The NRA used to say, "An armed society is a polite society." The truth is that an armed society is a fearful, dangerous, and — eventually — authoritarian society.

When I was a child there was a kid in our neighborhood who made my life hell. Dennis was a bully and delighted in chasing and beating up me and several others; we'd alter our route home from elementary school to avoid him.

Some of the kids he pounded on joined him as a way of protecting themselves from him — the way Lindsay Graham sucks up to Donald Trump — which only increased the terror level for the rest of us in our little lower-middle-class suburb as Dennis and his friends formed their own gang.

Read more at HartmannReport.com.

-Thom

Thursday's Daily Stack

Article: "A Political Party With an Armed Paramilitary Wing Is Not Consistent with Democracy" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Second Amendment solutions" by Brent Budowsky.

Article: "Cornyn shuts door on additional gun control talks" by Alexander Bolton.

Tweet: "Merry Christmas! ps. Santa, please bring ammo." by Thomas Massie.

Article: "Biden-voting counties equal 70% of America's economy. What does this mean for the nation's political-economic divide?" by Mark Muro, Eli Byerly-Duke, Yang You, and Robert Maxim.

Article: "Support For Gun Control Laws Hits Record High, Poll Finds" by Alison Durkee.

Article: "Bushmaster Rifle Ad Reminds Us To Ask More About Masculinity And Gun Violence (PHOTO)" by Emma Gray.

Article: "Louie Gohmert Says ‘Yeah' When Asked If Conservatives Are Getting Closer to ‘Second Amendment Solutions At Some Point'" by Michael Luciano.

Article: "6 charts that show the rise of guns in the U.S. — and people dying from them" by Elliott Ramos and Joe Murphy.

Article: "Millions of First-Time Gun Buyers During COVID-19" by Jim Curcuruto.

Article: "30 Years of Gun Manufacturing in America" by Nick Routley.

Article: "The Oath Keepers, the far-right group answering Trump's call to watch the polls, explained" by Jennifer Williams.

Article: "Oath Keepers" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Sturmabteilung"(brown shirts) by Wikipedia.

Article: "What Is "Stochastic Terrorism," And Why Is It Trending?" by dictionary.com.

Article: "Silver Legion of America" (Silver shirts) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Blackshirts" by Wikipedia.

Article: "'The gun industry can no longer hide': California law to hold gun makers accountable" by Aysha Qamar.

Article: "'Gleefully Committing Arson': Gottheimer Gang May Derail Manchin Deal" by Jessica Corbett.

Article: "Progressive Jamie McLeod-Skinner Triumphs Over Big Pharma Ally Kurt Schrader" by Sharon Zhang.

Article: "Donald Trump looks to fall launch for 2024, potentially upending midterms" by Michael Scherer and Josh Dawsey.

Article: "John Hinckley Jr." by Wikipedia.

Article: "The 31 people arrested in Idaho have ties to a White nationalist group and planned to riot at a Pride event, police say. Here's what we know" by Elizabeth Wolfe.

Article: "I Hate To Break It To You, But Someone Has To... Donald Trump Will Likely Never Spend Time In Prison" by PvtJarHead.

Article: "Judge won't delay trial for Trump ex-adviser Steve Bannon" by Nomaan Merchant.

Documentary: Secrets of the Oligarch Wives.

Video: "President Jimmy Carter: Bush Didn't Win in 2000".

Article: "Michael Flynn" by Wikipedia.

Article: "So why, exactly, did Ivanka Trump go with her father to the 'Stop the Steal' rally?" by Chris Cillizza.

Article: "The right-wing smear campaign against a doctor who helped a 10-year-old rape victim" by Judd Legum.

Article: "Disgusting! Indiana Attorney General says he will investigate the doctor who rescued raped child" by tonyahky.

Quote: "A Lie Can Travel Halfway Around the World While the Truth Is Putting On Its Shoes" - various.

Article: "Ohio 10-year-old's alleged rapist is Guatemalan illegal immigrant: ICE source" by Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin.

