I propose Ted Bundy for the Supreme Court. He has absolutely no empathy for another human being. He'd be perfect!

Barb
Libertyville, IL

In regard to that breathless female caller, these are the kind of people who one is incapable of having an intellectual conversation with, left or right. It’s always about me, myself and I. Never the big picture. Morality and ethics be damned. She clearly does all her “critical” thinking after the fact; “Call me a baby killer”—hey, whatever you say. I will grant her this, however: this country has a bad habit of waiting for the consequences of bad decisions for doing anything about them.
In under the radar-under the radar news last week, the Supreme Court rendered a 5-4 decision to allow police to continue to interrogate people even after the presence of an attorney has been requested. This is yet another example of the continuing assault on individual rights by the Court’s current majority. Justice Kennedy, allegedly the “swing” vote on the court, continues to prove that he has no moral or ethical center. Maybe these guys watch too much television; shows like “Law and Order” portray cops and prosecutors who always get their man (it’s always a man) within the first five minutes. They’re never wrong–thus their trampling of civil rights with over-the-top self-righteousness is never called into question. When I was young, there actually were TV shows where individual rights against abuse by the system were paramount; today, the opposite is true—all we have are caricatures according to the latest propaganda and “special victims.”—none of whom ever lie.

In regard to the alleged problem Sonia Sotomayor has in regard to the New Haven fire fighter issue, the complaints almost seems incestuous: it is always some white guy’s son, brother, father, or cousin, as if being a firefighter is an occupation passed down from white father to white son. This is white “privilege” of a sordid sort. I wonder if the token Hispanic who was persuaded into joining the lawsuit realizes that these people could just as easily turn on him. It is interesting to note that most Hispanics in New Haven are Puerto Rican, just like Sotomayor; since she sided against her “ethnicity” in this case in order to see the bigger picture, this should reflect well on her. One-third of the population of New Haven is African-American; the white population has a large Italian-American contingent, and knowing the racist element that exists in that population (see Tom Tancredo, Bensonhurst, et.al) I think bigotry and actual discrimination should not be rewarded.
I’d also like to note that the evidence against Roland Burris revealed by that phone tap is somewhat laughable. I wonder how many “revealing” details about how politics works we would find equally “damaging” if all lawmakers had their phones tapped. Everyone has their hands in some cookie jar, and what is a campaign contribution from a corporation or a labor group but an attempt to “buy” a candidate?

Anyways, I thought I’d comment on that posting from a listener that Thom read at the close of business on Friday. What came to mind? Umm—sycophantic, icky-poo, sticky-sweet, saccharine, sappy, gushy, corny and otherwise a valentine to Thom’s ego, apparently so fragile it is in need of such reinforcement. At first I was amused, but like with all such consumption of fatty, high-calorie/low-protein content, nausea set in. I’m quite incapable of it myself.

Does anyone know what's going on with Al Franken? We need him on the job now!

I just saw that the blog for Tuesday's show hasn't been cleared for tomorrow yet. I'll TRY to remember to post the message about the one time payment tomorrow.

What is So Rare As a Day in June
AND what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays;
Whether we look, or whether we listen,
We hear life murmur, or see it glisten;
Every clod feels a stir of might,
An instinct within it that reaches and towers,
And, groping blindly above it for light,
Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers;
The flush of life may well be seen
Thrilling back over hills and valleys;
The cowslip startles in meadows green,
The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice,
And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean
To be some happy creature's palace;
The little bird sits at his door in the sun,
Atilt like a blossom among the leaves,
And lets his illumined being o'errun
With the deluge of summer it receives;
His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings,
And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings;
He sings to the wide world, and she to her nest,
In the nice ear of Nature which song is the best?

Now is the high-tide of the year,
And whatever of life hath ebbed away
Comes flooding back with a ripply cheer,
Into every bare inlet and creek and bay;
Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it,
We are happy now because God wills it;
No matter how barren the past may have been,
'Tis enough for us now that the leaves are green;
We sit in the warm shade and feel right well
How the sap creeps up and the blossoms swell;
We may shut our eyes but we cannot help knowing
That skies are clear and grass is growing;
The breeze comes whispering in our ear,
That dandelions are blossoming near,
That maize has sprouted, that streams are flowing,
That the river is bluer than the sky,
That the robin is plastering his house hard by;
And if the breeze kept the good news back,
For our couriers we should not lack;
We could guess it all by yon heifer's lowing,
And hark! How clear bold chanticleer,
Warmed with the new wine of the year,
Tells all in his lusty crowing!

Joy comes, grief goes, we know not how;
Everything is happy now,
Everything is upward striving;
'Tis as easy now for the heart to be true
As for grass to be green or skies to be blue,
'Tis for the natural way of living:
Who knows whither the clouds have fled?
In the unscarred heaven they leave not wake,
And the eyes forget the tears they have shed,
The heart forgets its sorrow and ache;
The soul partakes the season's youth,
And the sulphurous rifts of passion and woe
Lie deep 'neath a silence pure and smooth,
Like burnt-out craters healed with snow.

James Russell Lowell

WHEN DOES LIFE START? BILL MAHER STATED THAT YOU CAN FREEZE AN EMBROY BUT YOU CAN NOT FREEZE A BABY. MAKES SENSE TO ME. AS A MAN I HAVE NO RIGHT TO TELL WOMEN WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR LIFE. THIS IS A TOPIC THAT MEN NEED TO STEP ASIDE OF.

