Recent comments
ADHD: Hunter in a Farmer's World
Thom Hartmann has written a dozen books covering ADD / ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder.
Join Thom for his new twice-weekly email newsletters on ADHD, whether it affects you or a member of your family.
Thom's Blog Is On the Move
By webmaster
Hello All
Thom's blog in this space and moving to a new home.
Please follow us across to hartmannreport.com - this will be the only place going forward to read Thom's blog posts and articles.
Quite touching. Marrying for health insurance. I actually have little or no problem with this solution to a very pervasive issue. Cynicism is now a virtue. Cool! Cool! Huh, huh... Huh!
@Harry from Texas.
Welcome Harry! I drove thru Texas and was appalled, I either saw cold concrete of the big cities, or desert, dead land, or big smelly livestock . The word is out though that many Californians are moving to Austin. How far away from there are you?
Nels,
My basic premise is that the national security state is incompatible with democracy. We go through the motions of elections, sort-of, sometimes, but the results are suspect, or if a change of party in power is acheived, it doesn't make much of a difference.
Information is the coin of an informed electorate, disinformation is a classic tool of the security complex. Did you read the Parry article?
In that same vein, check out this one:
NY Times: No Conflict of Interest - With the Conventional Wisdom
by Robert Jensen http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/02/09-4
The New York Times' public editor wrestled this week with conflict-of-interest charges sparked by the revelation that Jerusalem bureau chief Ethan Bronner's son had joined the Israeli army.
The executive editor of the paper responded with a sensible defense of the paper's decision to keep Bronner in that position.
Although it had the appearance of a spirited exchange, the "debate" was a tired old diversion that keeps us from facing more important questions, not just about the Israel/Palestine conflict but about U.S. journalists' coverage of the world. As is typical in mainstream journalists' discussions of journalistic neutrality and objectivity, the focus on an individual obscures more important questions about the institutions for which individuals work and the powerful forces that shape those institutions' picture of the world.
Here is what I wrote Terry-
Good for you. I am listening to you on the Thom Hartmann show. I say you ought to call out President Barack Obama to marry you. He did a back door deal with big pharma and then allowed a circus to try to cover it up, when all he had to do was extend medicare.
Without a doubt, in today's economic environment, the best thing that we can do to support small businesses is enact Medicare for all. Also, until we find a way to provide universal health care, it will be harder and harder for those over 45 and under 65 to find employment.
I am absolutely stunned that, as has been pointed out in the show, the Tea Bag nation don't seem to get this.
I had an interesting discussion about Medicare with a corporatist who loved to tell me that Medicare would be insolvent in 10 years. What he meant was that according to projections medicare costs would exceed its income in 10 years. That may be the case, so I asked him to compare it to private health insurance.
Medicare:
Money in: Taxes
Money out:
97% for health care
3% for overhead
Projection:
In 10 years, Money Out will exceed Money, requiring a tax raise
Private health Insurance
Medicare:
Money in:
Premiums
Money out:
65% for health care
35% for overhead (including profit)
Projection:
Premiums will be raised this year
Premiums were raised last year
Premiums will be raised every year
----
Now tell me ... which system is the problem?
@Gerald: I don't know how this subject came up, other than talking about neo-cons; have you ever had the sigmoid flex instead of the full colonoscopy? you;re half-awake, and fart every time the doc fills=up your colon with air. I was aware enough to keep apologizing.
Zero G. I understand. I was just trying to make the point that eventually these tricks begin to backfire.
Case in point, a lot of Democratic politicians are nothing more than Republicans in Democratic clothing, selling a conservative agenda, but trying to make it look like its not really so, because it's being pushed by someone in the "Liberal Party".
I guess I was going to the next logical point in the game, eventually by placing such articles in a trusted source, the source becomes untrustworthy, readers become more and more cynical, and then future sources that could be completely trustworthy are already starting in a hole, the readers are wary to trust anything and tend to give up caring.
I don't know if that's the point of the article you're referring to, that's just my personal conclusion.
Gerald, I think you've left us speachless.
As I sit by my computer, the snow is falling and we are at the start of our first winter storm blast. We usually have three and sometimes four winter storm blasts. What is great as a retired person, I do not have to drive in the snow. We do have to be out of the home on Friday.
I have a doctor's appointment to determine whether or not I will need a second colonoscopy.
Here is some information from my first colonoscopy.
This is a factual experience. Several years back I had a colonoscopy procedure. The procedure went well because the doctor did not notice any malignant problems in the colon. The problem was not the procedure the problem was the prepping leading to the procedure. It was a terrible experience. After awhile as I reflected on this experience, a negative experience, I came to feel that it was a positive experience because for the first time in my life I did not feel that I was full of shit.
As I awoke from the procedure with my wife near me, the nurse said that for the next day or day and a half I would be breaking wind. I said to the nurse that it would be alright because my wife could pull my finger. The nurse looked down on me and she said that the pulling of the finger must be a man thing because her husband and son would sit on the couch in the living room laughing and discussing the pulling of the finger experiences.
Many "low-information voters" are working two-three jobs and don't have the time to follow what's going on. They get tidbits from the TV tuned to Fox News at the grocery store, the doctor's office waiting room, McDonalds ...
I will buy ‘Low Information Voter” but we can drawn zero valid conclusion on whether they are “good” or “evil”.
Nels,
I only reprised it in relation to Parry's article. I think it exemplifies what Parry was talking about.
I made a mistake in my earlier post. The contribution rate to Social Security is 6.2% not 6.3%. That means the residents of Galveston County, Texas is subsidizing 17.1% of the contributions to the county employee alternative retirement plan. This alone could be the difference in performance.
@Zero G. I think that the "tired of partisan politics" line has been overplayed. Seems like every time I hear it, I associate it with a politician who's selling out. Sorta' like the boy who cried wolf effect.
