Author: Thom Hartmann

Republicans claim to “love America,” but what does that mean? They sure don’t love our religious freedom. America was founded in 1789 as the first secular republic in the history of the world, an accomplishment the Founders and Framers reveled in. Secular literally means “not religious” or “not based in religion.” But Republicans will openly tell you that they hate secularism and want, instead, the opposite of the core value on which this country was founded: instead, they want to put the interests of a particular religion (and only one sect within that religion) above all else. While our...

I have previously written about how Democrats must engage with the topic of crime, and now new reports document how the GOP intends to use crime as their major wedge issue in this November’s election. But the conversation does us a disservice if it is limited to crime and punishment. We must consider what is driving crime and the social breakdown of which it is a symptom. Most people think crime (particularly property crime) is caused by poverty, like the poor people portrayed in Les Misérables stealing food for their children. But Louis XVI’s policies had both increased poverty in France...

Three republican presidents did it, in every case to hold onto a Republican Senate. Lincoln did it. Grant did it. Harrison did it. It is getting close to time for Biden to do it. Mitch McConnell was recently on TV telling wealthy donors to a fundraiser in Kentucky, “We’ve got a 50-50 Senate right now. We’ve got a 50-50 nation.” I was listening to an NPR news segment, as I recall, and a reporter or commentator said, “America is a 50/50 nation.” I waited for the host to confront him, but not a word. An hour later I heard...

They came off the buses and planes hoping for a promised new life, a home, and paying work. They brought their children, on their best behavior, excited to meet American kids and enroll in school. Hungry from the long trip, they were wondering what their first meal would be like in their new homes in their new country. Instead, they faced Fox “News” cameras and hack “reporters” shouting questions at them in a language they didn’t understand. Blinking back tears, they asked in Spanish what they had done wrong. It turns out what was “wrong” was their skin color...