Article: "Serial Child Rapist was awarded Joint Custody of Boy, after Raping 12 Year Old who gave birth" by Lefty Coaster.

Article: "Judge rescinds order granting rapist joint legal custody of victim's child" by CBS/AP.

Article: "Clarence Thomas: Court 'should reconsider' gay marriage, birth control" by Samuel Chamberlain, Natalie O'Neill and Nolan Hicks.

Article: "Unite the Right rally" (Charlottesville rally) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Donald Trump Makes Golf Look Bad" by Joe Zimmerman.

Article: "Ferdinand Marcos" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Viktor Orbán" (Hungary) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Democrats need to fill a lot of judicial vacancies fast, which means no more deals with McConnell" by Joan McCarter.

Article: "Newsmax using ‘butt-dialed' conspiracy to explain Trump's tampering call to Jan. 6 witness" by Walter Einenkel.

Article: "With a final push on judges, McConnell will cement a lasting legacy for Trump" by Sahil Kapur.

Article: "Blue slip" by Wikipedia.

Article: "'It wouldn't be my choice for judge': Senate Democrats slam Biden's planned anti-abortion pick" by Joey Garrison, Dylan Wells, Joe Sonka, Andrew Wolfson.

Article: "Problem Solvers Caucus" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Kimberly Guilfoyle and first husband Gavin Newsom look unrecognizable in pic before secret engagement to Donald Trump Jr" by Carsen Holaday.

Article: "Is Biden too old?" by Robert Reich.

Article: "Judge Asks Prosecutors if Flynn Could Have Been Charged With Treason" by David Badash.

Article: "Christine Blasey Ford" by Wikipedia.

Article: "E. Jean Carroll" by Wikipedia.

Hour Three: How Does a Cultist Get Out Of a Cult? Let's Ask One...
- Spencer Schneider, Practicing attorney / contributing writer for East Magazine / Author - Manhattan Cult Story (about his experience as a member of Sharon Gans' School cult in NYC and how he escaped)

Article: "Inside the secretive New York cult of educated elites who were groomed and exploited for decades" by Jake Loader.

Article: "Sharon Gans" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Fourth Way" by Wikipedia.

Article: "P. D. Ouspensky" by Wikipedia.

Book: The Fourth Way: An Arrangement by Subject of Verbatim Extracts from the Records of Ouspensky's Meetings in London and New York, 1921-46 by P. D. Ouspensky.

Article: "Ted Patrick" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Trump's Ex-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn Calls For Myanmar-Type Coup In U.S." by Mary Papenfuss.

Article: "Flynn's Coup Talk Is a Warning About the MAGA Violence Ahead" by Matt Lewis.

Article: "Watch: Jim Jordan called out at House hearing for claiming rape of Ohio girl was "another lie"" by Eric W. Dolan.

Article: "Day in the Life of Joe Middle-Class Republican" by John Gray.

Article: "Anders Behring Breivik" by Wikipedia.

Article: "2011 Norway attacks" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Richard B. Spencer" by Wikipedia.

Article: "How far-right groups are using fashion symbols to recruit the youth " by Eric Spitznagel.

Article: "America's labor shortage is actually an immigrant shortage" by Irina Ivanova.

Article: "Americans for Prosperity lower gas cost to $2.38 at Steubenville station" by Ashley Kaiser.

Article: "Florida university removes some anti-racism statements, worrying faculty" by Susan Svrluga.

Site: Tia Levings.

Tweet: "If this doesn't scare you, I don't know what will. Christofascist indoctrination ceremony:" [video] by Nick Knudsen.

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

It's Anything Goes Friday!

We'll have the latest news and information...everything you need to know to win the water cooler wars...

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week for "we the people"

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

How To Escape Trump's Cult Alive Featuring Spencer Schneider

GOP's Armed Wing Takes Aim At Democracy

Why Quantitative Easing Should Concern You Featuring Richard Wolff