Yesterday the Voting Rights Act underwent some very hostile questioning from the Supreme Court’s conservative justices. The conservatives on the Supreme Court don’t seem to think that the Voting Rights Act is doing any good. I think the problem is with what the conservatives on the Supreme Court consider to be “good.” They certainly can’t mean that the Voting Rights Act doesn’t do any good in guaranteeing voting rights for minorities, because it certainly does. They must just not think that’s a very good thing.
During questioning, Justice Antonin Scalia asked if the Voting Rights Act hadn’t become a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.” If you strip away the legal language, Scalia was asking “Do we really want black people voting?” I think Antonin Scalia is in the wrong kind of robe. He should trade in his judicial robes for something in white with a pointy top that covers the head, with eyeholes cut out. The observers in the courtroom gasped when Scalia said that. Please don’t do that, people. It just eggs him on.
Bob Woodward is saying that the White House threatened him over a piece he wrote claiming that President Obama lied about creating the sequester. Bob Woodward has had some big scoops in the past, but this isn’t one of them. This is the kind of “big scoop” that you put into a plastic baggie and throw away at the dog park. Now Woodward says the White House “threatened” him in an email. What the White House aide actually wrote in the email was “I think you will regret staking out that claim.” The White House aide obviously meant the phrase to mean “you will look like a fool.” I base that belief on the fact that Bob Woodward does in fact look like a fool now. Woodward’s story is a pile of crap. How can you be sure? He’s going on Sean Hannity’s show to whine about it.
In the face of sequester budget cuts, immigration officials have released hundreds of detainees from detention centers. Or as Fox News put it—Obama has unleashed his Hispanic Rape Army. Back in the real world, the detainees are being freed on supervised release while their cases continue in court. If this is a threat to anyone, it’s a threat to the prison contractors who make a fortune from locking these people up. The bottom line is that these people should not have been released now—they should have been released years ago.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Yesterday, one shocking statement spurred audible gasps in the Supreme Court. During oral arguments about Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires historically discriminatory states and counties get federal approval before changing their voting laws, Justice Antonin Scalia described the key provision as a “perpetuation of racial entitlement.” Maybe Justice Scalia is unaware that racial inequality still exists in our nation.
Perhaps Scalia doesn't realize voters in many minority districts waited up to nine hours to vote in the last election. Maybe it doesn't matter to him that African Americans still face an unemployment rate that's twice as high as whites. Or perhaps Justice Scalia isn't concerned about the income disparity between whites and people of color that a new study from Brandeis University recently pointed out.
Despite all the evidence of racial inequality, Jusitce Scalia instead made a racist comment about entitlements. Maybe all those statistics just don't matter to Antonin Scalia. His racially-charged statement alone clearly shows why the Voting Rights Act, and efforts like it, should be strengthened, not eliminated. Minister Leslie Watson Malachi, of The African American Ministers Leadership Council, spoke out against Scalia's statement, saying, “Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act doesn't represent the 'perpetuation of racial entitlement,' … Rather, it is one of the more important tools we have for confronting the entitlement of those who believe some people's votes and voices should matter more than others.”
Justice Scalia was right about one thing – we are all entitled to the right to vote. It's time our leaders fight to make every vote and every voice equal in our nation. They can do so by continuing to fight for equality and by expanding the Voting Rights Act to protect the vote of everyone in our nation.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
We don't pay too much attention to oral arguments before the US Supreme Court. The last time we did, it was when the nine justices were considering the Affordable Care Act. Wednesday, the next to last day of Black History Month had people paying attention once again. The high court decided to take up the constitutionality of Section Five of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
One can argue about whether they should have done so or not, and we certainly don't know yet how they'll rule. But the words of Justice Antonin Scalia stained the arguments like dirt stains a pair of jeans. This most conservative justice labeled the most recent extension of the Act by Congress to be "a perpetuation of racial entitlement."
First, let's call this statement what it is: racist, plain and simple. The iconic civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis was kind when he called it appalling. An honorable person would have recused his or herself and immediately apologized. But as we all know, a lifetime appointment means never having to say you're sorry.
Worse yet, Scalia's insult took place on the same day a statue horning Rosa Parks was unveiled in the nation's capital. One guesses this is how the man celebrates Black History Month. And what of "Silent" Clarence Thomas? He agrees with Scalia about almost everything else. One wonders what he thought of his good friend's characterization. Guess we'll never know.
Scalia and his cronies will now go down in history as justices (sic?) who believe corporations are people and therefore entitled to steer the outcome of elections with their money, but actual voters don't count nearly as much when it comes to protecting their right to exercise their franchise.
As for the argument that "The South has changed", fine. How about we apply that same logic to the Second Amendment? Weapons have changed just like the South has. Should we junk the Second Amendment like Scalia wants to junk the Voting Rights Act?
Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison tore into Sean Hannity on Fox News. Ellison told Hannity “You’re the worst excuse for a journalist I’ve ever seen.” I don’t mean to quibble, Congressman Ellison, but Sean Hannity is not an excuse for a journalist. He’s a mockery of a journalist. Later on the same episode of Hannity’s show, token liberal Tamara Holder said “most Republicans are fat asses.” Most Republicans ARE fat asses. And even if they lose the weight, they’re still asses. Republicans do tend to be fatter. If Chris Christie was a Democrat... well if he was, he would be two Democrats. At least.
The Senate yesterday confirmed Chuck Hagel as Defense Secretary. Chuck Hagel’s confirmation is a step forward for the Obama administration—and a huge victory for “Friends of Hamas”! Was all that insanity about Benghazi during the hearings really necessary? “Mr. Hagel, we’ll confirm you eventually. But first we need to let Lindsey Graham convince the people of South Carolina that he is an obsessive lunatic. And not gay.” Republicans took something that everybody knew was going to happen, and they turned it into a painful ordeal. Of course, that’s how they approach the entire operation of government these days.
Congratulations on your new job, Chuck—you have a little over 48 hours until they start slashing your Pentagon budget. The good news is that you’re now the Secretary of Defense. The bad news is that we don’t have enough money to print you up any business cards. Hagel’s first action as Secretary of Defense will be to chip in on the kitty to buy coffee for the office.
