We must all become truth-tellers, whether our platform is radio, TV, Substack, social media, a local newspaper, or a protest sign raised in the town square…
Regardless of the vote count in November, it is possible that Trump will declare total victory and this time his Jan 6 insurrection will turn Congress over to him. His media will echo Trump's surprising victory in contrast to other media challenges and polls contradicting the claimed MAGA victory. Ice will be everywhere to suppress any public protests. They have plenty of concentration camp capacity now. At that point, what can voters do, civil war? That is unlikely. We no longer get around on horses. Besides, it is the MAGAs who have all the guns.
As I recently pointed out, the Democrats have no evil Heritage Foundation think tank plotting strategies to blunt Trump's overthrow of our democracy. Just like in Germany, November 2026 will be our Reichstag Fire when we will all realize it is too late to turn back the tide of fascism. It is already here in Florida and Texas. Oddly enough, the only thing I can think of that is a strong enough force to defeat MAGA fascism is the Climate-Change "Hoax." It is all too real, and Trump is undermining all efforts to cool the climate and prepare for devastating storms that will soon wipe out entire cities. Once homeless Americans have nothing to lose, Trump will have something to take back.
It does seem plausible given how far this regime has come. We do need counter strategies and ways to implement them to avoid this worst case scenario. There is still time and we must try our best while we still can. One question is; how can we organize a better strategy to break them down?
Democratic “leadership” may want to reconsider its preference for “safe” candidates, as well as its enthusiasm for torpedoing any who express a willingness to confront the fascists. The fruit of safety is bitter.
Only progressives have the will to fight Trump's flourishing fascism, but they have not the numbers nor the weapons to fight a civil war. It would be comforting to think that our military and law enforcement would come to the rescue of what's left of our democracy, but how many high-ranking officers have resisted or walked out during any of Hegben's rants?
I support Scott Pelley! I support independent media! IMO Let the corporate state media go bankrupt with sucky ratings and no sponsors! We viewers don't need them right now and we will have them back with regulations and rules (fairness doctrine) when democracy grows. I say, Boycott the billionaires and their media. If we support people like Scott Pelley on his own platform, Scott Pelley will thrive. Your books are amazing, Thom Hartmann. The Thom Hartmann program/ substack and Louise has the thoughtful music daily sustaining us. Independent media grows from the ashes. Shout out to the protestors! Close down Private Prisons and support the Rule of Law in this country. BTW according to Malcom Nance, Ukraine is stopping the invasion of Russia without the help from POTUS. I hear MAGA is crumbling. Even POTUS sees the truth, he is grabbing ill-gotten gains like a thief in his government of one.
The problem is money. Of the approx 900 Billionaires, only three are Democrats, Gates,Bloomberg and Buffet, and those three aren't liberal, just Democrats. And none of those own or even try to own any media.
'The estimated average net worth of a U.S. Senator is around $15 million, with median net worth estimates ranging from $1.7 million to $3.2 million for the House of Representatives, according to sources like OpenSecrets, Roll Call, and Forbes."
What's wrong with this picture? They don't have a clue how ordinary, hard-working people live.
Interesting that you mention the Fairness Doctrine and Reagan's failure to enforce anti-trust laws but you do not mention the main culprit that allows a billionaire to own so many media outlets and that is Bill Clinton's Telecommunications Act of 1996. That legislation opened the floodgates to the media consolidation that has devastated what's left of journalism. More evidence of your lack of journalistic integrity is the mention of authoritarians who have stifled journalism without mentioning your hero the little dictator Zelensky, who has consolidated media to a single state-run news channel, and has spied on and prosecuted journalists. Liberal hero Barack Obama prosecuted more journalists than any other American president, and the dictator whose name you never mention, Netanyahu, has with Biden and Trump's assistance killed over 250 journalists since October 7th, 2023, a record for any conflict in recorded history. So to properly address the problem of the diminution of journalistic freedom that you are so righteous about, we have to be honest about the perpetrators and causes if the dangerous trend is to be reversed.
"And now they’re coming for the news. If it falls, recovering our republic will be possible — the examples are Hungary with Peter Magyar and Volodymyr Zelenskyy being elected in Ukraine — but very, very difficult. It will take years and cost a fortune both in work, cash, and probably blood, as it did in those two countries."
