We made the same mistake average Russians are making right now. Repeatedly. It's all about human nature being exploited by ruthless politicians...

At least a dozen times in the past week I've heard American TV commentators wonder out loud how it is that average Russians don't believe the horrors their government has inflicted on Ukraine and its people.

The most common story is of Ukrainian refugees or people under bombardment who've tried to tell friends or relatives back in Russia what's going on and gotten a disbelieving response.

"How could average Russians be so stupid?" seems to be the main line of inquiry.

Read more at HartmannReport.com.

-Thom

Thursday's Daily Stack

Article: "Biden To Mark Transgender Day Of Visibility With New Actions" by AP.

Article: "Mick Mulvaney" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Turmoil at CBS News over Trump aide Mick Mulvaney's punditry gig" by Jeremy Barr.

Article: "When "Access" Is More Important than Truth." by Richard Hine.

Article: "CBS Chief Les Moonves Says Trump's 'Damn Good' For Business" by Nick Visser.

Article: "Tunisia's president dissolves parliament, extending power grab" by Aljazeera.

Article: "Tunisian crisis escalates as president dissolves parliament" by Reuters.

Article: "Peddler's martyrdom launched Tunisia's revolution" by Lin Noueihed.

Article: "Arab Spring" by Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Article: "The Death of Nature & the War On Ukraine are Part of the Same Thing" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Far-right Le Pen closes in on French presidential favourite Macron" by AFP.

Article: "Arizona Gov. Ducey signs bill requiring proof of citizenship, residency to register to vote" by Callie Patteson.

Article: "Sinema Under Fire for 'Directly Enabling' New GOP Voter Purge Law in Arizona" by Jake Johnson.

Article: "These 7 Iowa 2022 election hopefuls face challenges to their candidacy this week" by Stephen Gruber-Miller.

Article: "Bird Flu Is Spreading in the U.S., Threatening Chicken Exports" by Michael Hirtzer and Dominic Carey.

Article: "Brian Lamb" by Wikipedia.

Article: "How Jeb Bush Stole the 2000 Election for His Brother" by Greg Palast.

Article: "GOP candidate improperly purged 340,000 from Georgia voter rolls, investigation claims" by Erin Durkin.

Article: "Supreme Court gives Ohio right to purge thousands of voters from its rolls" by Pete Williams.

Article: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Defeats Joseph Crowley in Major Democratic House Upset" by Shane Goldmacher and Jonathan Martin.

Article: "John Spratt" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Chechnya" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Syrian civil war" by Wikipedia.

Article: "March 30, 2022" ("liberal media") by Heather Cox Richardson.

Article: "Beware: The Human Vulnerability to "Patriotic Propaganda"" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Battle of Baghdad (2003)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Political Observations 20 April 1795" by James Madison.

Article: "Gulf of Tonkin incident" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Pentagon Papers" by Wikipedia.

Tweet: "Annnd a new poll shows Putin's approval rating in Russia rising sharply to 83% since the war began. From 69% in January. This is from Levada, independent pollster. [link]" by Polina Ivanova.

Video: Scott Ritter talks about his early warnings of no WMDs.

Article: "Blix casts doubt on WMDs".

Article: "Bush rejects Taliban offer to hand Bin Laden over" by The Guardian.

Article: "Unprotected Russian soldiers disturbed radioactive dust in Chernobyl's 'Red Forest', workers say" by Reuters.

Article: "Chernobyl employees say Russian soldiers had no idea what the plant was and call their behavior 'suicidal'" by Tristan Bove.

Article: "Russian Troops Suffer 'Acute Radiation Sickness' After Digging Chernobyl Trenches" by Barbie Latza Nadeau.

Article: "Ivermectin Did Nothing To Help COVID-19 Patients, Large Study Finds" by Nick Visser.

Article: "Charles Rangel" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Initiatives & Referenda In Washington State" by Washington State SoS.

Article: "Court upholds ban on pay-by-signature" (Oregon) by Oregon Labor Press.