Federal, state and local governments now employ 500,000 fewer workers than they did just before the recession in 2007. Think about it—we employed half a million more government workers under George Bush than we do under Barack Obama. Under George Bush, even idiots like Michael Brown could get a government job. In fact, they preferred idiots like Michael Brown. Under Barack Obama, we have half a million fewer government employees. And the truly incompetent ones like Michael Brown have been forced to seek employment elsewhere... like on rightwing radio.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Today in our nation's capital, President Obama helped unveil a new statue dedicated to civil rights icon Rosa Parks. Civil rights leaders like Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the fight to ensure African Americans in our nation were no longer denied the right to vote. Yet on the very day this historic statue is unveiled, lawyers for Shelby County, Alabama tried to convince the Supreme Court that racial bias is a thing of the past.
Section 5 of The Voting Rights Act requires Alabama, and 15 other states, to get Justice Department approval before making any changes in existing voting laws. The "Pre-Clearance" requirement became law because of a long history of those states trying to block minority voters from the polls. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been upheld numerous times, and even expanded under Republican presidents like Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford.
This challenge to the Voting Rights Act is just one of many Republican attempts to undermine our democratic process. And, after the discriminatory ID laws and long lines we saw at the polls in the most recent election, it's clear that we need more protection of our voting rights – not less. We shouldn't remove this requirement in the 16 states covered under the law, we should expand it to every state in our nation.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said a half century ago, “we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” We can help make his dream a reality, by eliminating the Republican's power to manipulate our elections. And we can do it by moving to a national popular vote. Let's take control of our democratic process, and remind our leaders that they work for us. Stand up for your voting rights, and go to NationalPopularVote.com.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Allowing the sequester would be a disaster, but the American public doesn’t seem too concerned about it. The American public has something they should call Republican Manufactured Crisis Fatigue Syndrome. It’s kind of hard to get worked up over a problem that would disappear if people just act rationally. The problem is that some of those people have to be Republicans.
Republicans tend to take most of the blame whenever there’s a government shutdown. That’s because, without Republicans, there never would be a government shutdown. Hello! If there’s a fire, the first person you blame is the know pyromaniac. Something burned down? Chances are it’s that guy who is always lighting matches and giggling.
Lindsey Graham says that he would be willing to support revenue increases as part of a sequester deal. Uh Lindsey, just because you’re the biggest nut on Benghazi doesn’t mean the Tea Party is giving you permission to make sense on the sequester.
A group of prominent Republicans has signed a legal brief to the Supreme Court in support of gay marriage. Technically, it’s called an amicus brief, or a “friend-of-the-court” brief. Heck, most Republicans would refuse to sign that just because it sounds gay. The people signing this brief are friends of the court, AND friends of Dorothy. The brief cites previous Supreme Court decisions, including Citizens United. That’s the law for you—they’re promoting something right using the logic employed to do something else wrong.
In Colorado, a gun nut has been arrested for sending harassing and threatening emails to a state representative who is working on gun control. One of man’s emails threatened the rep and another lawmaker by using Gabbie Giffords’ name. He wrote “Hopefully somebody Gifords both your asses with a gun.” And he misspelled “Giffords.” Amazing! He made up a term… and he still managed to misspell it. How hard is that?
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
That's what Justice Department Attorney Mike Underhill argued yesterday, in the first phase of the trial that could force the oil giant to pay tens of billions more in damages for the 2010 Gulf oil disaster. According to the Associated Press, BP has already racked up $24 billion in spill-related expenses and $4 billion in criminal penalties, but could face up to $18 billion more under the Clean Water Act, and additional fines if found grossly negligent in the high-stakes civil trial. The libility of the rig owner Transocean and cement contractor Haliburton are also at issue in the tiral's first phase.
During opening arguments yesterday, the three companies pointed fingers at each other in a triangle of blame, but BP received the brunt of accusations, from its partners and other plaintiffs in the case. The Justice Department's Mike Underhill piled on, saying, “Despite BP's attempts to shift the blame to other parties, by far the primary fault for the disaster belongs to BP.”
This first phase of trial is designed to determine what caused the blowout and determine responsibility of each of the three companies. This phase could last as long as three months, as the case involves hundreds of attorneys, 90 million pages of documents, and more than 300 depositions from witnesses. Once this phase is complete, the second phase of trial will determine how much crude oil actually spilled into the Gulf.
This trial is one of the most complex and costly civil cases our nation has ever seen, and it will be months before we see an outcome. Although no amount of money can ever fully repair the damage done to the Gulf, or bring back the 11 people who died on the rig, at least we'll finally see BP, Transocean, and Haliburton have to answer for the largest environmental disaster in our nation's history.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Remember when the problem the host of the Oscars had was that they had to try to make everybody happy? Seth MacFarlane solved that last night by not trying to make anybody happy. Seth tried to make edgy jokes and still do old-school song-and-dance numbers. Jennifer Lawrence, who fell on her way to the stage, did a better job of balancing things. ABC had promoted the show with the line “Finally... an Oscars the guys can enjoy.” Really? The guys get all they need from Jessica Chastain’s cleavage. And they don’t even know who she is. The guys get to ogle boobs. We don’t need to give them a song about boobs too!
The sequester will start taking effect this Friday. Congress! Time to start kicking the can! If Congress doesn’t kick this can pretty soon, the can is going to jump up and kick the crap out of all of us. The only reason that most people aren’t concerned about these cuts is that most people don’t think the Congress is crazy enough to let the cuts actually go through. Well, underestimating the crazy of Congress is how we got into this mess. Neither the House nor the Senate will be in session on Friday when the sequester hits. So the only thing that Congress has done to address the sequester situation is to give itself an alibi.
The White House is detailing what the effects of the sequester will be on a state by state basis. The White House is giving us a state by state breakdown of exactly how each state would completely break down.
If you want to see what the effects of the sequester will be, just look at the example of Alabama. Things will get very bad in Alabama… and Alabama isn’t a place where things are all that good to begin with. Head Start will be eliminated for some 1,100 children in Alabama. Kids in Alabama need Head Start. Heck, anybody starting out in Alabama is automatically a step behind.
Gun activists are warning that President Obama is raising a private black army to massacre white Americans. Right. Black people make up less than 15 percent of the population. The rightwingers wish Obama was that crazy! After Obama sends his black army in “then they will claim anyone resisting the black force they are doing it because they are racist.” And if that doesn’t work, they’ll use a gay army, claiming any resistance is homophobic. According to nutcase blogger Greg Howard “we were healing quite well as a nation on racial issues until Obama came along and now we have a lot of racial discord.” Funny how a black man succeeding just fans the flames of racial hatred.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
The sequester deadline is March 1st, and there's only four days until Republican austerity measures start to kick in. President Obama released new reports Sunday, which detail how spending cuts will harm each state, and he continues to call on Congress to find a way to avoid the sequester. The Republicans were hard at work too. But, instead of working on a compromise to prevent austerity, they've just come up with a new way to make Obama the bad guy.