Thom, we live in a "me" society anf that will never change.
The N-Party wants to privatize social security and Medicare. They want to take away our safety nets. Yet, other countries have safety nets.
AMERICA IS NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION AND WILL NEVER BE A CHRISTIAN NATION.
After Thom’s discussion with another guy who claimed to represent the “true spirit” of the tea party gang yesterday, I decided to check-out Dale Robertson’s teaparty.org website. I found it to be nothing more or less than what I expected: your typical country-fried right-wing Obama and liberals bash fest. Obama and the liberals just lie about every dern thing. Fox News is the place to find all your “facts.” Obama kisses them terrorists’ fundaments, dontcha know? He’s pushing a “Marxist, Chicago-style” political machine” to “overthrow our Constitution and freedoms.” Yeah, that’s what it says alright. Oh wait, there’s more:
“We must become strong, we must become bold and we must not stop until the doctrine of socialism is crushed and the train wreck of out of control government is stopped”—and say “Yes I Will” send money to “money bomb” Democratic candidates.
“White America must be restored, not just for this generation, but for generations to come. It is with this heartfelt confidence we must push forward, gaining ground in every state, winning every battle and returning White America’s stolen heritage back to its rightful owners, We The White People.” Well, OK, I added the “white” myself, but who are these people trying to kid?
There’s even a Ray Stevens music video on the website; I guess he doesn’t think “Everything is Beautiful” after all.
Robertson claims to be offended by being called a racist, but he has had some trouble explaining a photograph of himself at a Houston gathering last year, wearing a Texas redneck outfit and holding a poster that read “Congress = Slaveholder Taxpayer (huh?) = Niggar.” In his defense, it must be admitted that no one except him can decipher what exactly was the message he was trying to convey, but otherwise the deliberate misspelling was a pathetic attempt at “plausible deniability.” A doctored version of the photo, with the word “sinner” in the place of “niggar,” appears on the website.
The website’s “Action” page includes a bunch of talking points for teabaggers to use when someone has the temerity to inquire what precisely they advocate; frankly, catchwords like “simple,” “skinny” and “transparent” rather accurately describe the substance of their “plan.”
“Evil abounds when good people are silent” goes an unsourced quote on the homepage. The problem is that it isn’t the teabaggers who are silent, we hear them loud and confused; the silent people are the ones who believe that if good people ignore these bigots, then they will just run out of breath. It is WE who can’t afford to be silent, or else evil will abound.
Palin, Psy-Ops & 'Condescending' Libs
By Robert Parry
February 8, 2010
In the 1980s, while a reporter for the Associated Press, I had the opportunity to chat over the phone with legendary CIA psy-war specialist Edward Lansdale. A mutual friend had set up the contact, which I hoped might lead to a more formal interview.
Though that hope didn’t pan out – and Lansdale died in 1987 – I was struck by one thing that Lansdale told me about how he sold his propaganda message inside a target country. He said the goal wasn’t to plant a story in a publication that people knew to be under U.S. control, because their defenses would be up.
The trick, he said, was to plant propaganda in a publication that was perceived to be open and honest because the readers’ defenses would be down and thus they would be more susceptible to the message. In other words, they first had to be fooled about who controlled the outlet and what its biases were.
More: http://consortiumnews.com/2010/020810.html
A must read!
*********************************************
Yesterday I was talking about the meme, "tired of partisan politics." I neglected to mention then, that the phrase is only used to quiet the left. The corporations and their mouthpieces are never tired of promoting the "con." It is only the pushback that they are tired of.
@Harry Ashburn, denial is a great problem that Americans live with every day. Denial does effect how we can advance a positive agenda.
@Zero G, you mentioned on Monday, February 8, the overt wars America started does even touch the covert wars that we start and never hear about from the MSM.
KMH, the psychology of these people who defend corporations against their own best interest is much the same as a rabid sports fan. To them its all important that their side wins, nothing else matters. Of course with sports, its relatively meaningless in their life, and they have that same attitude towards politics, not realizing that it does affect their life, to their detriment. They just like the way the conservatives talk, and look, its an emotional choice for them, that's why the Republicans frame their arguments in simple sound bites, that sound great, even if they are contradictory. Logic does not matter to their constituents, emotion does.
What we are seeing is the fruits of the Republican War on Languaging. Through the vigorous use of converting logical streams and substitution of definitions along with scrubbing humanities from public education . . .
America’s government has ceased being democratic and is now capitalist.
From a native Texan: It ain't easy being a progressive from Texas; having to cringe every time an elected official gets on TV. The TV debates for Governor between Kay Bailey Hutchison (the Breck Girl, according to Molly Ivins) and Gov. Rick Perry (Governor Goodhair, a la Molly) are a nightmare. Our Legislature is a laughing stock. We don't have a zoo in Austin 'cause we have the state Capitol. Our textbook committee is kicking Cesar Chavez out of the history books and inserting Dr. Laura and Rush Limbaugh. I think we ought to secede and become a TV comedy/horror show.
Commercial: My reputation.com Promo code: SMART Have any of you used this software? I cannot find my own old tweets and facebook entries- which I would like to by the way. Does anyone here know how to do that?
Sorr in advance for the dumb question, I just keep putting the question off and I really ought to know how to do it. Is there a way to search through these old entires? I've got some humdingers i would love to call up.
NATO to Afghan Assault Villagers: Keep Heads Down
by Peter Graff
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/02/09
*************************************************
We are on the precipice of a major disaster.
Now, now Thom, Lincoln didn't start the Civil War. The attack on Fort Sumter by the South precipitated that war.
I can't imagine any sitting American President allowing a paramilitary group lay siege to an Army base here in the States and not answer it with force.