks it’s a lack of religion.

Matt thinks it’s a lack of education.

Andrew thinks it’s a lack of shared values.

Zach said it was intolerance and poor work ethic.

Doug said it was accountability and ownership.

I think it’s a treacherous elite.

You’ll enjoy what Jim has to say about it.

Wrap Up

I kept this Rude short so you can slip over to the Whisky Bar and join us. Here is the link: https://secretsofwatergate.com/whiskey-bar-replay.

Remember, the Whisky Bar costs you nada. And we never sell or upsell you anything from here. It’s our way of saying “thanks” and getting us to express what we usually write verbally.

I hope you enjoy it.