Since the American people didn't buy the Republican's attempts to blame the President for the sequester, the GOP now wants Obama to decide just where, when, and how these cuts should take place. Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri floated this new idea in an interview over the weekend, saying “the compromise is to give the president authority that he should be willing to use as the leader of the country to target the cuts, rather than to take the cuts on every line item.” This is just their latest ploy to avoid any responsibility for the financial pain our nation is about to feel, and President Obama needs to say “No” to their latest scheme.
If Congress doesn’t act to prevent these austerity measures, the American people will know who's really to blame. It's Republicans who refuse to compromise, and they'd rather subject our entire nation to devastating cuts, than stop the tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. Call Congress now and tell them that if they don't act to prevent the sequester, soon they'll be joining the unemployment rolls with the one million Americans who lose their jobs because of Republican austerity
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Maybe I'm the only person who feels this way, but I'm about tired of workers taking it on the chin. Here I am, broadcasting in New York City, the country's biggest union town, and I have to hear stories about union members, hard working people, getting kicked in the teeth by their city and their bosses. I'm equally tired of hearing about unions being greedy and their leadership only being out for themselves. I come from a union family, and love the fact that the city I love has a reputation for being union friendly. Yet something has changed since back in the day, when I walked a union picket line for a modest increase in pay.
This was in the mid 1970s, and I walked a line everyday for over a month with my fellow members. Negotiations were going nowhere, and the enthusiasm of some of my colleagues was flagging. Then, one afternoon, a truck pulled up in front of the building we were picketing. The driver rolled down his window, and in his best Brooklynese asked, "Hey fellas. What are you striking about?" We told him, and what he said next surprised me. "Listen, I'm with the Teamsters. You want us to shut down the building for you?"
It was incredible to me that this guy would make an offer like this, and that he wasn't kidding. We didn't take him up on it, but thanked him profusely, as he waved and drove on. Our strike ended soon after, but that memory of union solidarity remains with me to this day.
But what do we have now? 22 Cablevision workers in Brooklyn going to see their boss about the status on contract talks, and being summarily fired. School bus drivers walking off the job not for more money, but for some basic job guarantees. They stay out a month, a smaller union crosses the picket lines with other "replacement workers", and the city refuses to get involved. They go back to work Wednesday, only to find a couple of hundred workers have been fired.
The bus companies tell the fired workers they can apply for new jobs (probably at less money), but with the caveat that they have to drop their union affiliation.
I don't think I'm the only person who gets angry when they hear about such affronts in New York City, a union town. Nationally, union membership is at its lowest level since the beginning of the last century. There are, thankfully, glimmers of hope here in the five boroughs. Car wash, fast food, retail, and other workers who traditionally resisted unionization are starting to organize and affiliate. It's going to take more, though.
We as progressive people are going to have to become more discerning in who we patronize. We as consumers have to make union busting bosses fear our collective wrath.
At least, 26 Republican-leaning states sure do. Despite over 30 attempts to repeal Obamacare, and Tenth-er arguments for social programs to be run by the states, 26 states haven't set up their insurance exchanges – leaving it up to the federal government. As of last Friday's deadline, only 17 states submitted plans for their own healthcare exchanges, and seven states declared they'll partner with the federal government.
Twenty-four of the 26 states that remain are led by Republican governors, many of whom have railed against the new healthcare law. Florida Governor Rick Scott has been one of Obamacare's loudest opponents, and even ran his own anti-Obamacare group, Conservatives for Patients' Rights, to pressure Democrats to oppose the legislation. But now I guess he's just fine with the federal government stepping in to administer healthcare exchanges in his state.
Harvard Professor Theda Skocpol, an expert on healthcare policy and politics, said, “all of this has a political side, too, and the GOP states are surely trying to situate their officials to cry blame against the national government every time any little glitch happens.” The Republicans think it's a win for them either way. When things go well, they'll take credit for allowing the exchanges to be set up, and whenever something goes wrong, they'll use it to attack Obama, and the federal government.
As more benefits from Obamacare roll out over the next two years, we need to remind people that it was Republicans that tried to repeal it more than 30 times. But this isn't just about a political win. This is about 30 million people having access to healthcare – something that should be a basic human right. No matter who takes the political credit, the American people win when it comes to Obamacare.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Today, Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles will put out a new deficit-reduction plan. The pair served on President Obama's fiscal commission in 2010, and presented a plan to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff – a plan that was so focused on austerity, that 350 economists co-wrote and published a letter rejecting it. And Simpson-Bowles are at it again.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the new plan will aim to reduce the deficit by $2.4 trillion over 10 years, and include $600 billion in spending cuts to programs like Medicare and Medicaid. That's $200 billion more cuts than Obama said he's willing to accept in any plan. When Simpson-Bowles released their original plan, The AFL-CIO said “there's nothing 'fair and balanced' about the Simpson-Bowles budget plan...” and that it would, “ultimately increase unemployment, cut Social Security, tax workers' health benefits and scapegoat federal employees while giving more tax breaks for sending jobs overseas.”
This new plan is likely just a carbon copy of the first, and it's exactly the opposite of what we need to do to fix our economy, and grow the middle class. President Obama acknowledged this during his State of the Union speech saying, “we can't cut our way to prosperity.” That's right. Because no nation, in the history of the world, has ever cut its way to prosperity. And we shouldn't even worry about deficits at a time our economy is still struggling.
Stop the Republican austerity. Call Congress today and tell them to reject the Simpson-Bowles deficit-reduction plan.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Show Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Trying to accomplish the long list of goals he set for his second term. Just since his State of the Union speech, less than a week ago, he's already put forward a plan for universal preschool, called on Congress to vote on gun regulations, and now he's tackling immigration. According to USA Today, the White House is circulating a draft immigration bill, which would create a new visa for undocumented immigrants living in our nation, and shorten the path to legal residency down to eight years. The draft bill also includes more security funding, and would require businesses to utilize a new system for verifying the immigration status of new employees.
Despite the bill being very similar to the bipartisan immigration plan that came out last month, Republicans are harshly criticizing the President's plan. Florida Senator Marco Rubio said any legislation that didn't include Republican input would get no support, saying, “If actually proposed, the president's bill would be dead on arrival in Congress.” Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said the draft legislation was proof that “the president doesn't want immigration reform.” These statements are just more evidence that Republicans will vote against any legislation that President Obama puts forward, even when it's made up of their own ideas.