Recovery will not happen without going back to fundamentals, addressing root causes, changing attitudes, perspectives, and behaviors, and finding a way to enable the public - the people - to remove the "scales from their eyes" and end their delusions and mythologies and irrational fears on a massive scale. The only way to accomplish that level and kind of change and enlightenment is to fix what is wrong with schooling, starting with eliminating the inculcation of children from an early age into a culture of authoritarianism and anti-intellectual ideation. Thom says, "...it falls to us to resist." He is 100% right about that. Resistance requires authentic information and knowledge, commitment and purpose, and a lot of guts. 'Go team' kind of cheerleading, happy talk and listening to false promises will not cut it. Violence will make things worse. Education instead of trivial pursuits and behavioral modification in schools is absolutely essential. Susan Jacoby spells out with phenomenal insight and accuracy in her book, "The Age of American Unreason" how anti-intellectualism became the ideal and the default over centuries. Others have shown how coercion and an authoritarian bureaucracy in schools destroy critical thinking, autonomy, and self-confidence in the populace. We here are supposed to be the leaders. WE are tasked with figuring this out and finally having the courage and determination to do the right thing. Excuses and rationalizations are no longer good enough. The hard reality is that "school reform" is impossible under the current paradigm. Eradicating bad laws is the only way fundamental change can even begin to take root. Thom has been kidding himself about our schools and failing to recognize how the egregious damage is inflicted one lecture and guilt trip at a time. Even the best and smartest of us can be fooled by the party line and naive propaganda in service to an establishment.
We need fundamental change in the structure of our government. Incremental change with clever acronyms hasn't worked and won't ever work until we make fundamental changes.
If the oligarchs were to write their own constitution (and they'd love to), it would state that the one and only right to be insured is the right to enrich oneself in order to buy subordinate rights, such as speech, the press, a fair trial, representation, and so on. Freedom for everyone is a chimera, if not just outright communism.
Those who don't or can't watch Thom on Free Speech TV are missing out. Louise writes some awesome music, not the folk protest style of the 70's but with a C&W flair, which would appeal to conservatives. She is talented and her songs would be hits if commercial, better than The Boss IMO), I would like to know who does the vocals though
Regardless of the vote count in November, it is possible that Trump will declare total victory and this time his Jan 6 insurrection will turn Congress over to him. His media will echo Trump's surprising victory in contrast to other media challenges and polls contradicting the claimed MAGA victory. Ice will be everywhere to suppress any public protests. They have plenty of concentration camp capacity now. At that point, what can voters do, civil war? That is unlikely. We no longer get around on horses. Besides, it is the MAGAs who have all the guns.
As I recently pointed out, the Democrats have no evil Heritage Foundation think tank plotting strategies to blunt Trump's overthrow of our democracy. Just like in Germany, November 2026 will be our Reichstag Fire when we will all realize it is too late to turn back the tide of fascism. It is already here in Florida and Texas. Oddly enough, the only thing I can think of that is a strong enough force to defeat MAGA fascism is the Climate-Change "Hoax." It is all too real, and Trump is undermining all efforts to cool the climate and prepare for devastating storms that will soon wipe out entire cities. Once homeless Americans have nothing to lose, Trump will have something to take back.
It does seem plausible given how far this regime has come. We do need counter strategies and ways to implement them to avoid this worst case scenario. There is still time and we must try our best while we still can. One question is; how can we organize a better strategy to break them down?
Democratic “leadership” may want to reconsider its preference for “safe” candidates, as well as its enthusiasm for torpedoing any who express a willingness to confront the fascists. The fruit of safety is bitter.
Only progressives have the will to fight Trump's flourishing fascism, but they have not the numbers nor the weapons to fight a civil war. It would be comforting to think that our military and law enforcement would come to the rescue of what's left of our democracy, but how many high-ranking officers have resisted or walked out during any of Hegben's rants?
I support Scott Pelley! I support independent media! IMO Let the corporate state media go bankrupt with sucky ratings and no sponsors! We viewers don't need them right now and we will have them back with regulations and rules (fairness doctrine) when democracy grows. I say, Boycott the billionaires and their media. If we support people like Scott Pelley on his own platform, Scott Pelley will thrive. Your books are amazing, Thom Hartmann. The Thom Hartmann program/ substack and Louise has the thoughtful music daily sustaining us. Independent media grows from the ashes. Shout out to the protestors! Close down Private Prisons and support the Rule of Law in this country. BTW according to Malcom Nance, Ukraine is stopping the invasion of Russia without the help from POTUS. I hear MAGA is crumbling. Even POTUS sees the truth, he is grabbing ill-gotten gains like a thief in his government of one.