Article: "Oregon tax rebate" (kicker) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Direct Contracting Model: Professional and Global Options Medicaid Managed Care Organization (MCO)-based Direct Contracting Entity (DCE) Fact Sheet" by CMS.

Article: "The biggest threat to Medicare you've never even heard of" by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Susan Rogers, M.D.

Article: "DA Bragg, explain why you dropped the case against Trump" by Robert C. Gottlieb and Gerald B. Lefcourt.

Article: "2 prosecutors leading Manhattan DA's Trump probe resign, leaving charges in doubt" by Aaron Katersky.

Article: "Trump Is Guilty of 'Numerous' Felonies, Prosecutor Who Resigned Says" by William K. Rashbaum, Ben Protess and Jonah E. Bromwich.

Article: "Rudy Giuliani says his son's 'first act' as governor will be to fire DA who dropped Trump prosecution" by David Edwards.

Site: Deutsche Welle.

Site: France 24.

Comic: "Pearls Before Swine: 23 January 2022" by Stephan Pastis.

Movie: "Chinatown (1974 film)".

Site: Patriotic Millionaires.

Video: These Millionaires Want To Pay More Taxes (w/ Nick Hanauer).

Article: "'Their Inflation Strategy Is Working': Corporate Profits Soared to Record High in 2021" by Jake Johnson.

Article: "U.S. to Release 1M Barrels of Oil a Day From Reserves as Gas Prices Rise" by Aaron McDade.

Article: "'Antitrust was defined by Robert Bork. I cannot overstate his influence.'" by Dylan Matthews.

Article: "Robert Bork" by Wikipedia.

Article: "'Their Inflation Strategy Is Working': Corporate Profits Soared to Record High in 2021" by Jake Johnson.

Book: "Screwed: The Undeclared War Against The Middle Class" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Poll Shows Majority of US Voters Blame Corporate Profiteering for Inflation" by Jake Johnson.

Article: "Fighting Continues in Yemen Amid Humanitarian Disaster as War Enters Its Eighth Year" by Democracy Now!

Article: "Fox News General Claims U.S. Wants Putin To Win" by John Amato.

Article: "'The Ukrainians Are Listening': Russia's Military Radios Are Getting Owned" by Jack Detsch, Amy Mackinnon.

Article: "Russian colonel dies after being run over by own troops, officials say" by Evan Simko-Bednarski.

Article: "Putin Orders Draft of 135,000 Amid Difficulties in Ukraine War" by Human Events.

Article: "'Healthcare Is a Human Right': Sanders Announces Medicare for All Senate Hearing" by Jessica Corbett.

Article: "California Dialysis Clinic Requirements Initiative (2022)" by BallotPedia.

Article: "New Marquette Law School Poll national survey finds two-thirds of public support confirming Ketanji Brown Jackson as a Supreme Court justice" by Charles Franklin.

Article: "France, Germany reject Putin demands for gas payments in roubles as 'blackmail'" by France 24.

Article: "Trump claims he wasn't attracted to adult film star Stormy Daniels in new rant against her" by Johanna Chisholm.

Article: "Amnesty Act of 1872" by Wikipedia.

Article: "14th Amendment section 3, July 9, 1868 "No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability."

Law: "Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act", 2003.

Article: "Medicare Advantage" (Medicare Part C) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Ukraine" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Euromaidan" (Maidan Uprising) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Paul Manafort" by Wikipedia.

Book: Sexism and God-Talk: Toward a Feminist Theology by Rosemary Radford Ruether.

Book: "The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image" by Leonard Shlain (Thom's review).

Article: "Top U.S. official visits protesters in Kiev as Obama admin. ups pressure on Ukraine president Yanukovich" by CBS.

Article: "Ukrainian protesters get visit from Sen. John McCain" by Nick Paton Walsh and Susanna Capelouto.

Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET

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How Can We Stop Being Exploited By Our Politicians?

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Why Trump's First Impeachment Must Be Rolled Back