A spokesman for the White House said that the administration has not prepared a final bill to submit. Let's hope that Congress can pass their own version of the bill, so that they won't oppose a commonsense path to citizenship, just because the President supports it.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
40 Republican Senators made history yesterday, and refused to allow Chuck Hagel's confirmation to come to a vote. Only four Republicans, Sens. Thad Cochran (R-MS), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Mike Johanns (R-NE), voted to break the filibuster, and the final vote was 58 to 40. Republicans held up the nomination saying they want more information about the attack in Benghazi – an event that Chuck Hagel had nothing to do with. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “Make no mistake: Republicans are trying to defeat Senator Hagel's nomination by filibustering, while submitting extraneous requests that will never be satisfied.”
This is exactly why many democrats were angry over Reid's weak agreement on filibuster reform – instead of pursuing a rule change to stop the GOP's obstruction. Blocking a vote on a cabinet member is unheard of, and it's appalling that Republicans would play games with our Secretary of Defense, considering we have thousands of service men and women fighting in Afghanistan.
Supposedly, the Senate will take an up-or-down vote on Hagel's confirmation in 10 days, after returning from a President's Day recess. Yesterday, Sen. Lindsey Graham said he expects the vote to move forward then, “unless there's some bombshell that he likes blood sucking vampires.” Other Republicans also said they expect the confirmation to move forward at that time, which makes their filibuster of Chuck Hagel seem even more absurd.
After days like yesterday, it's not hard to see why Congress has it's lowest approval rating in history.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Happy Valentine’s Day, ya bastids! Don’t forget to do a little something for the person you love—even if you’re a conservative and that person is a fertilized egg or a corporation.
NRA head Wayne LaPierre wrote an op-ed in the Daily Caller called “Stand and Fight.” This is not the kind of thing a sane person writes and then goes about doing their job—it’s the kind of thing of thing you write before you climb a clock tower. Here are some excerpts from Wayne’s world: “After Hurricane Sandy, we saw the hellish world that the gun prohibitionists see as their utopia. Looters ran wild in south Brooklyn.” There was a “hellish world” after Sandy hit, but that was because of fire and flood, not the lack of guns. And if you thought the situation in “South Brooklyn” was so “hellish,” why did Republican members of Congress try to block any aid being sent to those areas? After Hurricane Sandy, Wayne said “There was no food, water or electricity.” But if you had a gun, you could evidently get those things—just shoot the floodwater until it becomes potable! Wayne refers to “the daunting forces we will undoubtedly face,” like “terrorists, crime, drug gangs, the possibility of Euro-style debt riots...” Oh, I forgot about the “Euro-style debt riots!” On the streets of Paris they’re beating people to death with baguettes! Let me just say, I would feel safer in the middle of the biggest “Euro-style debt riot” imaginable than I would in the America that Wayne LaPierre envisions.
Congressman Jim Langevin criticized the idea of having Ted Nugent attend the State of the Union Address. Ted responded that Congressman Langevin has “s**t for brains.” Welcome to “Point/Counter Point,” Tea Party Republican-style. Tea Party Congressman Steve Stockman, who invited Ted Nugent, said that Nugent is “one of the most articulate spokesmen” for gun rights. Yes he is... and that’s a terrible condemnation of just how inarticulate gun lovers are.
Poop seems to be in the news everywhere. I guess that’s because “s**t” happens. A Carnival cruise ship has been limping back to port for 8 days after an engine fire. In the meantime, burst pipes are spewing sewage everywhere and the people are trapped in it. Now they know how Ted Nugent’s testicles must have felt when he dodged the draft. Have a great Valentine’s Day!
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
A little slice of surreal: Luke Russert attempts to milk a sane interview out of Ted Nugent...
The ugly, violent saga of former LA cop Christopher Dorner has apparently come to an end, but there are lots of questions that need answers, answers we may never get. At the top of the list is this. How can people make Dorner out to be some kind of hero? It's true he had beef with his former employer. It may well be he was unjustly fired from the LAPD back in 2008.
But how does even a legitimate beef justify murder?
There are those who have decided that the racism and other serious problems of the department make what Dorner did understandable. It simply isn't. How does one explain the more than 18,000 supporters Dorner garnered on Facebook? The page was titled "We Stand with Christopher Dorner". Somehow that just doesn't feel right.
The LAPD and assorted other law officers do have much to answer for. How, for example, did two women delivering newspapers in the wee hours of the morning end up with their truck ventilated by police gunfire, and the two of them wounded? There's an investigation, so we're told, but the original explanation of cops being tense and in the heat of the hunt doesn't wash. There's also the question of whether or not police actually set fire to the cabin in Big Bear, where Dorner reportedly made his last stand.
Yet despite these and other issues, Chris Dorner was no hero. Gunning down four people does not a hero make. Those who have a concern for humanity, those who decry drone strikes that kill innocent civilians (a legitimate concern, along with the kill list) have no business finding common cause with a man who would settle a problem, no matter how serious, at the point of a gun.
There may be no lessons learned from this man's murderous rampage, and no changes made in the way Los Angeles police do their job. At a point, they ought to be separate issues. Assuming the body they found inside that cabin is actually Dorner's, cops in Southern California will probably breathe a sigh of relief.
That a killer developed an overnight following should give all of us pause.
It may comes as a surprise to Wayne LaPierre, but the NRA is not a political party. Apparently no one's informed him of that, as he'll be delivering the gun-group's official response to the State of The Union tonight, on TheSportsmanChannel.com. Talking Points Memo is reporting that LaPierre will respond to the President's Tuesday night speech from the annual convention of the National Wild Turkey Federation.
The news of LaPierre's speech was released in conjunction with an op-ed he published on The Daily Caller. The op-ed, which the Think Progress Blog called a “bizarre, paranoid screed,” outlines some strange, unlikely reasons why LaPeirre thinks every American should own a gun. The fear-mongering gun advocate listed reasons ranging from violent Latino gangs - to the end of police protection - to the complete collapse of civilization. Apparently, Wayne LaPierre is very afraid, and he wants you to be to.
In his column, he wrote, “Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Riots. Terrorists. Gangs. Lone criminals. These are the perils we are sure to face – not just maybe. It's not paranoia to buy a gun. It's survival.” Thankfully, the NRA has lost the power it once knew, and voters are now less inclined to support a candidate because they're backed by the organization.