Brian,

I believe that your adoption of Thom Hartmann's position that men have no part in the discussion is wrong and is rigidly "politically correct".

Women live in the same societies that men live in and share lives with men. You only seem to be looking at it from the perspective of a woman's choice to terminate a pregnancy or continue it to birth. In those terms, I believe a woman should have the right to make medical decisions about her body and life.

But the social broader discussion involves and affects all of us because it has been made a major issue in our society. Women don't live in a world separate from men, we live together and in the long run share common a common fate. We all should have a place in the discussion.

Do you really think that this is an issue that has all men on one side and all women on the other side? Whose opinion who you value more and is closest to yours in the discussion, Thom Hartmann's or right wing talk radio host Laura Ingraham's, Bernie Sanders or Michelle Bachman's?

This isn't a battle between men and women. It's much more complex than that, with people on both sides coming from a variety of perspectives with a variety of concerns.

And if men don't have the right to voice their opinions on this issue, should they also refrain from doing scientific research on birth control? Should they refrain from making donations to organizations that promote reproductive choice? That doesn't make sense to me, but it seems logical from the perspective that says that men have no say.

Let's look at the issue from the beginning of the pregnancy rather than the end. If only women have a say in these issues, does a wife have the right to intentionally get pregnant without discussing it with her husband. Can she stop using her birth control without telling her husband, who is going to be legally bound to support the child for almost two decades? If you were married or in a relationship with a woman, how would you feel if she decided to undergo artificial insemination without telling you?

Although I'm on the pro-choice side, I don't assume that all people who describe their side as "pro-life" are interested in the subjugation of women. Many of them, including a huge number of women, believe that "life begins at conception" and a cohesive argument can be made for that position. As far as I know, no human being has been born without being conceived first. But the issue is more complex than that, and the pro-choice side is more a religious position more than a scientific or sociological position.

Bottom line, I totally disagree with the position that you and Thom Hartmann take, that men have no say in the discussion about abortion. I support a woman's right to choose. But in the discussion of this as a social issue, I believe that men and women have the right to participate because we're all part of society.

As an after thought, I think Thom sometimes takes some bizarre "politically correct" positions. I don't know if you heard it, but some months ago, Thom started his show tripping over himself while apologizing because he reflexively told Arianna Huffington that she smelled good when she walked past him. I thought Thom's on-air apology was pathetic and bizarre.

Arianna Huffington is a wealthy woman who probably spent a lot of money on an expensive perfume so that she would smell good. She probably has several expensive perfumes because she likes smelling good. I have a feeling that she likes the fact that people notice the pleasing scent of her perfume. Thom thought his compliment was some sort of terrible objectification or her as a woman. the fact is that both men and women have been applying scents to their bodies for a very long time.

I just thought of something else. I've noticed they are ramping up their "pro-life" efforts recently. Is this a coincidence that they are doing this right around the time everyone in America is losing their job? This is more proof that they are trying to send us back to Cratchit and Srooge times. Make abortion illegal and watch the statistics for women graduating from High school.

That interview Thom just did was the biggest load dropped since the elephants walked through Times Sq. I hope Thom will be willing to comment on the "jounalist."

"We didn't comment on the war because there was no fight in congress to cover." So what were *you* doing instead, Mr. Press-man, picking your nose. The story is not the fight over the war but THE WAR ITSELF. The facts were there to be found. The real journalists over at Knight Ridder found the story. Why couldn't you?
http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Showcase.view&showcas...

Shame Shame Shame and more shame! Your JOB is to cover minority opinions. You obviously know how since you have been doing nothing but that since the Democrats took over.

And another thing that just boiled my potatoes, was when that "reporter" saying that the Obama guys are "thin skinned." Well, weren't the Bushies. But then how would you know? You followed them around like the sheep that you are. Again shame, shame shame!!!!

Please Thom comment on this guy. Don't let him get away with dropping this BS.

I don't want my employer holding my health care. Why do we have to go begging to an employer? So many jobs don't offer health care anyway. The employer provided health care is a fragile tenuous ephemeral situation that can be snapped away in a heart beat. Why do employers want to be the gate keepers to America's Health Care. Because they want to keep employee cowed and unable to demand anything or have any opinions not approved of. THEY OWN YOU. And they know it.

Big Employers also want to have some control and inside info over what you are being treated for and what you can document against them. Health care is a Trojan Horse and it is coming out to the point people can see it.

Heard the interview with Senator Jeff Merkley. His views on the tobacco bill (S.982) are very disappointing. All he could come up with is the bit about camel trying to hook kids with candy nicotine. He does the same bit on his web site. Besides being a lie, he fails to mention what else the bill would do.

Through the back door it essentially bans tobacco reduced harm products from coming to the market. This includes swedish snus, a oral product from Sweden with a risk factor of 1% compared to smoking cigarettes, and electronic cigarettes, with all the research pointing to the fact that it likely has less then 1% the harmful effects of tobacco cigarettes.

This bill will likely pass to the detriment of 45+ million US citizens addicted to nicotine. Apparently that's okay with the progressives. People addicted to nicotine are the new 2nd class citizen in America. All Thom Hartmann could do was give a large sigh of agreement with Merkley when he went into his little bit about hooking the kids.

For decades the tobacco companies lied about the dangers of cigarettes and millions of people died prematurely because of it. Now, the anti-nicotine crowd, with the support of misguided and corrupt public health advocates are lying about reduced harm nicotine products and millions of people will die prematurely because if it. For the first time in my life, I feel ashamed to call myself a progressive.