April 17th 2009

Hour 1: "Brunch With Bernie" Senator Bernie Sanders www.sanders.senate.gov
Hour 2: "News Under the Radar" Christy Harvey of the Center for American Progress joins Thom www.americanprogress.org
Topic: Michael Ratnor (www.ccrjustice.org) is here on the release of the torture memos.
Topic: Marc Elias, attorney for Al Franken (www.alfranken.com) with the latest on why Norm Coleman won't concede?
Comments
What about our founders views on torture....(from CommonDreams)
"In 1776," wrote historian David Hackett Fischer in "Washington's Crossing," "American leaders believed it was not enough to win the war. They also had to win in a way that was consistent with the values of their society and the principles of their cause. One of their greatest achievements … was to manage the war in a manner that was true to the expanding humanitarian ideals of the American Revolution."
How can ANYONE who reveres the American founders support torture???
Wakeup, America! I'm beggin you!
Make Me- said FDR Great call because I can remember working on the campaign and saying to myself that if my faith in Obama ever waivered it was because he was in trouble. The ambience of the campaign was that he was going to do the best he could, but would not be able to guarantee anything especially without our help. And that we go to work November 5th.. So thx for the comment line number!.
I just made my calls to my congress person and had to do a lot of education with the rep. My call to action was at least one year in jail for these bastards. Hopefully, Obama struck a deal with these monsters to get some goods on Bush.
The Peppermint Patty gal in the photo with the leash on the Iraqi was given how many years in prison. even a favorite local radio person here locally out of SF took a stance on saying torture was okay and was completely illiterate about how the results of this torture gave us the wrong information to go to an illegal war. And note- why is it the miliary that are against torture having done their own studies versus the masses of misinformed America.
Al Gore documents this false information based on torture in his book, Assault on Reason.
Again, hopefully Obama struck a deal with the little fish to give us the goods on the big fish.
Touching was the caller to Bernie - how do I tell my son to become a decent human being when our leaders are so unethical and go without consequences?
One more thing, the precedent being set here is not only the employee can always just scream "my boss told me to kill that girl" but the employer- can always say - my employee is just saying that and I, like Charles Manson, never did anything.
Would Charles Manson go to jail under the logic Barack Obama just used in letting these bastards off?
thomhartmann.....[b]REALNEWS has a video about the Georgian Ossetian conflict.....they do an interview where it's shown that this entire invasion was done to help John McCain in his presidential bid[/b]...... http://therealnews.com/t/
Spain’s torture probe kept alive by judge
http://rawstory.com/08/blog/2009/04/17/spains-torture-probe-all-but-doom...
RE Waterboarding - Perhaps, an appropriate civil manifestation/demonstration would be for folks to gather with a short 1-2' stretch of hose and a five gallon bucket, using the bucket as a drum and the hose as a drumstick.
Voiceless. Beating once for every life lost or for every time we engaged in the behavior.
It would be loud. It would be orderly. It would be on point with the message.
Woah! Where can we get a copy of that Mein Karmpf rant on Jews into which you substituted the word liberal? A book you wrote? An article? One for which you will write?
It took years of 'taking to the streets" to bring an end to the Vietnam War and force LBJ out of office. I don't think all the blogging, emails, phone calls, letter writing, etc. is going to make Obama "do it" until We the People take to the streets now. If we who object to Obama's complicity in what has been done in our name, don't March on Washington and into the offices of our representatives., they will continue to make excuses while they bring down this "Great Experiment" of America.
The Bush Administration and all of those who allowed him to get away with what they did are nothing short of traitors to this country and should be dealt with as such. We knew they were criminals, but Obama is supposed to be the "guy in the white hat". How can he face his own children and explain why he allowed those who committed the most horrendous crimes against humanity, go free and unpunished for their crimes. Is this how you raise children to be moral people and respectful citizens?
I was terrified of the Bush Administration, because I believed at the time, they might not give up their offices. My faith in the American People was restored when we elected Obama. Now I find myself even more terrified than I was before. If the man who was going bring us back to our true moral standing, is going to support the criminals, what chance do we have?
When are we going to take to the streets again? I'm 70 years old and participated in the marches and protests of the 60's & 70's and I can tell you I'd be ready to go out again, if someone with more strength and energy than I have today would organize it.
Truesue
Petaluma, CA
Hi Susan-
I have a friend who consults for corporations and he cites a new form of organization as 'Chaos management.'- Seriously. This could be the best way to fight these SOBS. Then, we might also employ the Sparticus clause- where we are all just angry Americans and this is better than an organized movement, where all they have to do is to take out the top guy.
Yesterday (Thursday), Thom cut off a caller's 9/11 comment.
I believe the caller was making the point that the only justification (propagandistic excuse?) for Obama's continuing/building a troop presence in AFGHANISTAN is the 9/11 attacks and Al Qaida. This only works if a valid investigation of the events of 9/11 is ignored!
Thom's response was to the effect that, since there's been no further clarification of the events of 9/11 that differ with the conventional Bush Administration explanation, we are stuck with it.
Huh? That's a cave-in, Thom.
That's like saying any number of delusional explanations are justification for realworld actions. Truly.
The U.S. when it fomented the Russian presence in Afghanistan (thanks to Bzrezinski) is already responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Afghans. Are we now going to do more damage, destabliization and deathdealing there for the 9/11 Lie?
Look at this recent study finding the presence of nanotechnologized thermite (I think I'm reading this correctly, but check it out) in the dust samples from the 9/11 WTC collapse.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13049
Escalating U.S. presence in Afghanistan based on a HOAX is criminal. We must NOT accept being stuck with a HOAX. We must not.
Here is more info on Bob Ney's Radio show and how the first week went, I wish they would do a podcast .
the news story is at
http://www.wtov9.com/news/19211092/detail.html
along with links at the bottom to past Ney stories going back a few years
The radio station's website is
http://www.talkradio1370.com/
I think it was on Friday's show that you read an excerpt from 'Mein Kampf', substituting the word 'Jew' with 'Democrat' and 'Germany' with 'the United States'. I searched online (probably on some watch list now) but could not find (or really remember) the excerpt. I was wondering if you could post it.
Thanks!
Kerry
What was the name of the book that Thom quoted during the 4pm Central time hour? He read extensively from it--an excerpt where the author (Meyer?) interviewed 10 working class Germans, asking them how they could have sided with the Nazis? It was really powerful writing. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.
Amy,
If you get a response to your question, let me know. I am also looking for the (Meyer?) text as it seemed very prevalent to what had been happening over the last 8 years.
Amy: Re: Meyer
I was also listening to thom's "third hour live" (chicago)
and wrote down the authors name : Milton Meyer
Then I found this:
http://www.thirdreich.net/Thought_They_Were_Free_nn4.html
Milton Meyer
Ops its
M A y e r
Senator Al Franken. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? It's only a matter of time! Let's all throw our shoulders against this boulder, and get it rolling down the hill!