In his address Tuesday night, Obama said gun violence victims deserve a vote. Wayne LaPierre and the NRA deserve to fade into obscurity, where they belong.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Now that was a State of the Union Address that really included the “state of the union” part. Obama told Republicans the way things are! And more importantly, he told them how things are going to be. In one beautiful moment, Obama gave a shout out to a climate change bill once pushed by John McCain! McCain grinned, but you could tell he was mad. That will all just come out at somebody else at a confirmation hearing a year from now, and nobody will know why Grandpa is so angry.
The President said every child should have high-quality pre-school. Republicans are not going to want to provide pre-school for young kids. Now if there was a way to provide pre-pre-pre-school to fetuses, they’d be all for it! Obama proposed a bipartisan commission to look into the problems with voting. It would be good to have Republicans involved—they understand this problem. Heck, they designed it! Obama said “We can fix this.” That was a very diplomatic way to put it. He could have just said “Republicans need to stop doing this.” The crescendo of the speech came when the President spoke about gun violence. The President made a strong case for gun control when he pointed out all the people in the chamber who had been harmed by gun violence. He probably could have made an even stronger case if he had pointed out Ted Nugent.
Marco Rubio’s rebuttal speech was a real stretch. Bada boom! The only thing that came off worse than Marco Rubio lunging for a drink of water was when Rubio was actually speaking. Marco, next time, just drink water the entire time. You can try to talk while you’re doing it. It’ll be better if people can’t understand what you’re saying anyway. Rubio’s entire presentation was shaky, sweaty, and frightened-looking. I’ve seen hostage videos where the people on camera looked more comfortable.
Rubio made a big deal that he still lives in a blue-collar West Miami neighborhood home. He didn’t mention that he’s trying to sell it for $675,000. Rubio said “Mr. President, I still live in the same working class neighborhood I grew up in.” When you know the real story, you realize that isn’t a boast—it’s a complaint! “Thank God I’m getting out. Hello Georgetown!”
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Note: Dorner Manhunt: An unconfirmed recording purportedly of police scanner chatter indicates that cabin fire may have been intentionally set by law enforcement (more info)
Last night, President Obama laid out his agenda for his second term. The State of the Union speech set some ambitious goals to get our nation back on a progressive course. The list included executive action on climate change, a “Fix-it-First” program to invest in infrastructure and job creation, and a legal pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented individuals living in the United State.
The President also called for making high-quality early education available to all children, called on Congress to bring gun legislation to a vote, and announced we're finally getting our troops our of a seemingly endless war. But, perhaps the biggest news of the evening was Obama's call for an increase in the federal minimum wage. He surprised everyone during the speech by saying, “Tonight, lets declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour.”
However, despite Obama's calls to get our nation back on track, the Republicans were apparently not impressed with the speech. Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell said, “I think what most Americans wanted to hear tonight was the President's plan to get government spending under control, rein in the debt, and put the private economy back on a path to real growth and serious job creation.”
It's not surprising that members of this party also refused to stand and show support for equal pay for women, protecting our democratic process, or streamlining the legal immigration system. In 2012, Americans spoke loudly and clearly about what vision they want for our country. Perhaps it'll take a few more elections for the Republicans to finally hear the nation's calls for progress.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL A M1600.
Ted Nugent is attending President Obama’s State of the Union Address as the invited guest of Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX). This is a man who should not be allowed anywhere near the US Capitol—and I’m just talking about Steve Stockman right now! Other members of Congress typically invite war heroes or first responders to the SOTU. Steve Stockman has chosen a draft-dodging serial pedophile. Many other members of Congress have invited people who have been affected by gun violence. In a sense, Ted Nugent has been affected by gun violence—I’m sure it turns him on... that, and underage girls. Oh and Ted, this is the State of the Union Address—do try to find an article of clothing that doesn’t have a Confederate flag on it.
Nugent claims he “will be taking on the media orgy.” That’s like the idiot who crashed the Grammy Awards saying he did what he did to bring attention to the music. You’re going to take on the “media orgy,” Ted? You’re the lube in the media orgy!
Michele Obama’s special guest for the SOTU is a 102-year old woman who had to jump the Republicans’ hurdles to vote in Florida this last election. The appropriately named Desiline Victor is a Haitian immigrant who had to wait for hours to vote for Obama in November. And when you’re 102 years old, every hour counts! Yes, Florida Governor Rick Scott kept a 102-year old woman waiting in line for hours to vote. I haven’t seen a picture of Desiline Victor yet, but I’m willing to bet that she still looks several decades younger than Rick Scott looks. Rick Scott looks like he died 102 years ago—and had his body thrown in a swamp.
Rush Limbaugh is trying to turn the story of murder suspect Chris Dorner into a tale of race, because for Rush everything is always about race. Rush only sees the world in black and white... and he doesn’t much like the black part. Rush said that for liberals, “the fact that he’s black is a factor here.” No, Rush—for you, the fact that he’s black is the only factor here, just like it always is in every story.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Tonight, President Obama delivers his fifth State of the Union address, and his first since beginning his second term in office. The major points of Obama's speech will likely highlight gun control, immigration, and an economic vision for job creation and economic growth – with another call for Congress to prevent the sequester. And, an official White House preview of the speech indicates that Obama will announce the withdrawal of 34,000 troops from Afghanistan in the coming year.
Progressives are hoping that the President also pushes important issues like infrastructure, immigration, and climate change, and that he takes the same strong tone seen in his inaugural address. The White House press secretary, Jay Carney, seemed to acknowledge this, saying “The president has always viewed the two speeches, the inaugural address and the State of the Union, as two acts in the same play. And the fact is, while there was a focus on some of the other elements of the inaugural address, that the core emphasis that he has always placed in these big speeches remains the same and will remain the same, which is the need to make the economy work for the middle class.”
The Republican response will be given by Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and Senator Rand Paul will present the official Tea Party response. No word yet on whether or not Rand Paul will look into the right camera.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday thorugh Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
The Pope says he’s going to resign because he’s getting to resign because he’s getting too old for the job. I didn’t know you could get too old for that job! That’s like saying somebody is too dumb to be Governor of Texas—it doesn’t happen.
Lindsey Graham says that he will block President Obama’s nominations unless the President provides more information about Benghazi. Thanks for keeping it classy, Lindsey. Why don’t you also ask for another birth certificate? Lindsey used the phrase “no confirmation without information.” Lindsey, you’re the last person who should be scolding anyone for keeping anything hidden! Graham is demanding more information about the President’s actions on the night of the attack. I can guarantee this much—he wasn’t sitting in front of a grade school class reading “My Pet Goat” aloud.
