Mark Ames, The eXiled, joins Thom Hartmann. "Everybody wants to be a star," is the refrain of the old song of the same name. And, apparently, that "everybody" includes wannabee comedian Steven Crowder, who's got a little-viewed YouTube site from which he's trying to make a living. And it appears that in his rush to fame, Crowder punked Sean Hannity. At the giant protest against Michigan's new "right to work for less money" law, Crowder apparently provoked a union member so badly the guy was knocked to the ground. When he came back up, he came up swinging. In true Andrew Brietbart style, Crowder played the helpless victim, and Hannity stepped right into it, referring to "union thugs" in his setup and giving Crowder several minutes of airtime.

Thom talks with journalist and author Mark Ames on the history of our country's union-busting laws. Also discussed: the new way our government plans to spy on us, tomorrow's global Walmart strike and how will we be able to infinitely preserve our electronic information. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom details the downfall of the Republican party since Eisenhower.

Bruce Bartlett, Historian/Domestic Policy Adviser to President Ronald Reagan/Treasury official under President George HW Bush/writes for New York Times, Financial Times, Fiscal Times, and Tax Notes magazine joins Thom Hartmann. After suffering major blows in last month's election - it's clear that the Republican party has lost its way. But are Conservatives in Washington ready to face facts - and do what is necessary to once again become a relevant and mainsteam political party?

Bruce Bartlett, Historian/Domestic Policy Adviser to President Ronald Reagan/Treasury official under President George HW Bush/writes for New York Times, Financial Times, Fiscal Times, and Tax Notes magazine joins Thom Hartmann. After suffering major blows in last month's election - it's clear that the Republican party has lost its way. But are Conservatives in Washington ready to face facts - and do what is necessary to once again become a relevant and mainsteam political party?

Thom Hartmann's crazy alert

Christopher Bedford, The Daily Caller & Dan Bongino, Conservative Commentator both join Thom Hartmann.

Christopher Bedford, The Daily Caller & Dan Bongino, Conservative Commentator both join Thom Hartmann.

Thomas "Tom" Duckworth, union member & witness at yesterday's so called AFP tent attack. Breitbart and Fox Nation are salivating all over a video of a "mob" of union workers tearing down an AFP tent. Unfortunately - the video is a fake & false.

Tonight's "Lone Liberal Rumble" panel discusses the right-to-work protests in Lansing, MI, China's rapid takeover of US businesses and how to make sure every vote counts in this country. In tonight's special edition of "Conversations with Great Minds" Thom talks with former Reagan Domestic Policy Advisor Bruce Bartlett.

Karl Marx famously wrote that capitalism contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction. If true, the young, green shoots of that destruction may well be the corporate and billionaire excesses, ranging from the Hostess debacle to the billionaire oligarch Koch Brothers funding anti-union efforts by Rick Snyder and Republicans in Michigan.

Thom Hartmann's crazy alert

David Selig, Conservative Commentator, joins Thom Hartmann. Big oil is doing just fine without the $20 billion it gets in taxpayer subsidies. Isn't that money better spent putting a roof over someone's head? By eliminating corporate meals and entertainment write-offs - some $60 billion dollars - the government could cover the costs of ending homelessness 3 times over. Is it ok for corporate execs and lobbyists to be having steak dinners while hundreds of thousands of Americans have to worry if they're ever going to eat again?

With just a few more weeks left in 2012, we'll soon be closing the book on the hottest and most extreme year of weather in American history. So far, the last 11 months have marked the hottest period in our history, and once December is over, 2012 will officially be the hottest single year ever recorded - averaging a full degree above the previous record. In the first eleven months of this year, 85% of our nation was hit by the top 10% of the warmest temperatures in history. And with the hotter weather, comes more extreme weather. According to the National Climactic Data Center - 46% of the nation experienced very extreme weather. That's more than double the average of extreme weather for the United States. This is what the Carbon Industry's global climate change has brought us. And, more troubling, the global weirding is just getting started, as the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration warns more record-breaking heat and extreme weather events are ahead in the near future. Tragically, we must prepare for life on a hotter, more hostile planet, brought to us by the oil, coal, and gas barons and industrialists who bought off our politicians, funded hack scientists to muddy the debate, and throw over 2.4 million pounds of pollution into our skies every SECOND with no regard whatsoever for future generations. Time to take higher ground...

Lowell Ponte, NewsMax, joins Thom Hartmann. Republicans aren't just trying to destroy Medicare - they're trying to get rid of Social Security too! But are Republicans only attacking Social Security because they're afraid to admit that it works?

Richard Eskow, Campaign For America's Future, joins Thom Hartmann. Millions of senior citizens in the US rely on Medicare for access to life-saving healthcare - but Republicans in Congress don't seem to care. Why are they launching an all-out assault on Medicare - and what's the real motivation behind it?