Thom's Articles

Time To Reconsider Jefferson's Call For Universal Service

Many of the world's mature democracies require every high-school graduate to serve a year or two of either military or nonprofit service. At first blush, this may seem like an oppression by government, but history shows it's actually one of the best ways to prevent a military from becoming its own insular and dangerous subculture, to prevent the lower ranks of the military from being overwhelmed by people trying to escape poverty, and to keep military actions of the government accountable to the people. The Founders of America extensively considered this same issue.

Bush Fails History...Jefferson Predicted Iraq

Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon thought they could bomb Vietnam into accepting democracy. George W. Bush thinks he can do it with Iraq. But the first American president to consider how best to grow democracies - Thomas Jefferson - had some very different thoughts on the issue. LBJ and Bush would have done well to listen to his thoughtful words in a letter he wrote on February 14, 1815, to his old friend in France, the Marquis de Lafayette.

Exposing the Conservative Straw Man - "Productivity"

Thomas Jefferson wrote in a September 28, 1821 letter, "The government of the United States, at a very early period, when establishing its tariff on foreign importations, were very much guided in their selection of objects by a desire to encourage manufactures within ourselves." Conservatives don't want you to know this, and - even more frenetically - are working to prevent any discussion of "protectionist" tariffs on labor.

Democracy - Not "The Free Market" - Will Save America's Middle Class

Here are a couple of headlines for those who haven't had the time to study both economics and history:

  1. There is no such thing as a "free market."
  2. The "middle class" is the creation of government intervention in the marketplace, and won't exist without it (as millions of Americans and Europeans are discovering).

Gay Marriage? Blame It On Jefferson...

"It's never been tried before." "The Bible doesn't mention it." "Civilized people have never done things this way." "No society in the 6000 years of the history of civilization since Gilgamesh has suggested such a thing." "It'll create social chaos, ultimately destroying the nation." "It's just too radical an idea for people to accept."...

How Global Warming May Cause the Next Ice Age...

This article was adapted from the new, updated edition of "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" by Thom Hartmann from Random House/Three Rivers Press.

A Fistful of Kryptonite Against SuperGeorge...

In this season of blockbuster movies, it's useful to remember that one of the first lessons aspiring novelists and screenwriters learn is that the goodness of a hero is defined by a single quality - the badness of his opponent. From Superman's Lex Luthor to Batman's Joker to Indiana Jones' Nazis to Luke Skywalker's Darth Vader, for a hero to be perceived as larger than life, he must have a larger than life enemy....

Conservatives Target Testicles

Rush Limbaugh just declared psychological war on the working white males of America, although most of them probably didn't realize it. This week Limbaugh rolled out a "funny" faux advertisement for the "Hillary Clinton Testicle Lock Box" that now any woman can use to clamp down on men's testicles just like Hillary does....

The Founders Confront Judge Moore

Judge Moore, the "Ten Commandments Judge" in Alabama, says the controversy he and Fox news have stirred up is about religion. But it's not about religion. It's about power. A power that seeks, ultimately, to replace democracy....

Free Yourself from Conservative Talk Radio: 12 Steps to Recovery

Step 1: Admit that you were under the sway of right-wing, anti-democracy radicals. This is the first step for every conservative or "ditto-head" listener on the way to recovery. It is important to understand that the people you were listening to are not "compassionate conservatives," "Republicans," or "pillars of morality." They're right-wing conservative radicals, more interested in strong corporations than strong democracy, and you must be honest with yourself about that fact...

Republicans - Please Take Back Your Party

Today's so-called Republicans have established a mind-numbing record at polluting the environment; bloating government; appointing crony partisans; pushing the nation into debt to fund tax cuts for the rich; legislatively catering to the world's largest corporations; opposing women's rights; kneecapping states, local communities, and schools; eviscerating constitutional protections of liberty at home; and devastating our nation's reputation abroad...

The Battle Hymn of the New Liberal Media: A Good Business Plan

In the last Democratic debate, one of the questioners pointed out that fewer Americans identify themselves as either liberals or Democrats than at any time since before Roosevelt's New Deal. The implicit question was, "What's so bad about you guys that Americans have decided 'liberal' is a curse word and people are embarrassed to call themselves Democrats?"

Rush Limbaugh May Teach Conservatives A Lesson

The reaction to the drug problem - and drug felonies - recently alleged against Rush Limbaugh highlight sharply the differences between conservative morality and liberal/progressive morality. Conservatives often mistakenly proclaim themselves the sole holders of morality...

Might Bush's Blank Check for War Bounce If He Deceived Congress?

On Tuesday, September 16, 2003, George W. Bush said what virtually every other senior member of his administration had been going out of their way to refute...

The Genetically Modified Bomb

Imagine a bomb that only kills Caucasians with red hair. Or short people. Or Arabs. Or Chinese.

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