Dick Cheney is attacking President Obama’s nominees for his national security team. But then the only person Dick Cheney can come up with when asked for his opinion is usually Dick Cheney. We all know what Dick Cheney looked for in the people he chose to work under him. He just wanted somebody like Scooter Libby who was willing to take the rap for him. Give Dick Cheney this much—the Bush administration had people working for them who were able to warn them in advance of Osama bin Laden’s plans to attack the US. Cheney and Bush did nothing about it, but they did manage to pick people who told them that.
Geraldo Rivera is considering running for a Senate seat from New Jersey—as though New Jersey doesn’t have to deal with enough mockery already. Geraldo isn’t quitting his day job at Fox News. I think Geraldo has it backwards. Look at Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum. First you fail as a candidate, then you go to Fox News… not the other way around. There aren’t a lot of cases of a journalist becoming a Senator. And this isn’t going to be one either. For one thing, Geraldo is not going to become a Senator. And for another thing, he’s no journalist.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
There are less than 20 days until the March 1st Sequester deadline. And Washington is gearing up for a major fight. If politicians can't come to a compromise, the looming $85 billion of Republican austerity is set to make devastating cuts to programs many Americans depend on. Despite non-defense spending being 14% lower than it has been in a half-century, deficit hawks in the Republican party want more austerity imposed on the working poor in our nation.
Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee estimate that additional cuts will have a devastating impact on food safety, aviation safety, early education, disaster relief, and law enforcement. And vital programs like WIC, which helps low-income women provide food for their infants and toddlers, may be forced to tell 600,000 women and children to go hungry.
In his weekly YouTube address over the weekend, President Obama again called on Congress to act now in order to avoid “deep, indiscriminate” cuts. He called out the Republicans directly saying, “they would rather ask more from the vast majority of Americans and put our recovery at risk, than close even a single tax loophole that benefits the wealthy.” Rather than working to avert the impending crisis, House Republicans like Speaker John Boehner are simply using it to attack our President...coining the ridiculous term “Obama-quester.”
No country, in the history of the world, has ever cut it's way to prosperity. We can only hope that Congress starts considering a smarter approach – like the Sanders-Schakowsky Corporate Tax Fairness Act – and prevent devastating austerity. Stay tuned.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
President Obama’s nominee to head up the CIA, John Brennan, faced off with Senators on the Intelligence Committee on Thursday, as part of his confirmation hearing. He was asked several questions about the drone warfare program, and its lethal targeting of American citizens abroad. As the architect of this program, Brennan defended the use of drones to kill Americans who are deemed “imminent threats,” and can’t be captured.
At one point in the hearing, Senator Ron Wyden asked Brennan if American citizens should be given a chance to surrender, before they are targeted for death. Brennan dismissed the question, saying that all Americans currently working for al-Qaeda can surrender any time they wish. But the killing of American citizens with drones is just one issue. Perhaps a bigger issue, is the power of the President to order military strikes in sovereign nations, that we are not at war with, like Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.
This tactic sets a dangerous precedent for the future, as more nations and organizations acquire drones, and seek to use them in the same way the United States uses them. Let’s hope it doesn’t take the Mexican government targeting a drug trafficker in Phoenix with a drone strike, and killing a few Americans as collateral damage, for us all to wake up to how destructive this sort of drone warfare really is.
Democrats may trust President Obama at the helm in the drone war program – but he’ll only be in office four more years, and who knows who’ll take control afterward – and what the world will look like.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
After NBC news obtained a memo outlining some of the legal justifications for killing American citizens abroad with drones, the White House has given in to pressure from Congress and turned over the DOJ’s classified legal justification for the drone warfare program. This release comes just before the architect of the drone program, John Brennan, faces off with the Senate Judiciary Committee today in his confirmation hearing to head up the CIA.
Several hundred drone strikes have been launched against targets all over the Middle East, Asia, and Africa killing thousands of people including so-called terrorists and innocent civilians. Three Americans citizens have also been killed in targeted drone strikes – raising questions about due process and the president’s war powers. Today, our Senators should grill John Brennan about the legality and necessity of this drone warfare program, because, when former Bush adviser John Bolton praises the drone program as a “consistent” extension of the Bush policies, then you know something is terribly wrong.
This isn’t about drones – it’s about our relationship with the rest of the world. The long-term effects of drone warfare are not fully understood – and tragically – they may not be understood until years down the road when the blowback occurs.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
The White House is turning over to Congress a Justice Department memo that details the legal justification for killing American citizens abroad who are considered terrorists. If this were still the Bush White House, you would never even be told that memo exists. But you could be sure that it would. This raises an interesting question—Republicans hate everything that Obama does, but can they bring themselves to hate killing?
Even if you trust Obama’s judgment, the powers being used here won’t be leaving when Obama leaves office. You have to picture these powers in the hands of the worst person imaginable... which would be any Republican candidate you can think of. Can you imagine President Michele Bachmann with the power to order the killing of American citizens? I know… I lost you to a panic attack when you saw the phrase “President Michele Bachmann.” What if President Rick Santorum had the power to order killing? Nobody would be safe unless they were a fetus. Under President Rick Santorum, the only location on earth safe from a drone strike would be a uterus. And since Santorum would be perfectly willing to kill the woman who owned the uterus, nobody would really be safe.
On that note, Alabama State Senator Shadrack McGill, who is pushing a “personhood” bill says “my question concerning aborted babies is, where do they go, heaven or hell?” I don’t know what awaits us in the afterlife, but I suspect that there is a special hell for people who think that aborted babies might go to hell. But I take it that Senator McGill has spent a lot of time reading the Bible. Yet he says he can’t figure out where aborted babies go. I would think that if this question was as important to God as it is to Senator McGill, then God would have more clearly spelled out his feelings on the issue.
The personhood amendment effectively bans in-vitro fertilization because in that process, many eggs are fertilized in a petri dish and only a few are implanted in the womb. So McGill wants to mandate that ALL the eggs are put in the womb. But they won’t survive. So he’s sentencing most of those fertilized eggs to death anyway... unless he finds a woman who is capable of delivering a litter of 10 babies.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Piers Morgan took his CNN show to a shooting range in Texas, where he was “confronted” by Alex Jones. Jones’s method of confronting Piers involved lulling him into distraction by first spending several minutes kissing Piers’ ass. I guess Alex Jones’s theory was that he would be in a better position to attack Piers Morgan if his tongue was between Piers’ butt cheeks. The actual guest on the Piers Morgan show was Ted Nugent. No wonder that Piers didn’t want to deal with Alex Jones too—there is only so much crazy you can tolerate at one time.