The problem is money. Of the approx 900 Billionaires, only three are Democrats, Gates,Bloomberg and Buffet, and those three aren't liberal, just Democrats. And none of those own or even try to own any media.
'The estimated average net worth of a U.S. Senator is around $15 million, with median net worth estimates ranging from $1.7 million to $3.2 million for the House of Representatives, according to sources like OpenSecrets, Roll Call, and Forbes."
What's wrong with this picture? They don't have a clue how ordinary, hard-working people live.
No they don't Gloria, and they don't care. Pelosi was the 5th richest member of Congress, she doesn't own any stocks, but her husand does.
That means the problem looms even larger.
Yes, you and I already know that.
Interesting that you mention the Fairness Doctrine and Reagan's failure to enforce anti-trust laws but you do not mention the main culprit that allows a billionaire to own so many media outlets and that is Bill Clinton's Telecommunications Act of 1996. That legislation opened the floodgates to the media consolidation that has devastated what's left of journalism. More evidence of your lack of journalistic integrity is the mention of authoritarians who have stifled journalism without mentioning your hero the little dictator Zelensky, who has consolidated media to a single state-run news channel, and has spied on and prosecuted journalists. Liberal hero Barack Obama prosecuted more journalists than any other American president, and the dictator whose name you never mention, Netanyahu, has with Biden and Trump's assistance killed over 250 journalists since October 7th, 2023, a record for any conflict in recorded history. So to properly address the problem of the diminution of journalistic freedom that you are so righteous about, we have to be honest about the perpetrators and causes if the dangerous trend is to be reversed.
"And now they’re coming for the news. If it falls, recovering our republic will be possible — the examples are Hungary with Peter Magyar and Volodymyr Zelenskyy being elected in Ukraine — but very, very difficult. It will take years and cost a fortune both in work, cash, and probably blood, as it did in those two countries."
Recovery will not happen without going back to fundamentals, addressing root causes, changing attitudes, perspectives, and behaviors, and finding a way to enable the public - the people - to remove the "scales from their eyes" and end their delusions and mythologies and irrational fears on a massive scale. The only way to accomplish that level and kind of change and enlightenment is to fix what is wrong with schooling, starting with eliminating the inculcation of children from an early age into a culture of authoritarianism and anti-intellectual ideation. Thom says, "...it falls to us to resist." He is 100% right about that. Resistance requires authentic information and knowledge, commitment and purpose, and a lot of guts. 'Go team' kind of cheerleading, happy talk and listening to false promises will not cut it. Violence will make things worse. Education instead of trivial pursuits and behavioral modification in schools is absolutely essential. Susan Jacoby spells out with phenomenal insight and accuracy in her book, "The Age of American Unreason" how anti-intellectualism became the ideal and the default over centuries. Others have shown how coercion and an authoritarian bureaucracy in schools destroy critical thinking, autonomy, and self-confidence in the populace. We here are supposed to be the leaders. WE are tasked with figuring this out and finally having the courage and determination to do the right thing. Excuses and rationalizations are no longer good enough. The hard reality is that "school reform" is impossible under the current paradigm. Eradicating bad laws is the only way fundamental change can even begin to take root. Thom has been kidding himself about our schools and failing to recognize how the egregious damage is inflicted one lecture and guilt trip at a time. Even the best and smartest of us can be fooled by the party line and naive propaganda in service to an establishment.
We need fundamental change in the structure of our government. Incremental change with clever acronyms hasn't worked and won't ever work until we make fundamental changes.
My truth telling is through songs.
Congratulations Mr. Trump - song
https://youtube.com/shorts/7bib5PXsWnE?feature
If the oligarchs were to write their own constitution (and they'd love to), it would state that the one and only right to be insured is the right to enrich oneself in order to buy subordinate rights, such as speech, the press, a fair trial, representation, and so on. Freedom for everyone is a chimera, if not just outright communism.
I love the song! Thank you Louise! Truth to power, thank you Thom for all you do!
Following you for many years and I’m so glad to have your voice during these awful Trump years! Stay well! ☮️
Those who don't or can't watch Thom on Free Speech TV are missing out. Louise writes some awesome music, not the folk protest style of the 70's but with a C&W flair, which would appeal to conservatives. She is talented and her songs would be hits if commercial, better than The Boss IMO), I would like to know who does the vocals though
The vocals could be AI. I'm not sure how that works, but the lyrics are definitely inspiring.
I would have to hear from Thom Gloria.