Alabama hostage-taker Jimmy Lee Dykes evidently kidnapped a child because he wanted to go on TV and rail against the government. Idiot—why would you throw your life away to do something that Fox News does 24/7? If he wanted media time, he should have just applied to be a fill-in host for Alex Jones. Before he knew it, he would have become a rightwing celebrity.
After his absurd predictions of a Mitt Romney landslide in November, analyst Dick Morris has finally been dropped by Fox News. I think even Dick Morris could have seen this one coming. Anyway, Morris hasn’t been on Fox News since November 12th. I think that was the date when Fox News finally realized that Mitt Romney had not won the election.
New polling data shows that getting an endorsement from the NRA actually hurts candidates. Well, it turns out that an NRA endorsement isn’t a magic bullet after all. The NRA opposes background checks, which are supported by 90 percent of the population. They attack the President’s daughters. Only an idiot would think that an NRA endorsement would help a candidate—an idiot or Dick Morris.
Yesterday, Eric Cantor gave a speech trying to rebrand the GOP as a more friendly party. Could they have picked a worse guy than Eric Cantor for that job? The pathetic thing is that they easily could have.
A new study shows that Black and Hispanic voters waited twice as long as Whites to vote in 2012. Well at least one thing worked for Republicans exactly as it was designed to work. White voters waited an average of 12.7 minutes to vote. Minority voters waited an average of 20.2 minutes. That’s the average, mind you. In Florida, it took minority voters 20 minutes just to find the end of the line.
Listen to The Randi Rhdoes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
On Tuesday, President Obama urged Congress to put off the looming sequester of nearly a trillion dollars in spending cuts. But if he wants to find a suitable replacement to reduce the deficit, and stimulate the economy – he should look to the left-wing of his own party: the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
On Tuesday, the CPC announced it will introduce legislation known at the “Balancing Act”, that will scrap the sequester – raise new revenue from the rich who aren’t paying their fair share – and make critical investments in our economy and infrastructure. To begin with, the CPC’s proposal will raise $960 billion in revenue to replace the sequester, by closing tax loopholes for the billionaire hedge fund managers, closing loopholes for corporations that ship American jobs overseas, and by cutting off billions in taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil. The plan also cuts our war budget by $300 billion.
With the extra revenue, the CPC proposes new investments in education, in infrastructure, and in the middle class, with new tax cuts that actually help working people. Altogether – the proposal will slash the deficit by $3.3 trillion – and at the same time create more than a million jobs. Voters spoke loud and clear last November, when they re-elected President Obama, and elected a more progressive Congress.
Now it’s time to give the American people what they want: policies that revive the middle class, and make the rich and corporate American pay their fair share in taxes again. Call your Member of Congress and tell them to support the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ Balancing Act.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
What is it like to have the absolute power of life and death over another human being? There are those among us who know. Judges and juries in states with capital punishment, for example, can condemn to death, or grant life, albeit in prison. But what about a person who is picking those to die from a list? And what if those people didn't have the benefit of due process? And suppose people, innocent people are incinerated by a remote controlled rocket, sent on its deadly mission by someone in an office someplace?
I love Barack Obama as our president. I think he's been, on balance, the best person to bring America through the tough times that came with the 2008 financial collapse and subsequent Great Recession. On the dual subjects of drones and kill lists, however, we part company. Authorizing the taking of human life based on the finding of a faceless, nameless "informed, high level official" smacks of somewhere that is definitely not America.
To be clear, the government must be able to fight those who would do this nation and its people harm. There are questions, however, about whether drones and kill lists are the best ways to accomplish this. We recently had a military intelligence expert as a guest, and he said when he worked in intelligence there had to be 80% verification of an intended target before a drone strike could be authorized. Under John Brennan, the man President Obama nominated to be CIA Director, that verification rate slipped to 40%.
Maybe this is why there have been horror stories coming out of Yemen and elsewhere about the devastation drones bring to innocents. The New York Times has a chilling account of a Yemeni cleric who dared openly criticize Al Qaeda. They sent a group of members to his mosque, and while they argued in front of it a US drone strike killed all of them. This cleric seems to have been on our side. Can we afford this?
Do we really want to be known as a nation that fights an enemy by establishing kill lists, at times of our own citizens, and establish they can be killed without trial? How do we hold ourselves up as a shining example to the world? While we may even think that Barack Obama would never order the taking of a human life without an imminent threat, this doctrine will outlast him. Are we that trusting of his successor?
It doesn't really come down to who we trust. Kill lists and indiscriminate drone strikes are simply wrong. As Americans, we need to be better than this, and do better than this, right?
NBC News has obtained an official White House memo, which lays out the legal justification behind using drones for the targeted killing of American citizens abroad. Three Americans have been killed via a drone strike under the Obama Administration, including Anwar al-Awlaki, his son, and Samir Khan.
According to the document, President Obama, and other high-level administration officials, can order the killing of an American overseas if the individual is an imminent threat, incapable of being captured, and the operation is compatible with the rules of war. As far as what constitutes an “imminent threat,” the document provides an overly broad definition, arguing that even if the individual is not actively engaged in an imminent attack against America, he or she can still be considered an “imminent threat”, if they have in the past plotted to attack Americans, and remain a member of a hostile organization.
It’s doubtful this sort of legal justification could hold up to judicial scrutiny, and civil liberties groups are up in arms after the leak. Hina Shamsi, the director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, said the White House’s justification for targeted killings, “Summarizes in cold legal terms a stunning overreach of executive authority –- the claimed power to declare Americans a threat and kill them far from a recognized battlefield, and without any judicial involvement before or after the fact…hard to believe it was produced in a democracy built on a system of checks and balances.”
The man who crafted the White House’s drone policy is top adviser John Brennan. And he’s also President Obama’s nominee to head up the CIA, meaning it’s unlikely the President is having second thoughts about the drone warfare program, which has been ramped up during his presidency.
This will be the greatest national security challenge facing our nation in the coming years. We must stop the senseless robotic killings abroad, and bring back the rule of law in America.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
Did you watch the Super Bowl? As I recall, the last time a bunch of people were stuck in the Superdome without power, it took several days to get them any help. Maybe if the Katrina victims had paid a thousand dollars a ticket they wouldn’t have had to wait so long.
The Superdome and the New Orleans power company seemed to blame Beyonce for the power outage. That doesn’t make any sense. I watched the halftime show, and that girl was putting energy out, not sucking it in. The power company blamed “A piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load” after Beyonce’s performance. Right. And I’m sure that wasn’t the only load inspired by that performance.
For years on Super Bowl commercials, Go Daddy has been exploiting attractive girls to sell their service. I guess it was nice that this time they chose to also exploit an unattractive guy. Perhaps one day we will no longer judge people by the color of their skin OR the blotchiness of their skin.
The NRA is too much for Fox News! Chris Wallace shot down Wayne LaPierre for being “ridiculous.” Wow. That’s like a pimp telling a whore to change her outfit into something a little more tasteful. Wallace challenged LaPierre over the NRA ad that attacked President Obama’s daughters for getting more security than the average person. Do you get the feeling that Chris Wallace really enjoys those rare moments he gets to confront someone who is crazier than Fox News is in general?
Finally, America’s top sniper from the Iraq war was shot to death at a shooting range in Texas. What does it say about our society when you’re safer in a war zone than you are back home? This is the kind of story that should serve as a lesson, but in reality it will only serve to fuel bizarre conspiracy theories among the people who need the lesson the most.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
If the NRA, and its foaming-at-the-mouth leader, Wayne LaPierre weren’t scary enough, it turns out the gun-happy organization has now created an enemies list. As the ThinkProgress blog points out – the NRA’s “Nixonian enemies list” is comprised of individuals, and organizations, that have “lent monetary, grassroots or some other type of direct support to an anti-gun organization.” The list includes medical organizations, that often have to deal with gun violence first hand in hospitals, like the American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association.
The list also includes educators, who are now too often the victims of gun violence, including the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. Law enforcement groups tasked with patrolling gun violence also made the list, like the National Association of Police Organizations. So, too, have religious organizations, and even several musicians, like Art Garfunkel, Frank Zappa, and Boyz 2 Men.
Apparently, MacGyver even made the list. And the NRA’s descent into madness continues.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday thorugh Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
The jobs figures for January are out. The private sector added 166,000 jobs last month. But once again we lost public sector jobs—last month we lost 9,000 government jobs. Republicans in Congress won’t be satisfied until theirs are the only government jobs there are left. Read more about job figures.
Hagel wasn’t prepared for how combative John McCain was. There are only two things you can expect from John McCain—anger or confusion. And this hearing took place in the morning, when the anger was fresh, and before the confusion set in. Yes, Chuck Hegel questioned the surge—the surge was essentially doubling down on the biggest foreign policy disaster since Vietnam. John McCain is trying to rewrite history to make the surge seem like the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae of Iraq. The surge was a painful but possibly necessary step to put an end to something ugly. It was essentially popping the pimple that was Iraq.
In Alabama, the hostage stand-off in the bunker with suspect Jimmy Lee Dykes continues. Does everybody in these situations have to have a name that sounds like a character on The Dukes of Hazzard? Dykes fired shots at his neighbors in a dispute over a damaged speed bump. Welcome to the future of conflict resolution, if the NRA gets their way. A New York Times article about the situation says that locals describe Dykes as a man who hates the government and has been in legal trouble for firing a gun at his neighbors. In other words, he didn’t really stand out. The man has built a bunker out of cinderblocks and PVC pipe. Here’s a little advice for anti-government types—if you can get the materials for your bunker from Home Depot, chances are not good that it can resist an assault from the US military. If this guy didn’t have a hostage, the government wouldn’t exactly need a high-tech bunker buster bomb. They could do the job with a sledgehammer and a shovel.
Listen to The Randi Rhodes Show Monday through Friday 6 PM to 8 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie continues to screw over working people in his state. Earlier this week – he vetoed legislation to increase the minimum wage to $8.50 an hour. But, that’s not the only way Christie has denied help to the middle class. He also vetoed to key housing assistance bills, which would have brought much needed relief to struggling homeowners.
One bill would give authority to the state purchase foreclosed homes, and transform them into affordable housing for people who lost their homes in the Bush Great Recession. The other bill would have provided assistance to unemployed, and underemployed, homeowners to make mortgage payments.
In 2012, New Jersey outpaced every other state in the nation, when it came to homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments – meaning while the housing situation may be slowly improving around the nation – it’s getting worse in New Jersey. And in just one week, Governor Christie has slammed the door on millions of residents in his state, who could have used higher wages, and a little help staying in their homes.
Listen to The Thom Hartmann Program Monday through Friday 3 PM to 6 PM on WWRL AM 1600.
It seems that everybody wants to know what's been going on at the NSA. Everybody, that is, except for 53 US Senators. Last week Senators were given a briefing by high-ranking intelligence officials about the surveillance programs. Only 47...
Tea Party senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) says that "restoring faith in government" is "the wrong solution." Well then by all means, keep talking, Senator. Instead, Johnson says "we need to engender that healthy distrust, that healthy...
Senator Elizabeth Warren is fighting hard for government transparency, and it has nothing to do with the NSA. On Thursday, Senator Warren sent a letter to President Obama's U.S. trade negotiations nominee, calling on the Administration to...
While signing a Merry Christmas bill in June, legalizing usage of phrases like 'Merry Christmas' on school property, Texas Governor Rick Perry took the opportunity to appeal to his evangelical base. "I'm proud we are standing up for...
The Supreme Court ruled that human genes cannot be patented, because they are a product of nature. However, the offered a compromise which allowed synthetic, complementary DNA, known as cDNA, to be protected by patent law, because it is not...
Before last week, very few people knew the name Edward Snowden. Not the case now. It seems he's either a hero or traitor, depending on who you talk to and their political ideology. No matter what you think of him, however, we owe him a...
The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives will do anything to avoid getting any actual work done. As if 37 votes to repeal Obamacare didn't waste enough taxpayer time and money, the House GOP has decided to vote on a...
We need to have a debate over surveillance. Even more, we need to have a debate over exactly who is doing the surveilling. Government surveillance can be worrisome, but it's much more worrisome when the surveillance is being done by private...
Today, the United States Senate will begin debate on the so-called comprehensive immigration plan. Senators will consider the overall legislation, and dozens of amendments, before a final vote can be reached. The debate is likely to last...
Is Edward Snowden a whistleblower or a leaker? This story still has a lot of gray areas. For now, he's something like a whistle-leaker. To some people, Snowden is a hero, to others he is a traitor. To most Americans, he's the guy whose face in...
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